There comes a time you have to shake things up.
That time came Tuesday in the jaguars.com 2011 reader mock draft, because with the Jaguars' selection well in the past and with double-digit selections still remaining, participation was dwindling a bit in recent days.
Hey, we're all about transparency around the Jaguars.
Since peaking at well over 100 comments the day the Jaguars took Purdue defensive end Ryan Kerrigan last week, the debate had cooled a bit, and the whole situation was bothering mij420 enough he took the reader mock to task a bit for being too much like all others.
"Beep-beep," mij420 wrote, evidently attempting to simulate robotic thought before adding, "This PFT-drone mock draft sure is fun. - beep-beep - I only know what Mike Florio tells me - beep-beep . . ."
Now, honestly, the senior writer hadn't the faintest notion what's going with Mike Florio and Pro Football Talk regarding the draft, but with the Kansas City Chiefs on the clock at No. 21, he figured there wasn't much to be lost by going against the tide on a mid-April Tuesday.
Not that the readers didn't have solid ideas for Kansas City.
They did, and the consensus seemed to be that the combination of need and value was right for Chiefs General Manager Scott Pioli to use the selection.
Larry Zonk dug up a 2009 interview with Pioli, and quoted the general manager saying of Best Available Player and need, "I have always felt that it is a combination of those two things. Some teams do things based purely on need, other teams do it based on what they think is the best player available. I think it is a combination of those two things. You have to take into account who's the best player available and also what your needs are."
Zonk interpreted this as Pioli taking "into account team needs more than some GM&39;s," or at least admitting it more than most. It also pushed Zonk toward the consensus selection, which was clearly Baylor nose tackle Phil Taylor.
"As has been said time and time again: You gotta get the big guys earlier," jagsinjax4ever wrote, adding, "So the run on linemen continues as the Chiefs select a nose tackle to anchor their 3-4 defense. Phil Taylor is the highest-rated one left that fits the big, run-stuffing, offensive lineman-engulfing true nose tackle mold...so he is the Chiefs pick."
But while Taylor got the most support, those disagreeing did so vehemently.
"You&39;re all crazy if you think Taylor is the pick here," Matt wrote, adding, "The original offer (by the senior writer) was (Wisconsin offensive tackle) Gabe Carimi, and I agree at the very least with the position. The Chiefs have a solid interior offensive line in Waters, Lilja, and Wiegmann, but are seriously lacking at OT. Phil Taylor won&39;t go for at least another 5-10 picks anyway come the actual draft.
"Both Carimi and (Boston College offensive tackle Anthony) Castonzo are still left, and just about every mock draft and power rankings board that I&39;ve seen has them both going in the top 20 picks, which we are now past. There is no way these guys fall much further, and since KC needs a good OT and they are both better overall prospects than Taylor is in my mind, the Chiefs have to pick one of the two of them."
Matt went with Castonzo, and that made sense to a lot of people. Carimi got mentioned, too, as did Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith, as well as Pittsburgh wide receiver Jon Baldwin.
And while all made sense, when the senior writer got around to choosing the selection, he couldn't shake this idea that Pioli seems to be a guy who doesn't have a real distinct pattern on draft day. That makes the already-difficult task of mocking a selection 20 picks into the mock draft even more so, and then there was this idea of punching up the draft a little bit . . .
Well, it was just, plain time to change things up was all.
As much as that, the comments of Mark Barley – in addition to being appealing because they were against the grain of most readers – also did make some sense.
"The Chiefs could always use a stellar 3-4 defensive end to add some pass rush from the line as well as some run stuffing ability," Barley wrote, then added that Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn "is quickly, at the No. 21 selection, becoming the 'best available player.'''
And you know what? Why not? Maybe that will make mij420 a bit happier, and barring that, maybe it will punch things up a bit, so with the No. 21 selection of the jaguars.com 2011 reader mock draft, the Chief select Clayborn.
That makes the board look like this:
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
That brings us to the Indianapolis Colts at No. 22. The senior writer will offer up Castonzo, and will probably get a lot of agreement. But remember, the Colts believe pretty strongly in BAP, too, so predicting their draft is never simple.
Have at it.
