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If Williams does what he's supposed to do in the off-season, he would fit an enormous need in Green Bay. Still, the chance to draft a quarterback of Leinart's or Young's accomplishments, or trade the pick, might be even more attractive to the Packers even though they used the 24th pick of the first round last year on quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
All four scouts who were asked for their opinion said Leinart was a better prospect than Rodgers. Thompson, the man who will make the call, made it clear that taking another quarterback in the first round wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.
"I wouldn't rule it out," Thompson said last week. "But we're OK at that position. In that position, you have to get in among the lions and tigers and bears to kind of figure that out. We haven't seen all that yet. We saw a little bit in pre-season. He (Rodgers) didn't do all that good, but that's not unusual for a rookie quarterback. He seems to be growing in his craft."
Rodgers directed the Packers to just one score in the 20 full series that he quarterbacked this summer. His passer rating was 53.0, and some football people questioned his potential ever to be more than average at best.
Two years ago, the San Diego Chargers took Eli Manning with the No. 1 pick even though they had Drew Brees. Within an hour, they traded Manning to the New York Giants for Philip Rivers, their top-rated quarterback. This is Rivers' second season as the backup.
"Leinart is a lot better than Aaron Rodgers, and I think you can win a lot of games with Rodgers," an NFC personnel director said. "He can get the ball up the field, where Rodgers has his problems getting the ball up the field. But I'd take Young over Leinart. A lot of people would not do that because they haven't seen him in drop-back situations. But I know one thing. There's nobody with a better arm."