In this series, I will be looking at the history of coaches, quarterbacks, rushers, and receivers for all 32 franchises. For coaches and quarterbacks, I will be looking at how much their franchise’s career records (regular season only) would change if we removed the games with that person. For rushers and receivers, I will note how many times that player was the team’s leading rusher/receiver over the course of their time with that franchise (regular plus postseason).

Previous Teams:

AFC East: Dolphins, Bills, Jets, and Patriots
NFC East: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, and Redskins
AFC North: Steelers, Browns, Ravens, and Bengals
NFC North: Packers, Vikings, Bears, and Lions
AFC South: Jaguars, Colts, Texans, and Titans
NFC South: Panthers, Falcons, Saints, and Buccaneers
AFC West: Raiders, Chiefs, Chargers
NFC West: Seahawks, Rams, 49ers

Mike Shanahan went 32-52 as a head coach outside of Denver. Tom Flores went 14-34 as a head coach outside of the Raiders. Shanahan won two rings with the Broncos and won 62% of his games with the team; Flores won two rings with the Raiders and won 61% of his games with the team. The two are part of a group of 2-ring HCs who are not in the Hall of Fame, and their failures with other teams has certainly played a part in that regard.

And while not an apples to apples comparison, Shanahan does have one leg up on Flores, Coughlin, Johnson, and Seifert: he is remembered as the best head coach in his team’s history. Dan Reeves made it to three Super Bowls, John Fox and Red Miller took the team to the Super Bowl, and Gary Kubiak won a title, but nobody’s legacy in Denver compares to Shanahan’s…. at least, at head coach. And Denver has been such a strong franchise that even without the Shanahan era, the Broncos still have a winning record.

When it comes to the legacy of the Broncos, though, few men are as intertwined with one franchise as John Elway is with Denver. He guided the team to five Super Bowl appearances as a player and two more as an executive. As a franchise, the Broncos have won 53% of their games, but if you remove the games started by Elway at quarterback, Denver has a losing record! His starts improved the team’s all-time winning percentage by nearly four percent, making him one of the most influential quarterbacks in this regard.

Peyton Manning was even better than Elway on a per-start basis, and he improved the Broncos’ all-time winning percentage by 1.7%! Manning was 33 games over .500 for two different teams; since 1950, that’s the best of any quarterback, and Craig Morton (Denver, Dallas, +18), Y.A. Tittle (Giants, 49ers, +14), Jack Kemp (Chargers, Bills, +12), and Earl Morrall (Colts, Dolphins, +10) are the only other quarterbacks in double digits for two teams. Manning (+1.7%) is also the only quarterback to improve his team’s all-time winning percentage by at least one percent; Kemp (0.9%), Steve McNair (Baltimore, Tennessee, 0.8%), Trent Dilfer (Tampa Bay, Baltimore, 0.7%), and Morton (0.7%) are the only other quarterbacks over half a percent.

The Broncos have a pair of Hall of Fame running backs in Terrell Davis and Floyd Little, and they top the list here. Clinton Portis led the team in rushing yards in 90% of his games; during his time in Washington, he led the Redskins in rushing yards in 76 games, representing 87% of his games there. Oh, and Elway led the Broncos in rushing in 19 games in his career.

Undrafted free agent Rod Smith wasn’t supposed to be special, but he wound up being the best wide receiver in franchise history. Lionel Taylor was the franchise’s star receiver in the early days, and he led the Broncos in receiving yards in over half of his games. The man who caught the most receiving yards from Elway was Shannon Sharpe; the HOF TE ranks fifth on this list.

That’s it for the Broncos version of this series. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.