Favorite Broncos, No. 29


I miss football, and sports in general. I'm guessing you do, too. And in the place of actual games, we've been seeing a lot of countdowns of classic games, players, etc. And that got me thinking about my own favorite team, the Denver Broncos. I have loved the Denver Broncos since I was a little kid, more than 30 years of fandom. I started watching them in the late 1980s, and have been faithful ever since. So I thought it might be fun to take a little walk down memory lane and consider my favorite players from those teams. So this is just a personal list, that will be presented in reverse order starting at number 30. Agree, disagree, have your own stories? Share them in the comments.

No. 29 Julius Thomas (2011-2014)
About: Continuing the countdown, I arrive at Julius Thomas, the Broncos' one-time tight end. He only played four seasons, and really was only a force on the field for a couple of them. He also sadly left the team right before they won the Super Bowl, and didn't have much of a post-Broncos career. I was interested in Thomas from when he was drafted. There was talk he could be the next Antonio Gates, and he was a player in his first couple seasons, 2011 and 2012, that I saw flashes in the pre-season and stashed him in some dynasty leagues. But injuries limited him to nine games where he saw seven targets and got one reception for five yards. But then, finally, in 2013 he was able to stay healthy, stay on the field, and found magic with Peyton Manning. In 14 games started, Thomas had 90 targets and caught 65 passes for 788 yards and 12 TDs. It was a big coming out party, and he was a big part of the historic offensive performance that year. He followed that up with another solid season in 2014, getting another 12 TDs. But following the season he left for Jacksonville on a big free agent contract. After leaving Denver, Thomas only played three more years (two for the Jaguars and one for the Dolphins) catching 117 passes for 1,124 yards and 12 TDs. His career wasn't long, but he burned bright for a couple incredible years in Denver, and as part of that he was the end of bench asset that won me my first Dynasty League Title in 2013. So, yes, fandom and fantasy football helped vault him to this list. But he was a part of the offense I loved, and I was sad to see him leave.

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