INDIANAPOLIS -- The Denver Broncos' football decision-makers got an up-close look at some of the better quarterback prospects in this year's draft class during their January work at the Senior Bowl, but this week's NFL scouting combine will kick in the real efforts to get to know them.

As president of football operations/general manager John Elway put it: "I've heard so many different things out there about all the quarterbacks, but I'm looking forward to meeting them myself."

The Broncos' coaching staff worked with the North team at the Senior Bowl, and that roster included Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield, Wyoming's Josh Allen and Washington State's Luke Falk. Mayfield and Allen will almost certainly be top-of-the-board picks in the April draft, and Falk may also be among the top five or six at the position.

But the combine will allow the Broncos, who have repeatedly said they're in the market for a makeover at quarterback, to see players who were not in the Senior Bowl, such as UCLA's Josh Rosen, Southern California's Sam Darnold and Louisville's Lamar Jackson. Rosen and Darnold, in particular, will probably be among the first players selected.

For the Broncos, who are also evaluating how aggressively they will look in free agency for a solution behind center, vetting the quarterbacks in this draft is on the front burner because they hold the No. 5 pick.

"It's a long process and having those quarterbacks on our [Senior Bowl North] team was obviously a good thing," Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. "All three guys were good guys. They're all talented guys. They all worked at it. Again, it's a long process. As we move forward, we just want to find out more about the guys as people and as quarterbacks. This week is always a good week to sit back and watch them compete and watch them perform."

Elway said Wednesday he believes the Broncos have enough salary-cap flexibility to make any deal in free agency, and that he would consider all options there. He also said he would expect the top quarterback prospects such as Rosen, Darnold, Allen and Mayfield to be among the Broncos' 30 allotted pre-draft visits.

The Broncos will meet with all of the high-profile passers at the combine, but those interactions can only last 15 minutes, by rule. The pre-draft visits to the team complex can be several hours, and the players can meet with the assistant coaches as well as Joseph and Elway.

Rosen and Jackson entered the draft after their junior seasons and could not participate in the Senior Bowl. Darnold declared for the draft after his sophomore season, so this week's work is really the first chance for Joseph and Elway to have a face-to-face with those players.

"I'm looking forward to get to know him, I've heard all that," Elway said of Rosen's hard-edged approach. "This is our time to try to get to know him. Arm-talent-wise he can throw it as good as anybody. And the bottom line is you've got to have confidence to play that position, so if he's overconfident that's not bad."

Elway said the Broncos will put the quarterbacks through the paces somewhat during the combine interviews -- "we'll put them on the board" -- and then add far more intensity to those football discussions during the pre-draft visits.

"We've been doing a lot of work on [the quarterbacks], but we still have a lot of work to do," Elway said. "We're in that process now. There is a group of guys that are very talented. We'll continue to do our homework on them. There is a possibility of some really good quarterbacks coming out of this draft.”