Rollie, you can't use that Mantra "Oh, if the Niners had drafted Rodgers instead of Smith, things would be different". They COULD be different, but absolutely no guarantee that they would be.
Rodgers wasn't a starter until his 4th season in the league. Smith was thrown to the wolves in the 5th game of the season. Rodgers didn't go through 6 coordinators in 6 years, either.
Smith was the consnsus #1 pick with John Gruden himself saying that if he had slipped to #5 in the draft, he wasn't going past Tampa Bay at that point.
I'm not making excuses for Smith. He has had his chances, but to say that Rodgers would have been the better selection is pure 20/20 hindsight at this point. remember, 22 other teams passed on him in the first round as well. Who knows, maybe if Alex Smith had a star quarterback and a stable offensive system and philosophy during his first 4 years in San Francisco, things would have been different.