Apparently, the entire Bay Area dropped the ball on Aaron Rodgers. Maybe it has something to do with him going to Cal (although I don't remember hearing people clamor for Kyle Boller recently), or, more likely, it more a commentary on the sorry state of quarterbacking in San Francisco and Oakland. 49ers head coach Mike Nolan and Alex Smith can't seem to get on the same page, and the Raiders currently have a revolving door at quarterback until the JaMarcus Russell era begins in earnest.
But before JaMarcus, there was Andrew Walter, the team's 2005 third-round pick. That was the same draft Smith went first overall, and the Packers' Rodgers slid all the way to 24th. Obviously, when Oakland selected Walter, Rodgers was long gone, but the Al Davis All-Stars had traded into the fist round -- pick 23, to be exact -- and imagine what things might look like if the team passed on Fabian Washington.
Okay, things might not be much different than they are now; the Raiders have so many other problems that it's not unreal to think that one player would've fixed all that.
Still, Rodgers would be in his third year, and while it's nothing to start high-fiving people at sports bars about, Oakland has improved under Lane Kiffin. Now, though, instead of having a veteran quarterback on the roster, Kiffin is grooming Russell while Walter toils on the bench. Welcome to Raiders football: shoulda, coulda, woulda.
