JACKSONVILLE – We arrive now at our destination.
And while we won't say the path taken to get to the end of the jaguars.com 2014 reader mock draft was perfect – or anything close to it, for that matter – it has after nearly three weeks of stops, starts and surges perhaps served its purpose.
Hey, there are no perfect mock drafts anyway; only near-perfect senior writers.
But back to the purpose at hand:
Why do we mock drafts? Why do we have the readers partake? Why do we do it here on jaguars.com?
For fun! To give the readers something to do! For page views!
Yes, yes, yes, and we had a very simple reason for extending the '14 mock draft deeper than any previous version of this reader mock. We decided to forge on seven selections into the second round – to No. 39 overall – for the simple, self-serving reason that the Jaguars hold that No. 39 selection.
So it was after a rapid-fire week last week when we rolled through the final 22 selections of Round 1 in four days, we began this week in an even rapider mode, rattling off the first six selections of Round 2 in one day.
So fast was the pace that some reader mockers had a tough time keeping up.
"I miss two days and miss more than a third of the draft," reader/mocker Chris Walker wrote. "Welp, I guess we press onward."
Yeah, Chris, around here, that's what we do. Through adversity, animosity and even occasional ambivalence, we press through. Around here, we're about overcoming odds – and even about ignoring and/or playing through the sarcasm evident in at least one reader/mocker's Day 15 entry.
"This guy, that guy, the other guy, the one over there, the one from that school and the one from this school," Jaguarrior writes. "So, with the 39th pick of the 2014 NFL draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select.... what? No good?"
No, Jaguarrior, that's just fine. And enough reader/mockers weighed in with real choices that we had no trouble getting from No. 33-38 in fine fashion, thank you, first mocking wide receiver Marqise Lee of Southern California to the Houston Texans at No. 33, then offensive tackle Morgan Moses of Virginia to the Washington Redskins at No. 34.
The reader/mockers then made Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde the first back taken in this draft, mocking him to the Cleveland Browns at No. 35 before Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage went off the board to the Oakland Raiders at No. 36 in a flurry of white-hot reasoning from reader/mocker J-School Corby.
"He's a drop-back passer with a strong arm, and the media that didn't know Tom Savage from Tom Petty a month ago now thinks he could wind up being the best of the bunch," Corby wrote, adding, "Sure, why not?"
Yeah, "why not?" And for that, matter, the reader mockers figured "why not" Missouri defensive Kony Ealy to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 37 and "why not" Minnesota defensive tackle Ra'Shede Hageman to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 38?
And in that vein, "why not" have the jaguars.com 2014 reader mock through 15 days and 38 selections look like this:
- Houston | Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida
- St. Louis | Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina
- Jacksonville | Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo
- Cleveland | Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
- Oakland | Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
- Atlanta | Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M
- Tampa Bay | Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M
- Minnesota | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
- Buffalo | Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn
- Detroit | Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State
- Tennessee | Anthony Barr, OLB, UCLA
- New York Giants | Taylor Lewan, OT, Michigan
- St. Louis | Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S, Alabama
- Chicago | Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh
- Pittsburgh | Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State
- Dallas | Timmy Jernigan, DT, Florida State
- Baltimore | Zack Martin, OT, Notre Dame
- New York Jets | Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina
- Miami | Cyrus Kouandjio, OT, Alabama
- Arizona | Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State
- Green Bay | C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama
- Philadelphia | Odell Beckham, Jr., WR, Louisiana State
- Kansas City | Jace Amaro, TE, Texas Tech
- Cincinnati | Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State
- San Diego | Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State
- Cleveland | Kyle Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech
- New Orleans | Dee Ford, DE, Auburn
- Carolina | Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State
- New England | Louis Nix III, DT, Notre Dame
- San Francisco | Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Florida State
- Denver | Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville
- Seattle | Xavier Su'a-filo, G, UCLA
- Houston | Marqise Lee, WR, Southern California
- Washington | Morgan Moses, OT, Virginia
- Cleveland | Carlos Hyde, RB, Ohio State
- Oakland | Tom Savage, QB, Pittsburgh
- Atlanta | Kony Ealy, DE, Missouri
- Tampa Bay | Ra'Shede Hageman, DT, Minnesota
Which brings us, finally and at long, long last, to the seventh selection of Round 2. That's the No. 39 selection overall, which is held by the Jaguars and will be the final selection of this reader mock.
We'll offer up quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from Eastern Illinois, and while we're anticipating little resistance from reader/mockers on this draft-wrapping selection … well, you just never know.
Have at it.
This article is presented by Turner Pest Control.
