Let’s take a look back to 2005

Even the most casual of fans tuned into witness The Masters on Sunday. The comeback story of Tiger Woods having to fight back from several surgeries and a rollercoaster of real life events made for some spectacular TV Sunday. That had us thinking, what was going on in the world of the San Francisco 49ers the last time Tiger Woods won the Master. Well, let’s turn back the clocks to 2005.

Heading into the draft

The 49ers were coming off a 2-14 season where they fired second-year coach Dennis Erickson. The team was actually expected to go 4-12 in 2004. The team had the first overall pick in the 2005 draft. The team hired Mike Nolan as head coach. Nolan had been the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens the prior three years. They also hired Mike McCarthy as offensive coordinator.

2005 NFL Draft

• 1st Round – Alex Smith QB
• 2nd round – David Baas, G
• 3rd round – Frank Gore, RB
• 3rd round – Adam Snyder, T
• 5th round – Ronald Fields, DT
• 5th round – Rasheed Marshall, WR
• 6th round – Derrick Johnson, DB
• 7th round – Daven Holly, DB
• 7th round – Marcus Maxwell, WR
• 7th round – Patrick Estes, TE
• 7th round – Billy Bajema, TE

To this day, Aaron Rodgers still hasn’t forgiven McCarthy for selecting Smith over him.

2005 season

While it was an improvement, it was no “Tiger Woods Masters” type of year for the 49ers. The team won the first game and the last two, finishing 4-12. Smith came off the bench in the fourth quarter Week 4 and started the next week. The team started four QB’s that year. If you remember that years offense being a struggle, it was:

Rookie play caller. Rookie QB. That’s going to happen. The 49ers went a couple games during the middle of the season without scoring a touchdown. At one point, the offense with 47 possessions without scoring a touchdown. It’s tough to believe McCarthy getting hired by the Packers after that, but it happened.

That year also gave us Gore, who averaged 4.8 yards per carry. According to Football Outsiders’ metrics, Gore was the 20th “best” RB although he was never truly the “starting” running back.

The final game of the season was for the number one overall pick between the 49ers and the Houston Texans. The Texans won. The Niners loss moved them down to sixth overall.

What was your favorite 49er moment from 2005?