# 1972 Denver Broncos season

The 1972 Denver Broncos season was the team's 13th season in professional football and third in the National Football League (NFL). Under first-year head coach and general manager John Ralston, the Broncos finished with five wins and nine losses, third in the AFC West Division.
Hired in early January, Ralston was previously the head coach for nine years at Stanford University; in his final two seasons, he led the Indians to consecutive Pac-8 titles and upset victories in the Rose Bowl.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1972 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 5 | Riley Odoms * | Tight end | Houston |
| 3 | 58 | Bill Phillips | LB | Arkansas State |
| 4 | 102 | Tom Graham | LB | Oregon |
| 5 | 118 | Jim Krieg | WR | Washington |
| 8 | 186 | Ron Estay | DT | LSU |
| 9 | 214 | Floyd Priester | DB | Boston University |
| 10 | 239 | Richard Wilkins | DE | Maryland State |
| 11 | 263 | Larry Brunson | WR | Colorado |
| 12 | 292 | Randy McDougall | DB | Weber State |
| 13 | 317 | Bob Warner | RB | Bloomsburg (PA) |
| 14 | 342 | Jerome Kundich | G | Texas-El Paso |
| 15 | 370 | Harold Parmenter | DT | Massachusetts |
| 16 | 395 | Tom Bougus | RB | Boston College |
| 17 | 420 | Lou Harris | RB | USC |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### Staff / Coaches

    Source

### Roster
## Regular season
### Schedule

The Broncos' last three home games kicked off at noon MST instead of the standard 2 p.m.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17 | Houston Oilers | W 30–17 | 1–0 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 |
| 2 | September 24 | at San Diego Chargers | L 14–37 | 1–1 | San Diego Stadium | 49,048 |
| 3 | October 1 | Kansas City Chiefs | L 24–45 | 1–2 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 |
| 4 | October 8 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–21 | 1–3 | Riverfront Stadium | 55,812 |
| 5 | October 15 | Minnesota Vikings | L 20–23 | 1–4 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 |
| 6 | October 22 | at Oakland Raiders | W 30–23 | 2–4 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 53,551 |
| 7 | October 29 | Cleveland Browns | L 20–27 | 2–5 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 |
| 8 | November 5 | at New York Giants | L 17–29 | 2–6 | Yankee Stadium | 62,689 |
| 9 | November 12 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 16–10 | 3–6 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 65,398 |
| 10 | November 19 | Oakland Raiders | L 20–37 | 3–7 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 |
| 11 | November 26 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 20–23 | 3–8 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 58,850 |
| 12 | December 3 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 21–24 | 3–9 | Arrowhead Stadium | 66,725 |
| 13 | December 10 | San Diego Chargers | W 38–13 | 4–9 | Mile High Stadium | 51,478 |
| 14 | December 17 | New England Patriots | W 45–21 | 5–9 | Mile High Stadium | 51,656 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Oakland Raiders | 10 | 3 | 1 | .750 | 3–2–1 | 7–3–1 | 365 | 248 | W6 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 4–2 | 6–5 | 287 | 254 | W3 |
| Denver Broncos | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 325 | 350 | W2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 2–3–1 | 4–6–1 | 264 | 344 | L3 |