It's amazing now to think that Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers was drafted with the 24th pick of the 2005 draft.
But when the 49ers took Alex Smith first overall in that draft and the Buccaneers opted for running back Cadillac Williams, Rodgers went into free fall.
To understand Rodgers' drop further, you have to understand the culture of the NFL in 2005. The year before, Eli Manning (New York), Philip Rivers (San Diego), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh) and J.P. Losman (Buffalo) were first round picks.
Unique draft circumstance landed Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay
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In 2003,
(Cincinnati),
(Jacksonville),
(Baltimore) and
(Chicago) were first round picks.
(Houston) and
(Detroit) in 2002. There was also
in Atlanta (2001 first round) and
in New York (2000 first round).
So with all those first round picks in such a short stretch, not a lot of teams were looking for a quarterback. There was also some question whether Rodgers was a product of Cal head coach Jeff Tedford.
Tedford’s previous pupils were
, Joey Harrington,
, David Carr and Kyle Boller. Even though Harrington, Carr and Boller were being questioned around the league, they were still being given a shot in 2005 by the teams that drafted them. The
heavily considered Rodgers, but general manager Phil Savage was wary of drafting a Jeff Tedford quarterback.
Rodgers also only played two years of college football after transferring from a junior college.
So it was Rodgers to Green Bay. He sat behind
until 2008. Now, he’s a superstar.
“Draft day was the best day of my career because it was the humbling experience I needed,” Rodgers told ESPN this week.
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