List of Denver Broncos first-round draft picks

A football player in a blue-and-orange uniform stands on the field.

Jay Cutler earned a Pro Bowl selection with the Broncos in 2008.

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are members of the American Football Conference West Division in the National Football League (NFL). The franchise was formed on August 14, 1959, to compete in the American Football League (AFL). The first AFL Draft was held three months later. The last AFL draft the Broncos participated in was the 1966 draft, due to them joining the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger on June 8, 1966.

The Broncos first participated in the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting, more commonly known as the NFL draft, in 1967. In the NFL Draft, each NFL franchise annually seeks to add new players to its roster. Teams are ranked in reverse order based on the previous season's record; the worst record picks first, the second-worst picking second and so on. The two exceptions to this order are made for teams that appeared in the previous Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion always picks 32nd, and the Super Bowl loser always picks 31st. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades.

The Broncos selected Roger LeClerc, a placekicker from Trinity College, in the 1960 AFL Draft. In their first NFL Draft, the Broncos selected Floyd Little, a running back from Syracuse University. The Broncos have selected players from the University of Nebraska, University of Florida, and University of Tennessee three times each, the most from any university in the first-round. The team's most recent selections were Tim Tebow, a quarterback from Florida University and Demaryius Thomas, wide receiver from Georgia Tech. Three selections, Floyd Little, Merlin Olsen, and Bob Brown, were enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982 and 2004, respectively. In 1991, Mike Croel became the first Bronco to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, receiving 68 out of 82 votes.

The Broncos' latest first-round pick is University of Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, who they picked 12th overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

Key

A man wearing a white polo looks straight ahead.

Randy Gradishar, a seven-time Pro Bowl participant and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Table key

^	Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
—	The Broncos did not draft a player in the first round that year.
Year	Each year links to an article about that particular AFL, Common, or NFL draft.
Pick	Indicates the number of the pick within the first round
Position	Indicates the position of the player in the NFL
College	The player's college football team

Player selections

Denver Broncos first-round draft picks

Year	Pick	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1960	—		C	Trinity College
1961	—		HB	New Mexico State
1962	—	^	DT	Utah State
1963	—		DB	UCLA
1964	—	^	OT	Nebraska
1965	—	— No pick	—	—	[a]
1966	—		OT	Purdue
1967	Template:Nts	^	RB	Syracuse
1968	—	— No pick	—	—	[b]
1969	—	— No pick	—	—	[b]
1970	Template:Nts		RB	Colorado
1971	Template:Nts		OT	USC	[c]
1972	Template:Nts		TE	Houston
1973	Template:Nts		RB	Purdue
1974	Template:Nts	^	LB	Ohio State
1975	Template:Nts		DB	San Jose State
1976	Template:Nts		G	Virginia
1977	Template:Nts		G	Boston College
1978	Template:Nts		NT	Miami (FL)
1979	Template:Nts		OT	Nebraska
1980	—	— No pick	—	—	[d]
1981	Template:Nts		DB	USC
1982	Template:Nts		RB	San Jose State	[e]
1983	Template:Nts		G	Northwestern
1984	—	— No pick	—	—	[f]
1985	Template:Nts		RB	Oklahoma
1986	—	— No pick	—	—	[g]
1987	Template:Nts		WR	Florida
1988	Template:Nts		DT	Syracuse
1989	Template:Nts	^	DB	Arkansas	[h]
1990	—	— No pick	—	—	[i]
1991	Template:Nts		LB	Nebraska
1992	Template:Nts		QB	UCLA
1993	Template:Nts		DE	Toledo	[j]
1994	—	— No pick	—	—	[k]
1995	—	— No pick	—	—	[l]
1996	Template:Nts		LB	Kutztown
1997	Template:Nts		DT	Clemson
1998	Template:Nts		WR	Tennessee
1999	Template:Nts		LB	Tennessee
2000	Template:Nts		CB	California	[m]
2001	Template:Nts		CB	Minnesota
2002	Template:Nts		WR	Hawaii
2003	Template:Nts		OT	Georgia
2004	Template:Nts		LB	Miami (FL)	[n]
2005	—	— No pick	—	—	[o]
2006	Template:Nts		QB	Vanderbilt	[p]
2007	Template:Nts		DE	Florida	[q]
2008	Template:Nts		OT	Boise State
2009	Template:Nts		RB	Georgia
2009	Template:Nts		DE	Tennessee	[r]
2010	Template:Nts		WR	Georgia Tech	[s]
2010	Template:Nts		QB	Florida	[t]
2011	Template:Nts		LB	Texas A & M
2012	—	— No pick	—	—
2013	Template:Nts		DT	North Carolina
2014	Template:Nts		CB	Ohio State
2015	Template:Nts		LB	Missouri
2016	Template:Nts		QB	Memphis
2017	Template:Nts		OT	Utah
2018	Template:Nts		DE	NC State
2019	Template:Nts		TE	Iowa
2020	Template:Nts		WR	Alabama
2021	Template:Nts		CB	Alabama
2022	No pick (traded to Seattle for Russell Wilson)
2023
2024	Template:Nts		QB	Oregon
2025	Template:Nts		CB	Texas

Footnotes

• ^a The Broncos traded their 1965 first-round pick along with defensive tackle Bud McFadin to the Houston Oilers for quarterback Jacky Lee.
• ^{b 1 2} On August 15, 1967, the Broncos traded their No. 4 overall pick in the 1968 Draft and No. 9 overall pick in the 1969 Draft to the San Diego Chargers for quarterback Steve Tensi.
• ^c On January 28, 1971, the Broncos traded their No. 9 overall pick in the 1971 Draft and defensive end Alden Roche to the Green Bay Packers for the No. 12 overall pick in the 1971 Draft and quarterback Don Horn.
• ^d On February 1, 1980, the Broncos traded their No. 20 overall pick and a second-round pick in the 1980 Draft along with quarterback Craig Penrose to the New York Jets for quarterback Matt Robinson.
• ^e The Broncos traded their No. 19 overall pick in the 1982 Draft to the Buffalo Bills for the No. 21 overall pick and a fourth-round pick in the 1982 Draft.
• ^f On May 2, 1983, the Broncos traded their No. 19 overall pick in the 1984 Draft along with quarterback Mark Herrmann and guard Chris Hinton to the Baltimore Colts for quarterback John Elway.
• ^g On October 9, 1984, the Broncos traded their No. 21 overall pick and third-round pick in 1986 Draft and fifth-round pick in 1987 Draft to the Cincinnati Bengals for the draft rights of Ricky Hunley.
• ^h On April 23, 1989, the Broncos traded their No. 13 overall pick in the 1989 Draft to the Cleveland Browns for the No. 20 overall, second, fifth, and ninth-round picks in the 1989 Draft.
• ⁱ On July 7, 1989, the Broncos selected Bobby Humphrey in the 1989 Supplemental Draft; as a result, they forfeited their rights to a first-round pick in 1990 Draft.
• ^j The Broncos traded their No. 14 overall pick and a third-round pick in the 1993 Draft to the Cleveland Browns for the No. 11 overall pick.
• ^k On August 23, 1993, the Broncos traded their No. 18 overall pick and sixth-round pick in the 1994 draft and a second-round pick in the 1995 draft to the Minnesota Vikings for offensive tackle Gary Zimmerman.
• ^l On April 24, 1994, the Broncos traded a third-round selection in the 1994 Draft and a first-round pick in the 1995 Draft to the Atlanta Falcons for wide receiver Mike Pritchard and a seventh-round pick in the 1995 Draft.
• ^m On April 12, 2000, the Broncos traded their No. 10 overall pick in the 2000 Draft to the Baltimore Ravens for the No. 15 overall pick and a second-round pick in the 2000 Draft.
• ⁿ On April 9, 2004, the Broncos traded No. 24 overall pick in the 2004 Draft along with cornerback Deltha O'Neal and a fourth-round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 17 overall pick.
• ^o On April 19, 2005, the Broncos traded their No. 25 overall pick in the 2005 Draft to the Washington Redskins for a third-round pick in the 2005 Draft, No. 22 overall and fourth-round picks in the 2006 Draft.
• ^p On March 21, 2006, the Broncos traded their No. 29 overall pick along with a third-round pick in the 2006 Draft and fourth-round pick in the 2007 Draft to the Atlanta Falcons for the No. 15 overall pick.
  On April 19, 2006, the Broncos traded their No. 22 overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers for second and third-round picks.
  On April 29, 2006, the Broncos traded their No. 15 overall pick to the St. Louis Rams for the No. 11 overall pick and a third-round pick in the 2006 Draft.
• ^q On April 28, 2007, the Broncos traded their No. 21 overall pick along with a third and sixth-round picks to the Jacksonville Jaguars for the No. 17 overall pick.
• ^r On April 2, 2009, the Broncos traded quarterback Jay Cutler and a fifth-round pick in the 2009 Draft to the Chicago Bears for the No. 18 overall pick in the 2009 Draft along with a third-round pick in the 2009 Draft and a first-round pick in the 2010 Draft.
• ^s On April 22, 2010, the Patriots traded this selection to the Broncos for a first-round selection (24th overall; traded to Dallas, who selected Dez Bryant) and a fourth-round selection it acquired from San Francisco (113th overall; New England selected Aaron Hernandez).
• ^t On April 22, 2010, the Ravens traded this selection to the Broncos for a second-round selection it acquired from Miami (43rd overall; Baltimore selected Sergio Kindle), a third-round selection it acquired from Philadelphia (70th overall; Baltimore selected Ed Dickson), and a fourth-round selection (114th overall; Baltimore selected Dennis Pitta).

References

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