Before we cash in the Chiefs' top draft pick on a quarterback or a defensive end, let's pause a moment and look toward reality.

The Chiefs' biggest need is neither a pass rusher nor a pass thrower. It's a defensive captain who can take this year's quilted defense -- a group that's pieced together with free agents, rejects and good-God-willings -- and anchor the unit for the next seven or 10 years. This team needs a linebacker.

Let's be real here. Yes, the Chiefs need another quarterback, whether that comes in the draft or in free agency. Matt Cassel* will be available, and so might be legendary** Chicago quarterbacks Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman.

*Stealing from the Posterisk vault, this is a reminder that those three quarterbacks are scheduled to be available. Their contracts are up after this year. This, of course, doesn't account for long-term extensions, the dreaded franchise tag, or, in Grossman's case, an experimental firing into outer space.

**Yes, that's sarcasm. Don't you know me by now?

That gives you an idea how iffy free agency is. Now consider how thin the quarterback class might be in the 2009 draft. Matt Stafford or Sam Bradford have been crowned as the best passers in next year's class. The problem is, they're both underclassmen, and neither has proven he's coming out or that he can handle the next level. Stafford is inconsistent, unproven and occasionally (often?)* wild. Bradford is young beyond his years, also unproven and might not leave college unless some very unlikely pieces are in place (think beyond signabilty, if that's a word, and toward the personnel he'd prefer to play for).

*Stafford is sixth in the 12-team Southeastern Conference with eight interceptions. Vanderbilt's two quarterbacks have thrown that many picks combined.

Then what? Tim Tebow? Please. Nate Davis? In Jay-Dub's dreams. Graham Harrell/Colt McCoy/Chase Daniel? Not unless the Chiefs are ready to commit to the spread long-term, and take it from me: that gives Herm Edwards the shakes. The coach just doesn't have it in him to sweat through another year of the shotgun or the pistol and a lack of ammunition that's fired enough blanks into this season to last a lifetime.

Don't get me started on a defensive end. This team won't spend a top-five pick on another lineman, especially when the Chiefs have used (burned?) their top pick on a defensive lineman two of the past three years.

No, it's time to go deeper. It's time to go for a thinking man's pick, a linebacker who can fix this defense. Think Southern Cal's Rey Maualuga or Ohio State's James Laurinaitis.

This year's young secondary is good. Yes, good. The defensive front, if healthy and if Glenn Dorsey can untie the shoelaces tying his feet together, has potential. Now think of this:

The Chiefs finish this season with a record deserving of the No. 3 overall pick, a two-win team (come on, Cincinnati is going to win another game? Their best chance is the finale against the Chiefs, and at least that's a Bengals home game) behind the one-win Lions and Bengals. Detroit picks Bradford, who I think would come out if he'd be assured of being the top pick (and if there's doubt that Bob Stoops is NFL-bound). That leaves the Chiefs without their favorite quarterback prospect, and a high pick with enormous value.

That's when they trade with San Francisco for the No. 9 overall pick, so that the 49ers can secure Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. The Chiefs pick up an additional third-round pick and then, with their swapped first-rounder, select Maualuga at No. 9 overall. That allows them to draft a quarterback with their next pick. That could be in the early second round with Josh Freeman, or they could trade that newly acquired third-rounder to jump back into the late first round and get Mark Sanchez.

Either way, Tyler Thigpen's play the last four weeks has given the Chiefs options. And their defensive problems go beyond a defensive end. They need an anchor, and at both a defensive end and at quarterback, at least in this class, are too big of gambles to use for the No. 2 overall pick. The Chiefs now have bigger problems than their QB. I talked to an offensive starter Wednesday who said he'd be stunned if the Chiefs were thinking quarterback with their first pick. Or defensive end, for that matter. Both picks, the starter said, are just too risky. Especially when this team's linebackers unit is killing it.

In a few months, it'll be time to fix that problem -- with a franchise linebacker that won't break down and won't disappear, as the Chiefs have grown all too accustomed this season. They've learned the hard way how valuable a good linebacker can be. Now's the time to fix it for the future.