3 Broncos most deserving of Hall of Fame now that Randy Gradishar is off the list

Now that the Pro Football Hall of Fame has finally chosen to place Randy Gradishar in his rightful place, I can finally get off that soapbox. But that means another one needs more attention, right?

Gradishar was easily the most deserving former Broncos player not already in the Hall of Fame, a list that has gotten much shorter in recent years when players like Steve Atwater and Terrell Davis were inducted in recent years.

The list of those who should not be left out is getting shorter as well, but there are still some former Broncos who need to be in Canton at some point and hopefully, while they are still around to be able to enjoy it.

I have knocked that list down to three. These three former Broncos should join the list of those already in sooner rather than later.

Denver Broncos vs Oakland Raiders – November 12, 2006 | Robert B. Stanton/GettyImages

Former Broncos who deserve to be in Hall of Fame next

Mike Shanahan, Head Coach

Mike Shanahan is the best coach in Broncos history by a pretty good margin, but he’s also one of the best coaches in NFL history. Though some Broncos fans will present a case for former head coach Dan Reeves — and perhaps he gets elected down the line — Shanahan is more deserving and needs to go in first.

Of course, Shanahan won back-to-back Super Bowls in Denver in 1997 and 1998 but he was also one of the best offensive minds the league has ever seen.

He is currently in a tie for 14th on the all-time wins list for coaches with 170 wins. Of the names that are ahead of him on that list, six are already in the Hall of Fame. Here are the other names ahead of him:

Bill Belichick

Andy Reid

Marty Schottenheimer

Dan Reeves

Chuck Knox

Jeff Fisher

Mike Tomlin

The coaches that are tied with him at 170 wins are Tom Coughlin and Pete Carroll. From that list, Belichick and Reid are mortal locks to reach the Hall of Fame. A case can easily be made for Schottenheimer and Tomlin. And both Coughlin and Carroll should garner consideration with Carroll almost certainly gaining entry down the line.

Shanahan’s resume stacks up with any of those former coaches not named Belichick or Reid. The Broncos added their former coach to the Ring of Fame in 2021. Now it’s time for him to take his spot in Canton.

Pittsburgh Steelers v Denver Broncos | George Gojkovich/GettyImages

Louis Wright, Cornerback

Now that Gradishar has been elected to the Hall of Fame, the Orange Crush Defense finally has some representation. Perhaps the voters will agree that it is time to start adding to that group.

Louis Wright is not just merely another member of that terrific defensive unit. He was the Broncos’ original “shutdown corner” and one of the best defensive backs of his era.

A first-round pick out of San Jose State in 1975, Wright spent his entire 12-year career in Denver. He was a member of the All-Pro First Team four times while also being selected to five Pro Bowls. He finished his career with 26 interceptions but his potential spot in the Hall of Fame cannot be based on statistics.

Opposing quarterbacks would shy away from throwing the ball to the side of the field Wright was on, long before players like Deion Sanders and Darrelle Revis made that a thing. He would take the other team’s No. 1 wide receiver and keep them off the stat sheet in many instances.

But the best argument as to why Wright should be in the Hall of Fame is this: There are four cornerbacks of the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1970s. The other three — Willie Brown, Roger Wehrli and Jimmy Johnson — are all already in the Hall of Fame. There is no reason why Wright should not join them as he was every bit the player that all of them were.

The difference is, all of them have many more interceptions than Wright did during their careers but those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Nov 23, 2006; Kansas City, MO, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver (80) Rod Smith catches a pass in a game against the Chiefs. | John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Rod Smith, Wide Receiver

Rod Smith is rarely mentioned in connection with talks about the Hall of Fame, but he absolutely should be. He still holds every major receiving record for the Broncos but he’s also high up there on the all-time list.

Smith finished his 14-year career, which was spent entirely with the Broncos, with 849 receptions for 11,389 yards and 68 touchdowns. Not only have no other Broncos receivers approached those numbers, but many great NFL receivers did not either.

His 839 receptions currently ranks No. 33 in league history. That is more catches than Steve Largent, Shannon Sharpe, Michael Irvin and Calvin Johnson had in their careers. All of those players are in the Hall of Fame.

His 11,389 yards currently sit at No. 36, more than Sharpe and two AFL legends, Lance Alworth and Raymond Berry. Both of them are in the Hall of Fame.

There are more than 50 players who have more than his 68 receiving touchdowns, but it’s still more than Irvin, Cliff Branch and Charlie Joiner, who are in the Hall of Fame.

The only knock on Smith is that he was undrafted coming out of college. He wasn’t flashy on the field and doesn’t have a fun nickname like “The Playmaker” or “Megatron”. But he was the model of consistency and he was a huge part of the Broncos teams that won the Super Bowl in 1997 and 1998.

Smith was a Hall-of-Fame player but if he ever gets in, it could be the kind of wait that Gradishar just ended. If that ends up being the same amount of time from retirement to election, we can look forward to Smith being part of the Hall of Fame class of 2048!

This article was originally published on predominantlyorange.com as 3 Broncos most deserving of Hall of Fame now that Randy Gradishar is off the list.