Pick #1...

Pick #1: San Francisco 49ers pick QB Alex Smith of Utah
Quarterbacks on the 2004 season roster: Tim Rattay and Ken Dorsey

With two busts on their hands, it was very clear that the 49ers needed to make a change at the quarterback position. So with the first overall pick they did just that, but instead of drafting Rodgers they went with Alex Smith, a QB with a strong arm and quick legs from an up and coming program at Utah.

The 49ers are a franchise with legendary quarterbacks in their history. Joe Montana and Steve Young are arguably two of the greatest to ever play the position, and the team thought that they had their next star in Smith.

Despite great promise and athletic ability, Smith never lived up expectations. He fell quite short of filling the shoes of Montana or Young (or for that matter, Garcia or Grbac), and in 2010 he was benched mid-season while another Smith, former Ohio State star and Baltimore Ravens cast-off Troy Smith, took over.

It's fair to say that he never had a fighting chance in San Francisco, given that there was a new offensive coordinator every year and that the task of being at the helm of a sinking ship like the 49ers was too great of a task, but then again he never showed the maturity the position demands or the quick decision making that separates the elite quarterbacks from the guys holding clipboards on the sidelines. It is very likely that next season if Alex Smith is still playing football, it won't be in San Francisco.