It didn’t take Mark Rypien long to see the talent and potential in his nephew Brett Rypien.

That’s why the Super Bowl MVP took time to coach Brett up and work on fundamentals way back when he was in middle school.

“Brett had a gift at an early age,” Mark Rypien said. “You could see that when he was a young kid. He was very coachable. He was like a sponge. He didn’t want to settle for second best. He wanted to be the best.”

Fast forward more than a decade and Mark now sees a better and more polished passer in Brett — more so than Mark was when he was selected in the 1986 NFL Draft.

“Oh there’s no doubt,” Rypien said. “Absolutely. He’s more refined. He’s done it every day. We worked on other things. In high school I handed the ball off and probably threw it 15-20 times. Brett threw it 35-40 times. College was the same thing.

“Brett has evolved to be a much better thrower than I ever was, and he’s just getting better with size and age.”

That’s high praise coming from an 11-year NFL veteran who was the MVP of Super Bowl XXVI in 1992. Rypien twice won the Super Bowl, twice was named to the Pro Bowl and passed for 18,473 yards and 115 touchdowns in his NFL career.

Now Brett hopes to one day surpass those marks as an NFL quarterback himself.

After a record-setting career at Boise State, he’s hoping to hear his name called during this weekend’s NFL Draft — possibly as high as high as the fourth round — and start his own NFL journey.

“I feel very confident,” Brett Rypien said. “I’ve been playing football my entire life and that’s what I know how to do and that’s what I have wanted to do. The Pro Day, the combine, those things went great and whether I’m a fourth-round pick or I go undrafted, I’m coming in with a mindset to be productive right away and help that locker room and I know I’ll be able to do that.”

The draft begins with the first round on Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee. The second and third rounds are Friday and the fourth through seventh rounds are on Saturday. Most mock drafts have predicted Rypien will go anywhere from the fourth to seventh round.

The New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions are four possible destinations for Rypien. They will all likely take a quarterback in the later rounds, and have been linked to Rypien in mock drafts or reports in the weeks leading up to the draft.

“I’m trying to stay away from all that,” Rypien said of mock drafts and predictions. “Everybody in the media has their own opinion but at the end of the day they don’t really know what’s going to happen. Every team has their opinion on players and I know the interest I have from teams and I really think any of those scenarios or rounds are a possibility at this point.

“I’ve had a couple visits and workouts and they all went well. The hay is in the barn at this point, so I can’t really do anything else now. I just have to wait and see and find out where I’m going.”

Mark Rypien remembers how agonizing and painful Saturday of the draft could be.

“I got up at 6:30 a.m. on that Saturday of draft day with my agent and by 10 p.m. I finally got the phone call,” Rypien said. “To answer that phone call and be excited, I’d have to honestly say I wasn’t very excited, but lo and behold it was a team that fit what I did very well and I was very lucky to be in a Joe Gibbs-run system.

“I’m hoping with Brett, whether it’s third round, fourth round, fifth round, wherever he goes, that he just gets the opportunity to excel and show his strengths and there’s so many of them. I’m just really looking forward to see where this journey takes him.”

Brett’s numbers speak for themselves. He set the Mountain West Conference’s all-time passing mark and finished second in Boise State history with 13,581 passing yards. He also finished second in school history for completions (1,036), attempts (1,618) and touchdowns (90) while also posting the second-lowest interception ratio (.0179).

Rypien went 37-12 as a four-year starter and led the Broncos to two appearances in the Mountain West championship. The Broncos won the championship in 2017 and he was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2018.

He’s aiming to be the first Boise State quarterback drafted in the current seven-round format of the draft, and the first regardless of round in more than 40 years. Jim McMillen was the last, going in the 14th round to the Lions way back in 1975.

“Since it’s out of my control it’s a little bit nerve-wracking not knowing where I will go or when I will go,” Brett said. “But I always trust in God’s plan and that he’ll put me in the best situation. It’s tough to say what’s going to happen but I’m just hoping for the best.”

And fittingly, Mark will be there to celebrate with Brett and his parents, Tim and Julie, and the rest of the Rypien family Saturday in Spokane, Washington. Brett said he wouldn’t be where he was today without the tutelage of his uncle Mark and his father Tim, who was a star athlete himself growing up.

Mark attended Brett’s first career start as a freshman at Virginia in 2015, and made his way down to Boise State to watch a few games as well. Now he’ll be there for the pinnacle of Rypien’s career to this point — draft day.

“He’s been there throughout my entire football career, ever since my first year playing in like fourth grade. I can remember him coming to watch games,” Brett said. “He’s been so supportive and helpful for me, going back to my recruiting process before college and I’ve talked to him before the combine and stuff the past few months. I’m definitely glad to have him in my corner for sure, and it will be awesome to have him there.”

Brett is just hoping he can go higher than his uncle did in the draft. Mark went 146th overall in the sixth round to Washington back in 1986.

Mark wants that as well.

“Absolutely,” Mark said. “And I think that’s going to happen. I’m just tremendously proud of what he’s accomplished so far, and all the hard work he’s put in. I can’t wait to see what’s ahead.”