It certainly has been an exhausting process, keeping track of more than a handful of respected mock drafts for three months, but we've finally come to the end of the 2011 Mock Monitor.
You can view the full history, including this week's selections, of the Mock Monitor here.
As weeks came and went, so did favorites. Purdue defensive end Ryan Kerrigan had a stranglehold on the consensus pick in February and early March before falling off the mock map completely.
As he fell (which was actually due to his Draft stock rising), experts fumbled and stumbled to agree on who the Falcons would take, which resulted in four-way and three-way ties.
Wisconsin tackle Gabe Carimi held the spot for a week, and then Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn (pictured above) began his dominance of the Mock Monitor, holding the consensus spot for four of the final six weeks — barely eking out the final week's consensus spot by one vote of Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph, who became a very popular pick in the few days leading up to the Draft among our sampling of mocks.
Now, to the final numbers. There were 194 picks featured during the span of our Mock Monitor, which started Feb. 15 and ran until today. Our experts projected 25 different players being taken by the Falcons with the No. 27 pick at one point or another during the span.
Of those 25, two picks made their Mock Monitor debut one week and were gone the next, and one — Jared Crick, a defensive tackle from Nebraska — didn't even declare himself Draft-eligible. Players from seven different positions were projected — eight defensive ends, five offensive linemen, four wide receivers, four cornerbacks, two tight ends, one linebacker and one defensive tackle.
Here are the final numbers, and your overall winner of the 2011 Mock Monitor:
Adrian Clayborn (DE, Iowa) - 36 picks * Gabe Carimi (OT, Wisconsin - 23 picks * Ryan Kerrigan (DE, Purdue) - 13 picks * Kyle Rudolph (TE, Notre Dame) - 12 picks * Cameron Heyward (DE, Ohio State) - 11 picks * Derek Sherrod (OT, Mississippi State) - 11 picks * Justin Houston (DE, Georgia) - 10 picks * Mike Pouncey (G/C, Florida) - 10 picks * Aaron Williams (CB, Texas) - 9 picks * Danny Watkins (G, Baylor) - 8 picks * Jimmy Smith (CB, Colorado) - 7 picks * Torrey Smith (WR, Maryland) - 7 picks * Titus Young (WR, Boise State) - 6 picks * Brooks Reed (DE, Arizona) - 5 picks * Anthony Castonzo (OT, Boston College) - 4 picks * Brandon Harris (CB, Miami) - 4 picks * Akeem Ayers (LB, UCLA) - 3 picks * Leonard Hankerson (WR, Miami) - 3 picks * Robert Quinn (DE, North Carolina) - 2 picks * Aldon Smith (DE, Missour) - 2 picks * Jonathan Baldwin (WR, Cincinnati) - 2 picks * Lance Kendricks (TE, Wisconsin) - 2 picks * Jabaal Sheard (DE, Pittsburgh) - 2 picks * Ras-I Dowling (CB, Virginia) - 1 pick * Jared Crick (DT, Nebraska) - 1 pick
For the final time before the Draft, vote below to have your voice heard. Who do you project the Falcons will take tonight with the 27th overall pick?
