Why did the 49ers select Smith over Rodgers?

[Iggloo]

Yea, there was no shock when Smith was selected first. The story was how no one took Rodgers, who was projected to go shortly thereafter, until much later in the first round.

 

[Rod Smart]

I'm just here to LOL @ Kaepernick.
Is that okay?

Kaepernick was drafted 36th overall
The Titans drafted Jake Locker 8th and Akeem Ayers 39th.


So no, that's not OK

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Can't blame Alex Smith for his career. While I never thought he would've been amazing I can't necessarily fault the kid for the horrible 49ers franchise of the last 15 years (outside of Harbaugh). When San Fran finally hired an intelligent coach Alex Smith played great football.... only to go down injured because he'd been trashed so many times prior.

Then San Fran continued to shove their heads up their own collective asses, fire Hardouche, and let Jed York assume all of football operations.

 

[Clayton]

Yea, there was no shock when Smith was selected first. The story was how no one took Rodgers, who was projected to go shortly thereafter, until much later in the first round.

Yeah, I think they were both kind of seen a lot like Winston and Mariota last year at least from outsiders.

A #1 and a #1a that a couple of scouts liked more than the #1 but most of them still had a consensus. I just think that Tedford was to QBs what Spread offenses are to offensive linemen right now and that probably scared a lot of teams off who thought they already had their winning core in place.

 

[Shanemansj13]

At least the Niners got Gore in the 3rd round lol

 

[NinerSickness]

A lot of people at the time thought Smith was better.

I didn't. How NFL teams didn't see what I did was baffling. Alex always had to step WAY into his throws to get any velocity on them. That meant a long wind up and / or stepping into defenders in the NFL. How could they have missed that!?!

He throws a very accurate rainbow pass though; I'll give him that (still sucks).

One of the all-time, sports screw-ups.

 

[The Derski]

I don't think it was that simple. A lot of other teams passed on Rodgers too. Greg Cosell did a piece on this which was really good. Yes, Rodgers did have an attitude but there was more to it than that. The thought by many scouts was that while Rodgers was more polished than Smith having played in a pro style offense for four years at Cal, they also thought he was a product of Tedford and might have peaked. Smith was only 20 years old and thought to be more athletic than Rodgers. The thought at the time was Smith had a much higher upside than Rodgers' Smith just needed to learn a pro style offense and get a bit older.

Not to nitpick but Rodgers only played two years at Cal. His freshman year he played for Butte Community College then transferred.

 

[Shaggy]

A lot more hindsight with this than some people seem to remember. Smith vs Rodgers wasn't all that one sided during the draft. I kind of wonder what happens if Smith doesn't rip up his shoulder and got to sit behind Brett Favre. It's a fun thought experiment, but it's ultimately an unproductive one.

That's what I think. Rogers had a few years under Farve and wasn't put out there to soon. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

I still can't imagine what the 49rs would a been like with Rodgers at the helm and that defense under Harbaugh.... Especially that 2011-2012 defense... They would a been almost unbeatable as long as they stayed healthy...

 

[Across The Field]

The better question - can you imagine Favre in San Fran with Alex Smith sitting behind him for 3 years? Then again, with the entire population theoretically being accepting of dick pics, maybe Favre would've never left.

 

[PhoenixEagles1]

I'm an avid collector of draft guides and have at least 2 from every year dating back to 2000. I went in my stash and all 3 guides had Rodgers going #1 and Smith going MUCH later. San Fran shoulda listened to the magazines!

 

[SonnyCID]

I'm an avid collector of draft guides and have at least 2 from every year dating back to 2000. I went in my stash and all 3 guides had Rodgers going #1 and Smith going MUCH later. San Fran shoulda listened to the magazines!

I just checked out 6-7 old mocks from 05 and they seem to be an even split. The lowest any of them had either going was Rodgers at 8 to Arizona. Lots of GMs sleeping at the wheel that day, starting with Miami at 2. At least SF addressed their QB need. Miami went in to that year with Sage Rosenfels and Gus Frerotte to battle it out.

 

[PhoenixEagles1]

I just checked out 6-7 old mocks from 05 and they seem to be an even split. The lowest any of them had either going was Rodgers at 8 to Arizona. Lots of GMs sleeping at the wheel that day, starting with Miami at 2. At least SF addressed their QB need. Miami went in to that year with Sage Rosenfels and Gus Frerotte to battle it out.

Looking at the Sporting News guide and it has Rodgers first... "A no brainer at #1" and had Alex Smith on their "fast risers" list going 16th to the Saints. Love these old guides. Had Demarcus Ware going to the Cowboys but with pick 42 in the 2nd round.

 

[PhoenixEagles1]

I just checked out 6-7 old mocks from 05 and they seem to be an even split. The lowest any of them had either going was Rodgers at 8 to Arizona. Lots of GMs sleeping at the wheel that day, starting with Miami at 2. At least SF addressed their QB need. Miami went in to that year with Sage Rosenfels and Gus Frerotte to battle it out.

The best Season Guide I ever saw was at my buddies house who was a big time college football guy. He had a big collection of old College Season Previews. I was looking at one and it had a section listing the top 10 High School Senior Football players and ranked #1 was QB/DB Allen Iverson. What an athlete. Just thinking someone at 5'11 and 165 pounds was ranked as the best football player in the country is incredible.

 

[RobToxin]

For a long time, Alex Smith was stuck on a bad football team.

People seem to forget that Smith was a muffed punt away from taking the Niners to a Super Bowl the year before Kaepernick came along.

 

[Born to run]

According to Aaron Rodgers:

"The story that I heard, and I don't know if it's true or not, was that Mike Nolan said that when he saw Alex open the car door for his mom, he knew that was the quarterback he wanted,"

Apparently Aaron never had a chance to display his manners because: "I was at lunch with [the 49ers]," Rodgers said. "My mom wasn't there. My dad wasn't there."

Mike Nolan stated that "the team went with Smith because Rodgers was "too cocky."

Aaron Rodgers explains why 49ers passed on him with No. 1 pick in 2005

Is Rodgers still butt hurt over that?

Get over it dude. you're better than Smith, have a super bowl ring, a couple of MVP's

More money. let it go man

 

[SteelersPride]

"Mike Nolan stated that "the team went with Smith because Rodgers was "too cocky.""

LOL at the above. You may not agree with their choice and i'm sure they'd like a do over, but they sure as Hell nailed the cocky part...I think it's a silly conversation since Rodgers dropped all the way down to 24. Why not ask the other 23 teams???

And funny thing about hat draft. What a pathetic top 10:

1 San Francisco 49ers Alex Smith QB Utah
2 Miami Dolphins Ronnie Brown RB Auburn
3 Cleveland Browns Braylon Edwards WR Michigan
4 Chicago Bears Cedric Benson RB Texas
5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cadillac Williams RB Auburn
6 Tennessee Titans Pacman Jones CB West Virginia
7 Minnesota Vikings Troy Williamson WR South Carolina
8 Arizona Cardinals Antrel Rolle DB Miami (Fla.)
9 Washington Redskins Carlos Rogers DB Auburn
10 Detroit Lions Mike Williams WR USC

true, cadillac was a cadillac-injuries gotv him, pacman worked out ok, and antrel rolle......bout it

 

[SteelersPride]

Kaepernick was drafted 36th overall
The Titans drafted Jake Locker 8th and Akeem Ayers 39th.


So no, that's not OK

so both were over drafted?

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

For a long time, Alex Smith was stuck on a bad football team.

People seem to forget that Smith was a muffed punt away from taking the Niners to a Super Bowl the year before Kaepernick came along.

Smith wasn't very good back then though, he's developed a lot more since then ... If they had Rodgers it would a been a different story...

 

[SteelersPride]

Smith wasn't very good back then though, he's developed a lot more since then ... If they had Rodgers it would a been a different story...

smith could of been great, and rodgers sucked if situations reversed