There's a striking similarity between John Elway and Josh Rosen that's hard to ignore

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Put John Elway and John Rosen side by side at the same point in their careers and the similarities are interesting.

Both attended college in California — UCLA for Rosen and Stanford for Elway.

Both have a similar stature — Rosen stands at 6-foot-4, 218 pounds, Elway stood at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds in his playing days.

The list can go on, but those are just a few.

With all of the similarities between the two signal callers, though, there is one very important one that could bring the two together on the same team.

During his pre-draft press conference, Elway discussed how he’s evolved in what he looks for when evaluating quarterbacks. Now, he has a clear vision on what his ideal quarterback looks like.

“I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been doing this job as far as what certain quarterbacks have success with. The bottom line is that I believe the one thing is that is that you got to be able to win from the pocket,” Elway said, potentially looking at a younger version of himself while making the assessment.

“No matter what you do, I think the one thing that I’ve learned is, as a quarterback, you’ve got to be able to win it from the pocket. You can win games, but you can’t win championships unless you have the ability to win it from the pocket. Then if you can get out and move around and create, and do those types of things, then that’s an added bonus.”

At the NFL Combine less than two months ago, the young phenom from UCLA was asked what his most pro-ready attribute was. His answer was music to the ears of ol’ No. 7.

“I can sit in the pocket and really pick defenses apart,” he said, seemingly acing the Elway test. “I make very quick decisions, very quick and decisive decisions.”

If this seems too good to be true, or premeditated, Rosen made a convincing, yet different, case for the pocket quarterback, which has been pushed to the side with the emergence of the RPO and mobile quarterback.

“I always say that I think if you can get three or four reads into your progression, you give yourself more opportunities down the field,” he explained. “If you’re a one-two-and-run guy and you throw the ball 40 times a game, in the NFL 30 times a game, you’re giving yourself 70-80 opportunities to get the ball down the field. If you can get into one, two, three and four, you’re giving yourself 150-160, twice as many opportunities to get the ball down the field. That’s what I think my best attribute is.”

Going once, going twice, sold to the man with the No. 5 overall pick.

If John Elway is, in fact, looking for his quarterback of the future in this draft, there may be no need to look any further than Rosen. Not only did the UCLA product make a convincing verbal case for himself, he’s the most pro-ready quarterback in the draft and has a strong case to be the best pocket passer in a draft stacked with quarterback talent.

Round peg, meet round hole.

Now, of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean Rosen is Elway’s top quarterback. But, when the two sat down for lunch together just weeks before the draft at Rosen’s pre-draft visit, it’s clear this type of answer would have knocked it out of the park if it was one of Elway’s interview questions.

If it’s that simple, Elway’s got his man.