Broncos' one-hit wonders

Javon Walker looked like he was going to be the Denver Broncos' next star receiver - the heir apparent to Rod Smith - after his 1,000-yard season in 2006. But as the Broncos open the season tonight, Walker will be on the other side with the Oakland Raiders. After a 287-yard season in 2007, he was cut.

Walker is in a select group of Broncos who, because of injury, sudden ineffectiveness or being shipped out of town, had one shining year that exceeded all their others in Denver.

10. QB Brian Griese
Griese did have one Pro Bowl season. In 2000, he threw 19 touchdowns and four interceptions in 10 games. He never duplicated that, throwing for 38 touchdowns and 34 interceptions the next two years before being released.

9. RB Cookie Gilchrist
Not all one-year wonders are equal. Gilchrist's great career was mostly in the Canadian Football League and with Buffalo. He had one all-AFL year with the Broncos, rushing for 954 yards in 1965. He was traded to Miami in 1966 and appeared in one game for Denver in 1967 before retiring.

8. CB Deltha O'Neal
O'Neal was a solid kick returner for the Broncos, but as the 15th pick of the 2000 draft he was expected to do more than special teams. He did have one year of cornerback glory when he picked off nine passes and went to the Pro Bowl in 2001.
O'Neal progressively got worse as a corner and was moved to offense near the end of the 2003 season. He was traded to Cincinnati the next year and did go to another Pro Bowl, in 2005.

7. RB Reuben Droughns
What Droughns did in 2004 was easily his best work as a Bronco. He took over as the starting tailback during the season and rushed for 1,240 yards. He had 25 rushing yards his previous two seasons in Denver. He was traded to Cleveland after his one year of stardom.

6. HB Al Frazier
Like others on the list, Frazier was never better as a Bronco than in his first year. In 1961, he had 799 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He also returned two kicks for touchdowns in one game, which still is part of an NFL record. In 1962, he caught 11 passes with only 379 combined rushing and receiving yards, and he never caught another pass or had another carry for Denver after that year.

5. LB Elijah Alexander
Alexander's rise and fall was stunningly fast. He had 10 tackles in 1993. He became a starter in 1994 and led the team with a staggering 172 tackles, a mark that wasn't reached again by a Broncos player for eight years. Then in 1995 he had only 36 tackles in eight starts and was gone in 1996. He did play five more seasons with the Colts and Raiders.
Alexander was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. He has established the Tackle Myeloma Foundation (tmf58.com).

4. RB Mike Bell
Bell was the talk of the town in 2006 when the undrafted rookie was given the starting tailback job a week into training camp. He rushed for 677 yards and eight touchdowns in a committee with Tatum Bell that year. In 2007, he was moved to fullback and had six carries for 3 yards - his only carry after Week 3 resulted in a fumble. He was cut this offseason.

3. WR Javon Walker
Acquired from Green Bay in a draft-day trade, Walker had 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns receiving in 2006 despite spotty quarterback play. In 2007, he dealt with a knee injury that took away his speed and talked his way out of town after the season.

2. FB Billy Joe
The big fullback won some AFL Rookie of the Year awards in 1963 after leading the Broncos with 649 yards. He had four rushing touchdowns and and one receiving. By 1965, he was gone.
Joe's numbers dropped to 415 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 1964. Then he was traded for fellow one-year wonder Gilchrist. Joe never rushed for more than 400 yards in a season again but won more than 200 games as a college coach.

1. LB Mike Croel
Croel was the fourth overall pick of the 1991 draft and lived up to the lofty status ... for one season. Croel had 10 sacks and won a bunch of Rookie of the Year awards.
After that season, he had 10 more sacks his next three years in Denver. He spent time with the New York Giants, Baltimore and Seattle before his NFL career ended. He was briefly with the Los Angeles Xtreme of the defunct XFL but retired during training camp.