John Elway knows what a young quarterback needs to succeed

Hate it or love it, John Elway drafted two wide receivers and he did with the Broncos first two draft picks. Everybody melted down. It was hilarious.

In the first round, Elway drafted potential-filled Jerry Jeudy out of Alabama. Elway then drafted speedster K.J. Hamler out of Penn State in the second round.

The majority of Broncos Country praised the selection of Jeudy. Then, everybody had a conniption fit over the selection of Hamler. Again, it was hilarious.

There’s two primary reasons most feel Elway drafted Jeudy and Hamler. The first being that he is trying to replicate the Chiefs high-powered offense much in the same way he recreated the Seahawks dominant defense to win Super Bowl 50.

The second reason is that Elway is all in on quarterback Drew Lock and is attempting to surround the young signal caller with multiple playmakers.

Elway could also be providing Lock with these weapons because it’s a reminder of what Elway didn’t have early in his career.

Elway led the Broncos to three Super Bowls in his first seven seasons. This is an incredible accomplishment. As impressive as it was, this early success was overshadowed by the fact that Elway and the Broncos got their doors blown off in all three Super Bowls.

Elway’s inability to win the Super Bowl made him a joke. No matter how well Elway played, people said he couldn’t win “The Big One”.

With all due respect to the players on those three teams, Elway lost those Super Bowls because he did not have a supporting cast that was capable of winning a championship. Elway knows what it is like to be a young, talented quarterback and not have dynamic playmakers to attack opposing defenses. With Lock in Denver, Elway is not looking to repeat what happened to him.

Heading into the 1992 offseason, the Broncos were coming off a loss in the 1991 AFC Championship Game to the Bills, 10-7. Elway was injured and missed the majority of the game. Combine that with the fact that kicker David Treadwell missed three field goals in that game and Elway could have started in his fourth Super Bowl that season.

The Broncos picked 25th overall in the 1992 draft and wide receiver Carl Pickens was still on the board. With their first-round pick, however, he Broncos drafted quarterback Tommy Maddox.

This was a very silly decision for the obvious reason that the Broncos did not need a quarterback. It’s much worse by the fact that the team was close and was in a position to get Elway a playmaker in Pickens and they passed.

Pickens had a nice career and played in two Pro Bowls. Two may not sound like a lot, but Pickens did it with the early-1990s Bengals that were by far some of the worst teams in NFL history. Playing with Elway would have given Pickens an even more productive career. This is one of the biggest misses in Broncos draft history.

In 1992, Shannon Sharpe emerged as one of the top tight ends in the NFL. Sharpe would become the first elite pass-catching talent Elway would have at his disposal. As great as Sharpe was, Elway and the Broncos offense needed more. Elway would have to wait another season to get his first game-changing wide receiver when the Broncos signed Anthony Miller.

Miller was signed prior to the 1994 season. Miller was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1995. This would be the first time Elway threw to a Pro Bowl wide receiver in his career. It was his 13th season. Steve Watson played in the 1981 Pro Bowl, prior to Elway coming to Denver.

Elway watched Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman win multiple Super Bowls with rosters that were full of Pro Bowl and Hall of Fame players. Elway had to wait until the end of his career to have the same luxury. When Elway did have a supporting cast, he won back-to-back Super Bowls.

As exciting as it was to watch Elway go out on top, he would likely prefer Lock to have that success much earlier in his career. Jeudy and Hamler join Courtland Sutton, Melvin Gordon, Noah Fant and Phillip Lindsay on the Broncos offense. A young Elway would have worked wonders with a squad this talented.

The question has continued as to whether the Broncos should have looked at an offensive lineman in the first or second round rather than drafting Jeudy and Hamler. The Broncos have added four new starters dating back to last offseason. Elway has continually addressed the issue; at some point, attention needs to go to other positions.

The offensive line was vastly improved with Lock under center, including the play of Garett Bolles. Elway likely feels having high-powered receivers is the best way to maximize Lock’s talent because that’s what would have maximized his talent when he was young.

In the first decade of his career, the pressure was all on Elway to make the Broncos a success. While Elway loves his two Super Bowl trophies, he probably feels had better talent surrounded him earlier in his career, he could have more.

John Elway is not about to put Drew Lock through the same frustrations that he felt as a young, cocky and talented quarterback.