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From ABC News
NEW YORK Apr 24, 2005 â€" After a week of trade rumors and intrigue, the only drama in this NFL draft was the long wait for Aaron Rodgers. With the top players considered relatively equal, quarterback Alex Smith went first as expected to San Francisco and the other dominoes followed more or less the way they were supposed to.
But Rodgers, the Cal quarterback who the 49ers had considered at No. 1, fell most of the way through the first round until he was taken 24th overall by Green Bay to the cheers of fans at the draft. He will be groomed to succeed Brett Favre, who will turn 36 in October.
"I had already prepared myself for things not going my way," said Rodgers, who had been invited to the draft on the assumption he would be taken much earlier. "Things get a little screwy on draft day. We all know that."
he shortage of drama was in sharp contrast to last season, when San Diego took Eli Manning, who had expressed his desire not to play for the Chargers. They then traded him to the New York Giants for Philip Rivers, who the Giants had taken fourth overall.
"There's a lot of smoke this year, but very little fire," said Cleveland general manager Phil Savage, who entertained a number of offers before selecting wide receiver Braylon Edwards with the third pick.
In fact, the biggest fire may have come at the end of the evening at 11 p.m., when Denver used the final pick of the third round to select Maurice Clarett, the running back who led Ohio State to the 2002 national championship then left the Buckeyes.
He challenged the NFL rule requiring a player to be out of high school for three years a year ago and was eventually turned down by the courts, and was expected to go much lower after slow times in 40-yard dashes. The pick was 101st overall.
Edwards was part of a top nine that included three running backs, three cornerbacks and three players from Auburn with quarterback Jason Campbell, taken by Washington with the 25th pick, the fourth Tiger taken. The three early Auburn guys were running backs Ronnie Brown, second overall to Miami, and Carnell Williams, fifth to Tampa Bay, and cornerback Carlos Rogers, who the Redskins settled for at nine when they couldn't trade up.[/b]
From ABC News
