NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #11 – Denver Broncos (from Rams) – QB Jay Cutler

St. Louis Rams on the clock. The pre-draft buzz is that they want Jay Cutler. I don’t get it, since they seem to have a solid QB situation. Granted, Mark Bolger was hurt last year. But he’s a young guy who should heal nicely. I could see taking a QB if Leinart or Young were still on the clock. But a guy from Vandy? No way.

But the Denver Broncos can. They made a trade and moved up to get him. No word yet on what they gave up to move up from #15.

Ron Jawarski says Cutler got lucky going to the Broncos. Certainly, he’s in a better spot than Vince Young teamwise and one would think the Broncos are better than the Cardinals, who took Matt Leinart one spot earlier. In any case, it’s certainly better than anyone could have expected for a guy whose best option out of high school was Vanderbilt–a great school academically but easily the weakest football school in the terrific Southeastern Conference.

Boomer says the Broncos gave up the 68th overall pick, San Francisco’s 3rd rounder, to trade up. That’s a good move for both teams, methinks. The Rams don’t need a QB and the Broncos still have a 3rd of their own.

NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #10 – Arizona Cardinals – QB Matt Leinart

The Cardinals can’t pass on Leinart. They’d be getting a top 3 player in the 10th slot. Denny Green is no idiot.

ESPN has Matt Leinart on the phone. That’s a good sign. Time to end his agony.

Pick: Leinart.

The bad news is that Leinart stayed in school, didn’t get a second Heisman or a third national championship, and fell nine spots in the draft. The good news, though, is that he’s going to a well run team and a smart head coach.

This draft is humming along fast. The last couple years, it seemed like all the teams took every second they had available. We’ve gone through ten guys in 97 minutes.

Leinart is putting a positive spin on things with Susie Kolber. There are indeed worse things that can happen than being picked later in the 1st round than one had expected.

NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #9 – Detroit Lions – LB Ernie Sims

Obviously, the Lions need a wide receiver.

We kid. They’ve taken a WR with their first pick the last three years. They’re likely good there. Even Matt Millen probably thinks he has enough WRs.

Pick: The Lions didn’t waste any time hoping for a trade. They grabbed Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims. The conventional wisdom was that they’d grab a quarterback. I guess they’re still reeling over the Joey Harrington selection.

NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #8 – Buffalo Bills – S Donte Whitner

The Bills don’t have a quarterback, making Leinart the ridiculously obvious choice. Unfortunately, the Bills have not made a smart move so far this offseason and seem to think they’re good at QB. That rules out not only Leinart but Jay Cutler.

FSU defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley is the likely pick. It’s not a bad one, to be sure. Except that Leinart’s still on the board.

Pick: Wow. Ohio State safety Donte Whitner.

Gosselin rated him #17 overall [OTBS] and had him projected to go to the Dallas Cowboys at #18. So, Goose’s streak of picking the draft ends after seven in a row.

It may be that the Bills legitimately had Whitner much higher on their board than other teams. That’s a professional call that they’re in a better position than I am to make, without a doubt. But why not trade down a few spots and get Whitner for what others were willing to spend? Surely, they could have gotten, say, a 4th round pick from Arizona to move up a couple slots and have a guaranteed shot at Lienart. Indeed, that would still have been a lousy deal in terms of the famous Jimmy Johnson trade chart but it would have still given Buffalo Whitner and a 4th round pick–and Whitner for less money contractwise.

NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #7 – Oakland Raiders – DB Michael Huff

The Raiders are on the clock. Leinart would, again, be a huge gift. He is consistently compared to Kenny Stabler, the Raiders’ 1970s great. The pre-draft buzz, though, is that they wanted Young and were not so keen on Leinart.

The mock drafts have them taking Texas safety/corner Michael Huff. My guess is that’s what they do. Were I in their spot, though, I’d be calling Leinart’s number. Not only is quarterback more important than safety, but Leinart is a better player. And, by the way, he played in Southern Cal.

The pick: Huff.

Goose is now 7 for 7.

NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #6 – San Francisco 49ers – TE Vernon Davis

The 49ers are in a bizarre position. They drafted first overall last year. Had he been available, they’d have signed Matt Leinart two weeks before the draft to a ten year deal (I exaggerate only slightly). But Leinart wasn’t available and they took Alex Smith.

Obviously, the ’9ers would love to trade down a bit. If not, do they take the best tight end to come out in several years?

Pick: They do. It’s Vernon Davis.

It should be noted that Goose is currently 6 for 6 in his mock draft.

NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #5 – Green Bay Packers – LB A.J. Hawk

Can the Packers pass on Leinart? He would have been the first overall pick last year. Still, they took a quarterback, Aaron Rogers, in the first round last year.

Linebacker A.J. Hawk is the guy the Packers are supposed to take. He’s a superstar. But they could not have expected to be in the position of grabbing the best quarterback in the draft with the fifth pick.

Pick: Hawk.

NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #4 – New York Jets – OT D’Brickashaw Ferguson

The Jets need a quarterback, with Chad Pennington’s reliability in great doubt. Matt Leinart is a gift at #4. But the safe move is likely offensive line. D’Brickashaw Ferguson is probably going off next.

Pick: They took Ferguson. Safe and likely solid. They’ll kick themselves if Leinart turns out to be a stud and Pennington does not recover, though.

NFL Draft 2006 – Round 1 #3 – Tennesse Titans – QB Vince Young

The conventional wisdom is that the Titans need a quarterback. They’ve got their pick of the litter.

They took Vince Young out of Texas. He’s got amazing upside but certainly not the current readiness of USC’s Matt Leinart. It makes sense, though, to take a guy who’s going to be a great local draw.