http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/10/desean-jackson-talks-about-how-aaron-rodgers-got-him-to-cal/


Here is the complete interview where he talks about keeping in touch with Rodgers and Bishop, and how all the Cal guys have a great relationship.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/10/pft-live-jackson-taking-a-stand-against-bullying/

How good would DJax's freshman year have been had the QB been AR instead of Nate Longshore(for 1 half)/Joe Ayoob/Steve Levy?

Cal = national champions had Rodgers been the QB in 2005 and Jackson would have all sorts of Freshmen and even maybe NCAA records

*sigh ... what could have been :headbang

Agreed. Cal would have won at least a Pac 10 champtionship maybe national champtionship had Rodgers returned in 2005.
Consider some of the NFL players he would have had to work with: Marshawn Lynch, Forsett, DeSean Jackson, Craig Stevens (TE), LaVelle Hawkins, and on defense DeCoud, Mebane, Hughes. In other words, ALL of his RBs, WRs and TE would be future NFL players!!!
Also, of the 4 games we lost that year, all were close except the blowout against SUC.

its kind of funny that AR gets a complete pass for leaving early, considering the Cal upside to him staying...yes, he was a first round pick, so you can't argue with that...
BUT, if he stays, does he go top 2 the next year for sure???

he should have gone #1 the year he came out. the QBs the next year were a stronger group (at the time) with Cutler, Leinart and Young, and if he had happened to get injured or had an off year it was no guarantee that he would've been the first QB off the board. AR did what was right for him at the time, and if it wasn't for the 49ers he should've been the #1 pick. i would've loved to see him come back just as much as anyone, but i can't blame him for leaving when he did. no one has held it against Marshawn, Best or Vereen for leaving a year early...

We went 8-4 in 2005 with freaking Ayoob and Levy starting for us. That's how damn good the rest of that football team was.

3 of our 4 losses were by a touchdown or less.

Hell, if we had a healthy Longshore in 2005, we'd have either been 11-1 or 10-2 depending on how our bowl placement picture was altered.

With AR, I honestly think we beat USC and play for the NC.

Oh, what could have been...

"DeSean Jackson talks about how Aaron Rodgers got him to Cal "

Why didn't AR throw in some humility lessons to boot?:moon:*









*Go ahead, kiss it. You know you want to.

Good thing DeSean couldn't get into UCLA, because that's where he really wanted to go. :headbang

This suggests that having a great quarterback at a school is a lot more important to recruits than having a Super Bowl-winning quarterback who went to the school.

bearister;474453 said:

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"DeSean Jackson talks about how Aaron Rodgers got him to Cal "

Why didn't AR throw in some humility lessons to boot?:moon:*

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Aaron would not have been the best teacher of humility back then. In fact, his "arrogance" was one of the knocks against him at the time.

Both guys were underdogs of sorts whose self-confidence is part of what makes them the great players they were and are. Both have, and will continue to mature as they get get older. Most of us do. Hopefully they never lose that self-confidence.

I'm very proud of both.

With AR the team should have beat SC in Berkeley and possibly get to a NC game. The defense was very loaded at that year and seriously all that's missing is a QB.

I was just throwing it out there, and he had my rooting interest Sunday as well...glad I'm not a Niner fan, the whole missing on AR would drive me crazy...

BearyWhite;474474 said:

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This suggests that having a great quarterback at a school is a lot more important to recruits than having a Super Bowl-winning quarterback who went to the school.

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Absolutely correct. Since AR JT has failed to recruit and develop this position and the results speak for itself. Hopefully this year with a huge crop he doesn't stubbornly stick with only 1 but uses many during the season to find the right leader.

mbBear;474605 said:

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I was just throwing it out there, and he had my rooting interest Sunday as well...glad I'm not a Niner fan, the whole missing on AR would drive me crazy...

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Please, don't rub it in!! It's bad enough.

BearyBearyGood;474461 said:

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Good thing DeSean couldn't get into UCLA, because that's where he really wanted to go. :headbang

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Wait, I thought he was scared to compete!

afroski;475030 said:

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Wait, I thought he was scared to compete!

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No, that's why he didn't go to USC. UCLA was because he couldn't meet their unique, scholar-level admissions requirements.

I actually think we are a little to harsh in our judgment of Cal QBs. If the standard is AR, prepare to be disappointed. Name one school that does that year after year.

We won 10 games with Longshore in 2006 and would likely have won at least 10 games with Longshore in 2005. That is adequate QB performance under any standard.

Riley did not quite live up to what we considered to be his potential (given our high standards) although the OL and WRs have declined since those days - so not just his fault. He probably wins 10 games in 2006 and 2005 as well and then gets drafted by the NFL (too high) like some previous Tedford QBs.

So far, the only real hole in recruiting appears to be the Mansion/Sweeny years (unless they make monster developments)., which meant that we did not have an adequate backup THIS YEAR. I have a feeling that among the guys competing for next year there will be a good one.

RealDrew2;475059 said:

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I actually think we are a little to harsh in our judgment of Cal QBs. If the standard is AR, prepare to be disappointed. Name one school that does that year after year.

We won 10 games with Longshore in 2006 and would likely have won at least 10 games with Longshore in 2005. That is adequate QB performance under any standard.

Riley did not quite live up to what we considered to be his potential (given our high standards) although the OL and WRs have declined since those days - so not just his fault. He probably wins 10 games in 2006 and 2005 as well and then gets drafted by the NFL (too high) like some previous Tedford QBs.

So far, the only real hole in recruiting appears to be the Mansion/Sweeny years (unless they make monster developments)., which meant that we did not have an adequate backup THIS YEAR. I have a feeling that among the guys competing for next year there will be a good one.

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I agree we likely would have won 10 in 2005 and 2006 with Riley too. We had that much talent. Riley's PER in 2010 was the same as Longshore's in 2006, but we had much better offensive personnel in 2006. I also think given the year over year decline in Longshore's stats it is probably a better assumption that the surrounding team and scheme declined and so it is tough to blame the "recruiting" of Mansion/Sweeny for their failures. I think they easy are as talented as say, Steve Levy, who could look pretty good in the 2005 offense.