This one wasn&39;t remotely close.
And contrary to the theory of at least one reader with a surprisingly suspicious nature, an easy selection in the jaguars.com 2011 reader mock draft had nothing to do with the day of the week.
Or did it? Hmm . . .
Either way, the reality of Day 29 was this:
The Chicago Bears were on the clock and a very familiar name came off the board.
And the decision? It wasn&39;t tough at all.
The fact that it wasn&39;t difficult, and that it so happened to come on the day Jaguars PR guru Ryan Robinson calls "Big Work Friday" – read: Lunch at 10; first tee by noon – drew more than a bit of suspicion by one of the more consistent and reliable mockers.
"It seems that your easiest picks always come on a Friday," Teal wrote, adding, "I commend your careful planning and execution, John. I wish I could do that, too."
The senior writer was touched by this comment, because not only had he been commended, but that the commendation had come regarding "careful planning and execution." Never mind that the senior writer is pretty much incapable of either, he was still touched by Teal&39;s thoughts.
Once we got into the meat of the draft, the process became pretty obvious pretty quick.
Because at last Gabe Carimi came off the board.
"Carimi is the pick," JaguarsGator9 wrote, adding, "The Bears need to protect their franchise QB in Cutler and an offensive lineman would help that cause."
Fred Barnes reached the same conclusion, but needed to do a bit a&39; ponderin&39; to get there.
"Defensively the Bears have free agents leaving at DT and OLB, so it wouldn&39;t shock me to see them take Akeem Ayers or Muhammad Wilkerson here," Barnes wrote, adding, "On the OL they need help inside and out, and can use a WR and TE, but Torrey Smith and Mike Pouncey are already off the board leaving Rudolph and Carimi as offensive options. Looking at these four names...Ayers, Wilkerson, Rudolph and Carimi...I&39;d say the readers and senior writer have it right so far. Big Gabe Carimi is the best of this group."
Carimi, an offensive tackle from Wisconsin, in recent days had become the fall-through-the-cracks guy in the &39;11 reader mock. It&39;s doubtful anyone following the mock diligently – he knows who he is – would be shocked if Carimi went far higher than No. 29 in the real draft. But in any draft – mocks included – you get a guy or two who slip because of team needs and circumstance rather than by anything they did wrong. In the &39;11 reader mock there have been a few such guys, and Carimi is the latest and perhaps the last.
"Carimi is an easy pick considering how many sacks Cutler took throughout the past year," jagsfan22 wrote.
By now, the senior writer had every confidence he had made a solid selection, and started to realize his thought on Thursday that the skies might open and little red men would appear if Carimi wasn&39;t selected would never come to fruition.
The truth? The senior writer didn&39;t really know what the line meant, but after nearly six weeks of mocking it sounded sort of interesting so he wrote it. Evidently, Kevin Grab liked the line enough to quote it, which might say less about the senior writer and more about Grab.
The skies have indeed opened up and I am starting to see the evil red men," Grab wrote, adding. "Gabe Carimi to the Chicago Bears at pick No. 29. This is just too easy for the Bears who very likely get their BAP and a player they desperately need. Da Bears get their man and GM Jerry Angelo is ecstatic."
Not that the readers didn&39;t try to make it at least a bit interesting. They did, and their efforts were diligent and appreciated.
One reader offered up Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder, and another mentioned Texas Christian quarterback Andy Dalton. Those choices were based on the Bears perhaps being ready to quit on quarterback Jay Cutler, but that&39;s a bit far-fetched, and in the end, the support for Carimi was just too strong.
So, with the No. 29 overall selection in the jaguars.com 2011 reader mock, the selection is Carimi to the Bears. No red men and no hail, just a board that now looks like:
No. 1 | Carolina | Blaine Gabbert, QB, Missouri
No. 2 | Denver | Patrick Peterson, CB, Louisiana State
No. 3 | Buffalo | Von Miller, LB, Texas A&M
No. 4 | Cincinnati | Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson
No. 5 | Arizona | Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama
No. 6 | Cleveland | A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
No. 7 | San Francisco | Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina
No. 8 | Tennessee | Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn
No. 9 | Dallas | Tyron Smith, OT, Southern California
No. 10 | Washington | Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
No. 11 | Houston | Prince Amukamara, CB, Nebraska
No. 12 | Minnesota | Jake Locker, QB, Washington
No. 13 | Detroit | Nate Solder, OT, Colorado
No. 14 | St. Louis | Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
No. 15 | Miami | Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
No. 16 | Jacksonville | Ryan Kerrigan, DE, Purdue
No. 17 | New England | J.J. Watt, DE, Wisconsin
No. 18 | San Diego | Cameron Jordan, DE, California
No. 19 | New York Giants | Mike Pouncey, G, Florida
No. 20 | Tampa Bay | Aldon Smith, OLB, Missouri
No. 21 | Kansas City | Adrian Clayborn, OLB, Iowa
No. 22 | Indianapolis | Anthony Castonzo, OT, Boston College
No. 23 | Philadelphia | Jimmy Smith, CB, Colorado
No. 24 | New Orleans | Corey Liuget, DT, Illinois
No. 25 | Seattle | Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
No. 26 | Baltimore | Torrey Smith, WR, Maryland
No. 27 | Atlanta | Justin Houston, LB, Georgia
No. 28 | New England | Cameron Heyward, DE, Ohio State
No. 29 | Chicago | Gabe Carimi, OT, Wisconsin
That moves us to No. 30 and the New York Jets. I&39;ll let the readers come up with this one on their own. It&39;s Friday, and I suspect Teal would expect nothing less from the senior writer on Robinson&39;s favorite day.
Have at it . . .
