INDIANAPOLIS – The question was about today's NFL quarterbacks, and here at the NFL Combine, Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts rolled off an impressive list of players he's admired from afar.

"I watch all the great guys -- Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson," Hurts said. "I have a lot of respect for those guys."

But there's one quarterback who made a lasting impression on Hurts.

"I've always had a thing for Steve McNair," Hurts said of the late Titans quarterback. "I don't know what is, but he was a hell of a player. The way he played, the ability he had, the strength that he had."

Hurts, who finished his collegiate career with the Sooners after playing previously at the University of Alabama, was just a little boy when McNair starred for the Titans.

Hurts was one when McNair led the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV. The year McNair won the league's co-MVP award in 2003, Hurts was five years old. But Hurts has seen highlights from McNair's playing days, and has always respected his game.

"I mean, he was a dude," Hurts said of McNair. "He was a dude."