When my feed shot an article through from SB Nation naming the 2009 NFL Draft class as the worst of the century, I knew Denver Broncos fans could relate. The original post only mentioned the Broncos once, which struck me as strange considering the epic fail that was the Broncos 2009 draft class.

Let's review shall we?

I have a chart here of that draft class and at the end you will see both a "WATN?" and a final grade. The "WATN?" stands for "Where are they now?" and the results are pretty sad.

Rnd Pick Player Position WATN? Grade 1 12 Knowshon Moreno Running Back Miami Dolphins C+ 1 18 Robert Ayers Defensive End New York Giants C 2 37 Alphonso Smith Cornerback Retired F 2 48 Darcel McBath Defensive Back San Francisco 49ers D 2 64 Richard Quinn Tight End Retired F 4 114 David Bruton Defensive Back Denver Broncos A 4 132 Seth Olson Offensive Guard Retired D- 5 141 Kenny McKinley Wide Receiver Deceased

6 174 Tom Brandstater Quarterback Retired F 7 225 Blake Schlueter Center Retired F

Holy Cow! Yes, in the worst draft class this century, the Broncos were blessed with FIVE picks in the first two rounds. Five. Is it no wonder this team ended up 4-12 within 18 months?

Knowshon Moreno was on his way to an F grade before he resurrected his career under Peyton Manning, but as a first round pick, I could not grade him any higher than I did. The same went with Robert Ayers. He was a good run defender, but a mid first round pick should be much more than just a run defender.

Then we get to the dastardly pick of Alphonso Smith Jr. whom Josh McDaniels traded away a 2010 first round pick for a chance to select a cornerback in the second round of the worst draft class of the century. So about that 2010 first round pick that the Seattle Seahawks got? Well, they went and selected Earl Thomas who is just one of the premier defensive backs in the NFL today.

Bruton gets a solid A for his consistency and improvement as a special teams ace, from blocking kicks to his sure tackling of return men, he has gotten the job done.

But wait! It gets worse. The final two picks the Broncos had in the second round, they went with Darcel McBath and Richard Quinn. McBath is buried on the 49ers roster and may not make it through training camp this year, while Quinn is basically retired with no teams interested in signing him.

The best acquisition for Josh McDaniels from that horrendous 2009 draft class came in the fourth round with now special teams captain David Bruton. He gets a solid A for his consistency and improvement as a special teams ace, from blocking kicks to his sure tackling of return men, Bruton has gotten the job done. He kind of reminds me of Keith Burns from the glory days of the late 1990's.

Everyone else after the Bruton pick flamed out in the NFL, except for Kenny McKinnley who sadly took his own life very early in what was a promising young career.

As I recall, we at MHR were all sugar plums and gum drops after this draft - always looking for the positives. Well, my recollection includes mostly my own misguided opinions, but I think most of us back then were all happy as clams. In my research for this post, I found a comment over on BroncoTalk that was a home run insomuch as a fan trying to see reality through those orange and blue goggles. I even stole his "holy cow" for this post.

Jonathan Douglas • 5 years ago GRADES BY PICK: #12 - Moreno: D If they KNEW there wasn't depth at DT in this draft then they should have traded up at the beginning rather than pissing away our 2010 picks later. #18 - Robert Ayers: A Solid. No complaints. #37 Alphonso Smith: D WTF? Really... We sold our 1st round pick next year for a CB? I don't care if this kid is the second coming of D-Will (another under-rated short CB), it's not worth this pick. #48 - Darcel McBath: C Another CB... Is McD planning on trading Champ? Why are we not selecting defensive tackles?! #64 - Richard Quinn: F Holy Cow... We are officially into wildly stupid moves at this point! What a HUGE reach for a guy NO ONE would have picked until the 3rd round. And we gave up TWO 3rd rounders to get him. Again, NOT A NEED POSITION!!!! #132 - Seth Olsen: B We need depth and developmental talent at O-line... this is fine. #141 - Kenny McKinley: A Good talent, good value. #174 - Tom Brandstater: C Again, we reached on this one, but he's fine and we needed another QB for camp anyway. # 225 - Blake Schlueter: B Fine project to develop. Total Score: D We needed DT's leading into the draft and we got a RB and a TE, while throwing away two third round picks this year and next year's 1st round pick. Terrible.... just plain terrible.

Jonathan Douglas missed analyzing what would end up being the best pick of that entire draft, but overall I thought he was mostly spot on with the rest. Uhg, what a terrible draft class that was!

There you have it Broncos Country. The worst Broncos draft class of this century, but rest easy as it was also the worst draft class this century as a whole.