Reuben Foster could be this year’s Shane Ray or Bradley Roby

John Elway isn’t afraid of “character concerns.” Whether it’s with players on the roster—Von Miller earlier in his career—or college prospects—Shane Ray and Bradley Roby—Elway has proven time and time again he is willing to give players second chances.

So far, it’s worked out nicely for the Denver Broncos.

In Elway’s six-year tenure leading the football operations of the Broncos, he has gambled on players with questionable backgrounds twice in the first round—first with Roby in 2014 and next with Ray a year later. At the time, the risk with both of these players was having their past off-the-field issues follow them into the NFL. The reward was getting a top talent later in the draft. So far, with both Roby and Ray, the gamble has paid off just as Elway hoped.

Now, just two years after Ray, Elway and the Broncos may have another opportunity to grab a top-talent that slips in the draft: ILB Reuben Foster.

Foster, a University of Alabama product, is not only viewed as the best linebacker in the draft by most draft experts, he is viewed as a top-five overall player as well. However, after Alabama’s season ended, Foster had surgery on his rotator cuff that forced him to sit out from participating in drills at the NFL Combine.

Instead of missing the Combine altogether, Foster decided to attend to take part in the medical evaluation and team interview portion. It didn’t work out as he had hoped.

Before he was able to participate in either task, Foster was sent home from the Combine for “personal reasons,” which later was discovered that he got into a “heated altercation” with a hospital worker on Friday night of the Combine.

While Foster’s shoulder surgery or incident at the combine likely weren’t enough to drop him significantly in the draft on their own, the combination of the two may be enough to get the Broncos in striking range.

With the No. 20 overall pick, it still seems unlikely that Foster would fall to Denver. However, if he falls out of the top 10, Elway could look to move up in the first round to get him, just like he did with Ray in 2015.

As a pass rusher in 2015, Ray was thought to be a top-10 talent by many, however, just days before the draft he was cited for the possession of marijuana, causing him to fall. Once Ray was still on the board at pick 23, Elway made a move to get him. The Broncos traded their first-round pick (28 overall), their 2015 fifth-round pick, 2016 fifth-round pick and center Manny Ramirez to the Detroit Lions to move up five spots to select Ray.

The year before, Roby took an equally dramatic fall in the draft after being charged with a Class B misdemeanor after an altercation at a bar in Indiana—which was later dismissed—and to pleading guilty to having “physical control” of a vehicle while under the influence.

Draft evaluator Mike Mayock called Roby a top-15 talent, yet these character concerns dropped him all the way to Denver at 31. After selecting Roby, Elway had no concerns over his past problems.

“We have a tremendous locker room, so he will get a lot of guidance,” Elway said in 2014. “Hopefully he can learn from those (mistakes).”

If Foster falls to within the Broncos’ range, not only does he make sense because he’s an immense talent, but he would immediately help address the two weakest parts of Denver’s defense: stopping the run and defending tight ends and running backs in the passing game.

While other general managers may not be willing to risk a high first-round pick on Foster, history would say that Elway would be happy to take him under his wing, just as he did with Ray and Roby.