Hindsight is everything and for NFL teams, there are so many would've, could've, should've' examples that executives have to live with. So often the players expected to be great coming out of college underperform and late-round picks end up being stars in the league.
It is difficult for teams to know with 100% certainty who they should select in the draft and while scouting and stats help, it's a game you don't always win. Teams have to move on and live with their decisions, good or bad, but that doesn't mean they don't hold onto some regrets.
Quarterback Josh Allen was available when the Denver Broncos were up with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The general manager at the time, John Elway, and the rest of his decision-makers went with linebacker Bradley Chubb instead. Allen ended up going at No. 8 to the Buffalo Bills and the rest is history.
Looking back, Elway says, "That was probably my biggest mistake of my GM days, was not taking Josh ... And I loved him, right? … he was my type."
In such a quarterback-driven league, passing on one who ended up being a top player in the position is hard to get over, even all these years later.
Had the Broncos taken Allen, we could be looking at a very different AFC for these last six years. Would the Bills have four straight AFC East titles going back to 2020? Would the Kansas City Chiefs have a tougher time winning their division, having to face Allen twice a year? We can only hypothesize.
Elway says he's seen Allen recently and it didn't take the Pro Bowler too long before he brought up the fact that he could've been a Bronco instead of a Bill.
"Last year I played golf with him and I'm wondering how long is it going to take him to realize that I passed on him and took Bradley Chubb instead? And it took him two-and-a-half holes," Elway said.
Chubb played for the Broncos for four years and some change, before joining the Miami Dolphins. With the Broncos, he played in 49 games with 144 tackles, 26 sacks and one interception. He was a Pro Bowl player, but he didn't make the impact that Allen would've made, even if it did take the QB a few years to emerge as one of the league's elite players.
