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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- John Elway is now in his eighth season as the Denver Broncos' general manager, and he is still trying to settle things down at quarterback in the post-Peyton Manning era. He said he continues to learn and continues to adjust how he evaluates quarterback prospects in the draft. In his seven previous drafts as a team executive, Elway -- a Hall of Fame quarterback as a player -- has used five picks on quarterbacks, including taking Paxton Lynch in the first round in 2016. Brock Osweiler (2012, second round), Zac Dysert (2013, seventh round), Trevor Siemian (2015, seventh round) and Chad Kelly (2017, seventh round) were the others. While the Broncos signed Case Keenum in free agency and have said Lynch is the team's backup at the moment, they have also fully vetted this year’s top quarterback prospects. The coaching staff worked at the Senior Bowl. Denver personnel met with quarterbacks at the scouting combine, held private workouts and hosted dinners to gauge whether they would use the No. 5 pick on one of them in this draft. Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, USC’s Sam Darnold, UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Wyoming’s Josh Allen have all gotten plenty of pre-draft attention from the Broncos -- with Mayfield and Allen playing for the North team at the Senior Bowl in January. The Broncos signed Keenum in the opening hours of free agency and have repeatedly declared he is the team’s starter for the coming season. Selecting a quarterback in the first round, either by staying put at No. 5 or by moving up or down, would mean Elway is looking beyond 2018 and would have to sacrifice a top pick at another position. “Case is our starter ... we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it," is how Elway put it Thursday when asked about considering using that No. 5 pick on a quarterback. And when asked if, ultimately, the decision to take any of the quarterbacks in the draft comes down to whether Elway likes one enough, he said simply: “Yeah, it’s my job. I’ve got to break the ties, ultimately it’s going to be mine." Elway also said his time around Manning -- on and off the field during Manning's four seasons as Broncos starter -- broadened how he evaluated quarterbacks. He said executives and coaches who were former quarterbacks are inclined to look at players who played like they did. In watching how Manning played and prepared, Elway has now altered at least some of that thinking. He now looks beyond the strong-armed and mobile quarterback who resembled himself during his celebrated career. "If they played quarterback before, I think their play style is going to draw them to certain guys that are more their play style; I think that’s natural," Elway said. “I was a lot more [drawn to strong-armed quarterbacks] six or seven years ago, but then we had Peyton, right? Peyton was more of the cerebral type. I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been doing this job as far as what certain quarterbacks have success with." As Elway went through the free-agency process and prepared for this year’s draft, he said he has the same standard for any and all quarterbacks -- regardless of whether they run more or less with the ball or work out of spread offense or more under center. “The bottom line is I still believe the one thing you’ve got to be able to [do is] win it from the pocket," Elway said. “No matter what you do, 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. But then if you can get out and move around and create and those type of things, that’s an added bonus."
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