Picking quarterbacks in the NFL is a challenging and risky task that changes your franchise — for better or worse — for years. And for Denver Broncos general manager John Elway, who has, in the past, fallen in love with size and strength at the quarterback position, a look back at 2001 could bring a shift that alters his mindset.

In an interview with Sean Walsh of Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7Jason Cole of Bleacher Report discusses a moment involving Elway and his father Jack.

“When he [Elway] was first interested in getting into personnel and went and visited with his dad in 2001, I remember him telling me this story: he went with his dad when Jack was looking at quarterbacks that day. Jack was watching film and asked John, ‘Hey, what do you think of this kid?’. John looked at it and said, ‘Oh, he’s kind of small,” Cole said. “Jack said, ‘Look at the heart he plays with,’ — and it was Drew Brees who he was looking at.”

Cole says that an experience like that could help mold Elway’s thought process the next time around when it comes to picking the man of the future for Denver.

“I think when you get a kid like Baker Mayfield, who has that sort of swagger to him, I think that’s going to make John recall that moment and maybe make him say, ‘I’ve got to look beyond the big guys I’ve looked at so far with Osweiler and Lynch, and look at this — and maybe say, ‘I’m going to look at less tangible qualities.'”

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