A crucial attribute in John Elway’s eyes is separating quarterbacks at the combine

INDIANAPOLIS — Back in 1983, as a young, ripe 22-year-old NFL prospect, John Elway had it all. In the best quarterback draft class of all time, the soon to be the No. 1 overall draft pick from Stanford was the top of the crop.

Despite that—or potentially because of it—young John wasn’t always the easiest to get along with.

“I would have a feeling some people would say yes,” Elway said before cracking into his familiar laugh at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine when asked if he was hard to get along with as a young player. “You’re going to have to ask everybody else.”

When admitting this, the Broncos GM wasn’t ashamed. In fact, in his eyes, the exact same characteristic he possessed that may have irked some people back in the day is exactly what he’s searching for in his future quarterback.

“The bottom line is you’ve got to have confidence to play that position,” Elway stated with, well, confidence.

In a draft with plenty of top-tier quarterback talent, the Denver Broncos could be faced with the fortunate problem of having many options. While there will be hundreds of factors that go into that decision-making process of who to select—if they even need a quarterback once the time the draft rolls around—clear separation among the top prospects began to take place with the characteristic that Elway said is a must at that position.

In order to get a grasp on this intangible, BSN Denver asked the top-four prospects—Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen—if they believed they were the best quarterback in this year’s draft.

“Absolutely,” Mayfield said without hesitation. “If you don’t have that mindset, then something is wrong. Everyone else is probably thinking the same thing.”

“I think I’m the best quarterback here,” Rosen said, displaying his well-known self-belief before adding he’s the best overall player in the draft regardless of position. “I think I can diagnose defenses and put the ball where it needs to be and make quick decisions. We’re all competitors, and every other quarterback should have the same exact belief that I do.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Allen said, nearly echoing the others. “I don’t mean to say that in a cocky way, but I think every quarterback should think that. If you’re not thinking that you’re the best quarterback in this draft, you probably shouldn’t be here. Everybody does things well in their own aspect, and we’re all different, we all have our pluses, our minuses, but if you don’t have the mindset that you’re the best quarterback in this draft, you’re not going to fare well in this league.”

While certainly not a direct shot at the fourth and final quarterback, Allen’s stone-cold answer spoke volumes to Darnold’s response that strayed from the other three.

“I don’t think that’s up for me to decide,” Darnold said, not backing his own cause. “I’m really here to just show my best and tell teams why I think that I’m a really good quarterback. That’s pretty much it honestly.”

The USC product’s answer in itself isn’t a drastic shot at his confidence, but with questions already surrounding his belief in himself, Darnold did no favors for his own draft stock. During his final year of college, rumors surfaced that Darnold had confidence issues and he raised more questions when he decided not to throw at the combine. On top of that, a few of his other answers at the combine didn’t help his case.

When asked if he could play as a rookie, the 20-year-old said, “I think I’m ready. Obviously, there is still some work to do. There’s a long way until the season. I think I’m as ready as I can be… I think I’m pretty ready, but there’s obviously some work to do still.”

Yet the most daunting answer from the quarterback was when he said “I’m not sure” after being asked what his most pro-ready attribute was. He did go on to add, “That’s a good question. I can make split-second decisions and just let it go.”

To put that in comparison, the other quarterbacks had no problem tooting their own horns multiple times throughout their press conferences as they were engulfed by media members.

“I can make any throw,” Mayfield said. “I’m the most accurate quarterback in this draft by far.”

“I think my best attribute is I can sit in the pocket and really pick defenses apart,” Rosen said.

“When my feet are set I’m as accurate as anybody,” Allen said.

You may say Darnold is just being honest. And that’s completely fair, but one thing that’s become clear is if you want to play on John Elway’s squad moving forward, you better fake it until you make it when it comes to confidence at the quarterback position.

“I don’t think I’m cocky. It’s not cocky, it’s just confident,” Baker explained when specifically asked about his cockiness.

Don’t worry Baker, Josh and Josh, while many believe there is fine line between being confident and cocky, Elway sees no difference

“If he’s over-confident that’s not bad,” the general manager said, specifically when talking about Rosen.

After Darnold essentially dropped out of the confidence race, one player rose above the rest of the pack when asked about his ability and confidence in being able to turnaround an 0-16 Cleveland Browns franchise that’s been down in the dumps the past decade.

“First thing’s first, they’d get a winner,” Mayfield said, without missing a beat. “If anybody is going to turn that franchise around it would be me.”

If confidence were everything, which it’s not, Mayfield would be on the first flight from Indy to Cleveland as the No. 1 overall pick. Fortunately for Ol’ No. 7, confidence isn’t everything, and if he’s sold on Baker’s swag, he could have an opportunity to pluck him at No. 5 overall in late April.

Call it whatever you want—cocky, confident, swagger or all of the above—John Elway loves it all and simply needs it from a position once held by himself and Peyton Manning. While it’s one piece to the puzzle, that piece became came into clear focus in Indianapolis at the combine.