Starting from the bottom is nothing new for Broncos' Mose Frazier

There’s a bit of Memphis flavor in the air of Dove Valley this season and it’s not just in the form of first-round pick Paxton Lynch. Mose Frazier, Lynch’s teammate at Memphis, is a true, down-home Memphis man. A hometown kid who played for the hometown team and helped put them back on the map.

Needless to say, they love Mose in Memphis.

“Of course, of course, of course,” Frazier told BSN Denver of if he was a fan favorite back home. “They love me and I love the fans too. I just showed up and made plays, the fans love that, especially when we win.”

They sure did win. After just a three-win campaign in Lynch and Fraizer’s first season together, in the last two seasons, the Tigers won 19 games. That’s one more than the win totals of the previous six seasons combined.

“It was a great feeling knowing that we came from the bottom,” the young wide receiver stated. “A lot of people can’t say that. A lot of these guys went to universities where the program was already established but we just worked hard and when we came in we made a commitment that we were going to turn the program around and win some bowl games for Coach Fuente.”

“I’m from Memphis, being there and doing what we did the last two years, winning the conference and winning a bowl game, it’s a great feeling” he added. “We had a great run, a 15 or 16 game winning streak. I left my mark out there, those guys remember me. I put in the work.”

Now, Frazier finds himself in a similar, yet very different situation. He’s once again starting from the bottom but not with his teammates. In fact, most of his teammates are coming from the top, just weeks ago receiving a shiny ring as a token of their ascent.

He must once again put in the work, once again make his mark and he must show his value in multiple areas. The undrafted rookie has showed some diversity to his game, mentioned ealier in the offseason by special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis as a guy that has impressed returning punts.

“Being that I’m undrafted my time can be either long or short here, I have to make my name somewhere,” he said awarely. “On special teams, I gotta do what I gotta do. We have DT, Emmanuel and a couple other guys in front of me, I have to wait on my opportunities, get out there and do what I do. I can only control the things that I can control. On special teams, I just give great effort, make sure I know what I’m doing, play with speed and just keep the coaches eyes on me.”

Mose does one advantage in the task of keeping the coaches eyes on him, the guy the coaches have their eye on often, Lynch, often has his eyes on Fraizer.

“It’s been really good playing with him, having a familiar face around the locker room and a guy to talk to,” the rookie quarterback said of the guy he threw to 70 times last season. “It’s been really good to have him around. I know I’ve been throwing a lot to him whenever I get the opportunity to and I know we’ve been getting a lot of reps together because we’re in the same huddle. I know he’s working hard and I’m doing the same thing.”

“It’s a great feeling, we have chemistry together, he feels comfortable with me and I feel comfortable with him,” Frazier added. “It’s a great feeling knowing that I have somebody out there that I played college with, I’m not just fresh out here by myself.”

Their relationship off the field, “is just as great as it is on the field,” the wideout says, and all of that chemistry can only help his case for staying in the Mile High City for an extended period of time, but he’s not counting on it.

“That’s up to me, it’s not up to Paxton, it’s about what I do,” he said. “If he throws me the ball I have to catch it. It’s about me doing the right thing on each play, running good routes, making sure I get open. It’s really not about Paxton. Me making this team is all on me.”

In the end, though, the two can’t help but fantasize about the future—No. 13 connecting with No. 17 in Orange & Blue the same way they did in the Blue & Gray.

“That’s my dream, I’m pretty sure it’s his dream,” Fraizer explained. “I want to be here just as much as he wants to be here. I plan on contributing to this team. I look forward to playing with Paxton for a long time.”

It’s going to be an uphill climb to make that dream come true but uphill climbs are nothing new to Mose Frazier.