It wasn’t Doug Martin, the NFL’s hottest rookie running back, who the Broncos traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on draft day.

It was a number. The No. 31.

It’s picks, not players, that are usually traded during the NFL draft. Picks are numbers. Late in the first round of the 2012 draft April 26, the Broncos made a two-step trade process that essentially exchanged the No. 25 pick for draft picks No. 36 in the second round and No. 101 in the fourth.

Numbers eventually become players, though. And players have names.

The Broncos’ No. 25 pick was first swapped to the New England Patriots for the No. 31 and 126 picks; then Denver traded its freshly received No. 31 and 126 picks to Tampa Bay for No. 36 and No. 101.

When the Broncos were finished with their draft-board gymnastics they wound up with defensive tackle Derek Wolfe and cornerback Omar Bolden. New England wound up with linebacker Dont’a Hightower. Tampa Bay wound up with Martin.

Yet, the NFL does not record the result of these trades as the Broncos sending Martin to the Buccaneers in exchange for Wolfe and Bolden.

If it was recorded that way, the hype surrounding the Broncos-Tampa Bay game Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High would have been about “The Trade.” Martin has become a fantasy-league star, leading all rookies through Game 11 with 1,050 rushing yards.

Based on number of snaps, Wolfe has outplayed each of the seven defensive linemen drafted ahead of him, but still he has heard criticism of his play.

Searching for sacks

“I’m catching a lot of heat because my sacks aren’t what they should be,” Wolfe said. “But we have two of the best pass rushers in the NFL on the edge. How am I supposed to get there before them?”

Wolfe has three sacks in 11 games — one more than Trevor Pryce, arguably the best defensive tackle in Broncos history, had in his rookie year of 1998. But how many more would Wolfe have if it weren’t for Von Miller’s 14 sacks and Elvis Dumervil’s eight?

“I got a couple right before he was about to get there and he’s been bustin’ my chops about it,” Miller said. “I think on two sacks in the San Diego game, I got there a split second before him. And one in Atlanta I cut him off. So I know of at least three or four that I took from him. The stats may not be a proper representation, but I know. I know what type of player he is and I’m thankful for him giving me those sacks.”

There’s no reason for Wolfe to feel a need to defend himself, not when he’s played in 84 percent of the Broncos’ defensive snaps, easily the most among rookies. The next-most active rookie along the defensive front, New England’s Chandler Jones, has played 10 percent fewer snaps. And Jones is expected to miss this week’s game against the Miami Dolphins because of an ankle sprain.

By any measure, Wolfe has brought great value at No. 36.

“Defensive tackle is what we were targeting, and Derek specifically was the guy we targeted,” said John Elway, the Broncos’ executive vice president of football operations. “We were able to still get Derek like we did and we picked up some picks. With the year he’s had, the amount of playing time, he’s playing like a 10-year vet. Doug Martin has had a tremendous year, but we couldn’t be happier with Derek.”

Still, Martin was the sexier choice because running backs have their performances measured in stats.

The Broncos were like most NFL teams: They had Martin as their No. 2-rated running back, behind only Trent Richardson, whom the Cleveland Browns took at No. 3.

“We liked him a lot,” Elway said. “He’s a three-down back that can run inside, he can run outside. He plays on third down and catches the football. So he’s a well-balanced running back.”

Maneuvering for Martin

The core of Tampa Bay’s offense was largely built on two first-round draft trades that involved the Broncos. In 2009, the Bucs traded up from No. 19 to No. 17 and took quarterback Josh Freeman. The Bucs made the move because they thought then-Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, who had just ran off Jay Cutler, was going to take Freeman at No. 18. McDaniels, though, took defensive tackle Robert Ayers, as was his intention.

Three years later, the Broncos agreed to swap directly with Tampa Bay late in the first round, a move that enabled the Bucs to jump ahead of five teams to take Martin.

This time there is strong evidence the Bucs’ war-room intelligence was accurate. By moving from No. 36 to No. 31, the Bucs jumped ahead of the New York Giants, who took running back David Wilson at No. 32, and the St. Louis Rams, who took running back Isaiah Pead in the second round.

“You never know for sure because you’re not inside somebody’s draft room, but with all of your homework and all of your studying, you try to kind of predict, and we knew we wanted (Martin) so that was the most important thing,” said Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano. “We didn’t want to take a chance. But to do a trade you need another end of the trade and we’re grateful that Denver was willing to do it because it gave us an opportunity with Doug.”

The Broncos wanted a running back too, but with Willis McGahee coming off a 1,199-yard season, Elway and company felt there was a greater need at defensive tackle. The Broncos decided the best way to fortify their running back position was to complement McGahee with a speed option. So the Broncos traded away a fourth-round pick to move up to early in the third round to select Ronnie Hillman.

“Had we stayed late in the third round we wouldn’t have got Ronnie Hillman,” Elway said. “He would have been gone. So the way we look at this draft is we gave up a first- and fourth-round pick and we got back Wolfe, Bolden and Hillman.”

Bolden wasn’t exactly a throw-in, as they say in baseball trades. He has been playing on special teams and in some dime defensive coverages.

“My time will come,” Bolden said.

Neither Bolden nor Wolfe had any idea they were connected in a trade that helped Tampa land Martin.

“I don’t think about that (stuff),” Wolfe said. “I look at it as I was picked by the Broncos.”

He was picked at No. 36. More numbers? The Broncos are 8-3. Tampa Bay is 6-5.

Mike Klis: 303-954-1055, mklis@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikeklis

<!–

Rookie defensive linemen in 2012

Player, Team … Draft pick (Round) …… Starts …… Def Plays … Team Def Plays ……… Def. play pct.

Derek Wolfe, Broncos …. 36 (2) ……….. 11 …….. 648 ………….. 773 …………………… 83.8

Chandler Jones, NE …….. 21 (1) ……….. 10 ……. 565 …………… 759 ………………….. 74.4

Dontari Poe, KC …………. 11 (1) ………… 11 …… 464 …………… 655 ………………….. 70.8

Billy Winn, CLE ……….. 205 (6) ……….. 11 ……. 517 …………… 821 …………………. 63.0

Fletcher Cox, PHI ……….. 12 (1) ……….. 11 ……. 365 …………… 717 …………………. 50.9

Michael Brockers, STL … 14 (1) ………… 7 …….. 376 ………….. 742 …………………. 50.7

Mike Klis, The Denver Post

–>