Brats & Beer

Back To The Draft

With the Packers traveling to San Francisco this weekend for Aaron Rodgers’ second pre-season start, reporters have been dogging both Mike McCarthy and Rodgers with questions about the 2005 NFL Draft. The 49ers, where McCarthy was then getting ready for his first year as offensive coordinator under Mike Nolan, selected Alex Smith with the #1 pick in that draft; Rodgers fell to #24 where he was picked up by Ted Thompson for Green Bay. Ancient history, I know, but I got curious and found a Peter King column from right after the draft on the process of how San Francisco came to settle on Smith over Rodgers.

In the column, Nolan tells King that he thought Rodgers coming out of Cal was the more NFL-ready quarterback with a better arm, but he ultimately decided on Smith out of Utah because of his work ethic and his intelligence. King also says, “some in the front office thought Rodgers came across too much like a big man on campus.”

Now both Rodgers and McCarthy have said this week that they had a talk to “clear the air” when MM was hired as head coach in Green Bay, though neither has divulged what was said in that conversation. Part of me wonders which player McCarthy was lobbying for and whether that had any bearing on his being hired by Thompson. TT knew he was probably hiring to coach to lead the Packers into the post-Favre era, and that Rodgers was most like going to be the QB of the future. If McCarthy had actually been leaning towards Rodgers as the better player in 2005, that — plus his quarterback coaching skills — could have given him a leg up in the interview process.

Like I said, it’s all water under the bridge at this point, but it is interesting how that draft has played out in the end.

Ted & Aaron: How it began