When researching players who might make a good pick for the Green Bay Packers at No. 27, there were easily a half-dozen considerations. A'Shawn Robinson wasn’t one of them.

It’s not that the Alabama defensive tackle wasn’t worth taking at that spot. On the contrary, the thought was that he wouldn’t be available for the Packers to take at that spot. Mock draft after mock draft had Robinson going well before Green Bay would be on the clock. In fact, ESPN’s Todd McShay had Robinson going 16th to the Detroit Lions in his mock draft just last week.

So how did Robinson end up being the Packers' pick in the ESPN NFL Nation mock draft that aired on Tuesday?

Twenty-six teams passed on him, which seems like an unlikely scenario for Thursday night. But it was the scenario on Tuesday and, as Ted Thompson says, take the best player available.

The focus in early draft mock draft preparation had been on Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland, who seemed like a 50-50 bet to make it to No. 27, along with defensive tackles Andrew Billings of Baylor and Vernon Butler of Louisiana Tech, Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry and perhaps one of the offensive tackles, Indiana’s Jason Spriggs.

When Ragland went to Oakland at No. 14, the focus turned to Billings and Butler. Indications were the Packers prefer Billings over Butler, but the better option might be to try to trade out of the first round and stockpile second-day picks where they might still be able to get help on defense and possibly a tight end or inside linebacker.

It wasn’t until the mock draft hit the early 20s that it began to look like Robinson might be there, which prompted a scramble to try to find out whether the Packers preferred him to Billings.

Who knows if things will play out in a similar manner on Thursday. But if they do and Robinson is there, don’t be surprised if he’s the pick.