Broncos Look Pretty Smart for Trading Up and Drafting Jay Cutler

In the weeks and months leading up to the 2006 draft, the media buzz centered around Matt Leinart (he stayed for his senior season!) and Vince Young (he can do no wrong!). Jay Cutler, most often referred to as "that guy with a rifle arm who took A TON of hits at Vandy," was an afterthought -- a consolation prize for the NFL team that wouldn't be in position to take the two franchise quarterbacks ahead of him.

Two years later, Cutler is, by miles, the best quarterback from that draft class, and the Broncos look prescient for trading up to grab him. (Even if a lot of people were confused by the move at the time. And by "a lot of people" I obviously mean "Jake Plummer, his family, and friends.")

SI.com's Bucky Brooks agrees, and explains why Cutler has been so successful.

"Without question he is the best guy in that group," said an AFC personnel director. "He hasn't won a ton of games or led his team into the playoffs, but he is on track towards becoming an elite quarterback." ...

While Cutler has outstanding physical tools and leadership qualities, he has benefited from playing under a head coach (Mike Shanahan) who is willing to adapt his offensive system around the strengths of his quarterback. As simple as that sounds, few offensive coordinators are flexible enough to tweak their systems to fit their personnel, and young quarterbacks often struggle under such rigid guidelines.

"The system has been molded to his strengths," said an AFC personnel director. "They feature a lot of bootlegs, waggles and naked passes in the game plan. He is not being asked to read the entire of the field. Therefore, they are not making it tough on him mentally at this point. Cutler has great talent, but the coaching staff in Denver is doing a great job of putting him in a position to be successful."

Hey, there's an idea: molding the offense around your quarterback instead of stuffing some ill-fitting scheme down his throat. Wonder how first-year Redskins head coach Jim Zorn feels about that.

It's also worth pointing out that Charley Casserly, his hair, and the Texans front office looks much smarter today than they did in April 2006, when the team signed Mario Williams over Reggie Bush and hometown hero Vince Young.

Bush is still finding his niche in New Orleans, Young could retire before Brett Favre, and all Williams has done is register 14.5 sacks last season, and another two last week against the Steelers.