Josh McDraft

Josh McDaniels practically destroyed the Broncos franchise during his less-than-two-year tenure as head coach of the Denver Broncos. Or did he?

I was kind of wondering what he was thinking as he stood on the sideline watching the Broncos beat the Patriots to claim the AFC championship. (He's now the Patriots' offensive coordinator.)

His draft strategies were widely panned while he was in Denver. . . and with good reason. Trading a first round pick next year for a second round pick this year is generally a bad idea, unless you hit a home run and Alphonso Smith turns out to be an All-Pro. (He didn't.)

But not all of his picks were busts. The following players played key roles during the Broncos' win and were all draft choices from the McBronco era.

• Knowshon Moreno. He had a 28-yard run on 3rd-and-10 in the second quarter which set up the Broncos' first touchdown of the day, and was the game's leading rusher with 59 yards.
• Robert Ayers. He sacked Tom Brady for an 11-yard loss on 3rd-and-8 from the Broncos 18 with about three and a half minutes remaining in the second quarter, forcing the Patriots to settle for a field goal on their only effective drive of the first half.
• Demaryius Thomas. He had 7 catches for 134 yards and a third-quarter touchdown reception which gave the Broncos their largest lead of the game.
• Zane Beadles. He started at left guard and was part of an offensive line that didn't give up a sack and kept defenders away from Peyton Manning all day.
• Eric Decker. He had 5 catches for 73 yards, all of them for first downs.

I should also mention David Bruton, a reserve safety and special teams player. Although he played a less significant role, he was credited with one tackle in Sunday's game and was also a McDaniels selection.

McDaniels might have felt a little bit of pride yesterday, even though his team was thoroughly beaten on the field. He might have thought, "Hey, I wasn't such a bad judge of talent after all!"

So while John Elway gets the lion's share of credit for constructing this Super Bowl team, let's take a moment to thank Josh McDaniels for 10 percent of the roster. However, I don't think that they will give him a Super Bowl ring if the Broncos win.