 In earlier versions Picards character was supposed to be the one  helping Zefram Cochrane on Earth, with Riker fighting the Borg on  the Enterprise. The main story was also focused on the happenings on  Earth. After Patrick Stewart (I) (qv) objected to that, the  characters of Riker and Picard were swapped. This also resulted in  making Picard more of an action hero and the story more focusing on  happenings on the Enterprise.