If you want to be a big-time scout in the NFL, the first thing you need to know about Tommie Frazier, the all-but-unstoppable quarterback from the University of Nebraks, is that he is not another Kordell Stewart.
Doesn't have the speed.
Doesn't have the arm.
But can he play in the NFL?
Don't be daft.
"Heck yes, he can play in this league," said Bob Ferguson, the Denver Broncos personnel chief. "He can play any league he wants to play in. He's just a heckuva football player.
"I love that kind of player, and I think everybody else does, too. He's one of those guys who can do just about anythingn you ask him to, but the tough question is how are you going to channel it once you get him on your team?
"He's obviously proved he can run the football. But once you start talking about him throwing the football, all you're doing is speculating. I don't know if he can throw at this level. I think he's probably gifted enough to throw the ball, but I really haven't seen him throw enough. I know one thing though. If you don't give him a chance, you'll never know."
It won't be until after some intense evaluation that Ferguson puts a priority number on Frazier. "But he's a top 100 guy for sure," Ferguson said, which probably means somewhere in the first three rounds before he's even been evaluated as a quarterback.
"We like Tommie Frazier an awful lot, but whether we draft him as a quarterback, that's up to coach (Mike) Shanahan. ANy time you draft a quarterback, it's going to be how he fits into your system... what youcoach is looking for in that position.
"But Tommie Frazier's stock has been going up all year. He's a proven leader. He's a winner. He can do an awful lot of things to make things happen on the football field. We'll dissect him, cut him up and put him back together between now and the draft, and some of us will say he can't play and some of us will love him.
"I love him. That's the kind of quarterback I like. Bottom line is he's one helluva football player and I want those guys playing for us.
"I mean isn't this the same conversation we all had about Kordell last year?"
"Tommie Frazier is just the most talented kid out there from an overall standpoint" according to Broncos legend John Elway.
And yes, assistant coach Gary Kubiak, like Elway, sees Frazier as a quarterback prospect in opposition to Shanahan, who views him as a potential defensive back.
"Yeah, I do," said Kubiak. "I think he's totally different from the kid from Colorado, Kordell Stewart, but Tommie Frazier's a quarterback. If he's anything else, he might be one of the top running backs in the draft, too...
"Would he appeal to us? I think he's going to appeal to us, yes. It's just a matter of where... what round you're talking about."
In this draft, the Broncos probably could have Frazier or any one of Kubiak's top four in the third, maybe even in the fourth round.
But they are not inclined to take advantage of that opportunity.
"Well," said Kubiak, "you know John's still got a good four years left in him, and we've got Billy Musgrave, who we're very comfortable with and we just got TJ Rubley and we feel pretty good about that, so, I can't speak for coach (Mike Shanahan), but when you talk about Hoying or a Banks with a late second or third... that's probably not our direction."
However, said Kubiak, "we're going to continue to look foa young guy, somewhere late, probably. We're still trying to find a kid that shows a lot of ability that's not going to be taken in the first four or five rounds. There's a couple guys out there that we've got our eye on."
Among those known to be on Kubiak's list are Brook Berringer, who was Frazier's backup at Nebraska; Scott Milanovoich (Maryland), Spencer Fischer (Duke) and Josh Nelson (Mississippi).