John Elway admitted he regrets the Denver Broncos passing on quarterback Josh Allen, and said his biggest mistake was not overruling his own staff when the debate came down in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Elway’s comments came on a newly released episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay, where the Hall of Famer revisited his years running Denver’s front office and acknowledged the decision still sticks with him.
Key details (fast context):
- Denver is 13-3 and hosts the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18. The Broncos can clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a win.
- The game is Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026 (CBS), with kickoff listed at 4:25 p.m. ET.
- Elway appeared on Sharpe’s podcast, in part, to capitalize on the timing of the Elway documentary that dropped on Netflix, and of course, capitalized on the buzz around the Broncos this season.
Elway’s Josh Allen Admission Put Old Draft Wound Back on the Table
During the interview, Sharpe brought up Elway’s long-discussed regret about 2018, and Elway didn’t dodge it. He said he liked Allen but couldn’t get buy-in from the coaching staff, adding that he wishes he would have simply made the call himself and taken the quarterback anyway.
Shannon Sharpe: “You admit you regret not taking Josh Allen.”
John Elway: “I do. I liked him, but I couldn’t get the buy-in from the coaching staff. My one regret is that I didn’t just overrule everybody and say, ‘We’re taking him.’”
It’s the kind of quote that instantly lights up Broncos fans because it touches the franchise’s most debated fork-in-the-road of the last decade: Denver held the No. 5 overall pick in 2018, but did not take Allen.
Instead, Allen went two picks later to Buffalo at No. 7, becoming a long-term face-of-the-franchise QB while Denver spent years cycling through answers at the position.
The Broncos drafted defensive end/outside linebacker Bradley Chubb instead. Chubb would go on to being named to two Pro Bowl teams in Denver, but clearly Elway thought Allen should have been the pick.
Why It Still Hits Broncos Fans So Hard
Elway’s regret isn’t new; he’s said publicly before that passing on Allen was likely his biggest mistake as Broncos GM.
But the timing of the quote is what makes it feel loud again in Denver: the Broncos are heading into the regular-season finale with real stakes, and the fan base is already in “every decision matters” mode.
It also reopens the “what if” conversation in the cleanest, most painful way, because this isn’t an analyst doing hindsight content. It’s Elway himself saying he wishes he had pushed the button.
Week 18 Pressure Makes This Quote Even Louder
The Broncos enter Week 18 at 13-3, and they can lock up the AFC’s No. 1 seed – the lone first-round bye and home-field advantage – by beating the Chargers.
Denver’s official clinching scenarios are straightforward: a Broncos win gets it done. Though, Denver could also clinch without a win.
So while Elway’s “Allen regret” is technically a look back, the real hook is what it does today: it dumps gasoline on the biggest long-term Broncos argument right as the franchise is trying to finish a season strong and push into the postseason.
If Denver handles business Sunday, the comment becomes a weird footnote in a happy week. If anything gets messy, it’s the kind of quote that can dominate sports-talk oxygen for days.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post John Elway Admits Brutal Broncos Josh Allen Draft Regret as Week 18 Looms appeared first on Heavy Sports.
