The Mock Monitor has now come to a close for another year. As is usual with this particular feature, we've seen our share of highs and lows, consistency in inconsistency and picks that sometimes make you just scratch your head in wonderment. But now, it's finally time to reveal the consensus pick for our entire 12 weeks of running the Monitor here at AtlantaFalcons.com.
First, let's get to this week's results. An offensive lineman we profiled in this space last week seemed to garner much more support this week. Iowa State guard/tackle Kelechi Osemele seemed to come out of nowhere last week to take over the week's consensus pick after gridlock and uncertainty bogged down the popular selection for weeks. For the final two weeks of the Monitor, Osemele easily became the favorite among our sampling of mocks.
Osemele's size, at 6-foot-6, 333 pounds, is certainly desirable and the indication is that he'd be a very solid pick for whatever team ends up taking him on the draft's second day. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. even hopped on the Osemele-to-Atlanta train by switching from his previous pick, Illinois offensive lineman Jeff Allen.
Click here to see this week's Mock Monitor
Still, even with the influx of mockers projecting Osemele to the Falcons at No. 55, his recent numbers did very little to push him toward the consensus pick for the 12 weeks of the Mock Monitor.
The player with the most projections to the Falcons is Stanford tight end Coby Fleener, who was a trendy pick among the mocks early in the draft preparation season. Since Fleener basically took over the Mock Monitor for the first few weeks, he's risen up the draft boards, going from a mid- to late-second rounder to possibly a late first-rounder, which likely puts him out of the running for Atlanta should general manager Thomas Dimitroff stay put at No. 55 overall.
Fleener was selected 21 times by our mocks during the 12 weeks. The closest to him was Clemson tight end Dwayne Allen, who registered 16 nods this year. Osemele managed seven, most coming in the weeks leading up to this week's draft, and found himself behind Virginia Tech cornerback Jayron Hosley (14 picks), Georgia tight end Orson Charles (9) and Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry (8).
Breaking the Monitor down further, tight ends dominated the board this year as an heir apparent to Tony Gonzalez was projected 46 times during the past 12 weeks. Behind tight end were offensive line (38 projections), cornerback (36) and defensive end (20).
Now, it's your turn. Below are all the players who were projected to the Falcons throughout our entire 2012 Mock Monitor. Choose who you think the Falcons will select.
