ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — John Elway says passing on quarterback Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL draft was probably his biggest mistake as general manager of the Denver Broncos.
“I was playing golf with him last year, and I’m like, ‘How long is it going to take him to realize I passed on him and picked Bradley Chubb instead?’ And it took him two and a half holes,” Elway recalled during a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon my Take” podcast.
“I loved him, but it didn’t work out. He was my guy. That was probably my biggest mistake in my days as a general manager: not picking Josh.”
Elway outplayed the strong-armed quarterback who had completed 56 percent of his passes during his two seasons as a starter in windy Wyoming, just 130 miles up Interstate 25 from Denver.
Instead, with the fifth overall pick that year, Elway selected Chubb, the NC State pass rusher who struggled to stay healthy in Denver and was eventually traded to the Miami Dolphins.
Elway had just signed Case Keenum, who was coming off a breakout season in Minnesota, and was still smarting from his selection of another tall, strong quarterback from a small school in the first round two years earlier.
Not long after celebrating the franchise’s third Super Bowl title, Elway selected Memphis’ Paxton Lynch with the 26th pick in the 2016 NFL draft, which turned out to be the worst decision of his decade in charge of the Broncos.
Lynch was beaten twice by seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian and started just four games before the Broncos waived him in 2018.
Elway’s one-two punch of selecting Lynch and passing on Allen set off a long slide for the once-proud franchise, which has failed to make the playoffs since its Super Bowl triumph following the 2015 season.
The Broncos have had 13 different starting quarterbacks since Peyton Manning’s retirement, and that number will rise again this season unless veteran Jarrett Stidham faces rookie Bo Nix and reclamation project Zach Wilson in a three-way quarterback battle.
Neither of them has separated until now.
Elway, who capped his Hall of Fame playing career with back-to-back Super Bowl titles in the late 1990s, rejoined the franchise in 2011 as director of player personnel. A year later, he was named executive vice president of football operations and replaced Tim Tebow with Manning, who led Denver to two Super Bowls in his four seasons with the Broncos.
Elway went 64-26 in his first five seasons at the helm but fell to 32-48 in his final five years before retiring after the 2020 season.
