2015 NN community mock draft: Vikings, Browns, Saints select ....

The 2015 NN community mock draft continues to roll through the third round. The San Francisco 49ers third round pick will be posted on Friday. In the meantime, you can read over Karl Cuba's thoughts on the 49ers first round pick from two weeks ago, and then their second round pick last week. We are up to picks 12-14 of round three. If this goes according to plan, the goal is to finish this next Wednesday, the day before the NFL Draft gets going.

Here is where we stand through the first 11 picks of round three.

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon
2. Tennessee Titans - Leonard Williams, DT, USC
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Dante Fowler, Jr., OLB/DE, Florida
4. Oakland Raiders - Kevin White, WR, West Virginia
5. Washington - Vic Beasley, OLB, Clemson
6. New York Jets - Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State
7. Chicago Bears - Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
8. Atlanta Falcons - Shane Ray, DE/OLB, Missouri
9. New York Giants - Randy Gregory, DE/OLB, Nebraska
10. St. Louis Rams - Brandon Scherff, OT, Iowa
11. Minnesota Vikings - Landon Collins, S, Alabama
12. Cleveland Browns - Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
13. New Orleans Saints - Alvin Dupree, OLB, Kentucky
14. Miami Dolphins - DeVante Parker, WR, Louisville
15. San Francisco 49ers - La'el Collins, OG, LSU
16. Houston Texans - Arik Armstead, DT, Oregon
17. San Diego Chargers - Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
18. Kansas City Chiefs - Trae Waynes, CB, Michigan State
19. Cleveland Browns - Shaq Thompson, LB, Washington
20. Philadelphia Eagles - Jalen Collins, CB, LSU
21. Cincinnati Bengals - Malcom Brown, DT, Texas
22. Pittsburgh Steelers - Marcus Peters, CB, Washington
23. Detroit Lions - Ereck Flowers, OT, Miami
24. Arizona Cardinals - Melvin Gordon, RB, Wisconsin
25. Carolina Panthers - Andrus Peat, OT, Stanford
26. Baltimore Ravens - Eddie Goldman, DT, Florida State
27. Dallas Cowboys - Michael Bennett, DT, Ohio State
28. Denver Broncos - D.J. Humphries, OT, Florida
29. Indianapolis Colts - Cameron Erving, C, Florida State
30. Green Bay Packers - Eric Kendricks, ILB, UCLA
31. New Orleans Saints - T.J. Clemmings, OT, Pittsburgh
32. New England Patriots - Byron Jones, CB, Connecticut

1. Tennessee Titans - Breshad Perriman, WR, UCF
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Benardrick McKinney, ILB, Mississippi State
3. Oakland Raiders - Owamagbe Odighizuwa, DE, UCLA
4. Jacksonville Jaguars - Dorial Green-Beckham, WR, Missouri
5. New York Jets - Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M
6. Washington - Jake Fisher, OT, Oregon
7. Chicago Bears - Eli Harold, OLB, Virginia
8. New York Giants - Derron Smith, FS, Fresno State
9. St. Louis Rams - Jaelen Strong, WR, Arizona State
10. Atlanta Falcons - Maxx Williams, TE, Minnesota
11. Cleveland Browns - Devin Funchess, WR/TE, Michigan
12. New Orleans Saints - Denzel Perryman, ILB, Miami (FL)
13. Minnesota Vikings - Stephone Anthony, ILB, Clemson
14. San Francisco 49ers - Carl Davis, DT, Iowa
15. Miami Dolphins - Kevin Johnson, CB, Wake Forest
16. San Diego Chargers - Preston Smith, DE, Mississippi State
17. Kansas City Chiefs - Nelson Agholor, WR, USC
18. Buffalo Bills - Jordan Phillips, DT, Oklahoma
19. Houston Texans - Rob Havenstein, OT, Wisconsin
20. Philadelphia Eagles - Brett Hundley, QB, UCLA
21. Cincinnati Bengals - Paul Dawson, ILB, TCU
22. Detroit Lions - Laken Tomlinson, OG, Duke
23. Arizona Cardinals - Danielle Hunter, OLB/DE, LSU
24.  Pittsburgh Steelers - Eric Rowe, DB, Utah
25. Carolina Panthers - Phillip Dorsett, WR, Miami (FL)
26. Baltimore Ravens - P.J. Williams, CB, Florida State
27. Denver Broncos - Hroniss Grasu, C, Oregon
28. Dallas Cowboys - Ameer Abdullah, RB, Nebraska
29. Indianapolis Colts - Mario Edwards Jr., DT, Florida State
30. Green Bay Packers - D'Joun Smith, CB, Florida Atlantic
31. Seattle Seahawks - Devin Smith, WR, Ohio State
32. New England Patriots - A.J. Cann, OG, South Carolina

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Ali Marpet, OG, Hobart
2. Tennessee Titans - Hau'oli Kikaha, OLB, Washington
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Tre Jackson, OG, Florida State
4. Oakland Raiders - Arie Kouandjio, OG, Alabama
5. Washington - Tevin Coleman, RB, Indiana
6. New York Jets - Nate Orchard, DE/OLB, Utah
7. Chicago Bears - Ronald Darby, CB, Florida State
8. St. Louis Rams - Donovan Smith, OT, Penn State
9. Atlanta Falcons - Quinten Rollins, CB, Miami (OH)
10. New York Giants - Garrett Grayson, QB, Colorado State
11. New Orleans Saints - Clive Walford, TE, Miami (FL)

With the 76th pick of the NN community mock draft, 49erFanSince1950 and Minnesota Vikings select...Josh Shaw, CB, USC

From the start of this draft, our three biggest positional needs were ILB, CB and SS.  Beyond that, secondary needs included OL and DT.  With this pick, all three of the biggest needs have been addressed:  SS Landon Collins (Alabama) at #11, ILB Stephone Anthony (Clemson) at #45, and now CB Shaw at #76.  Offensive and defensive line needs will be addressed in rounds 4 through 7.

I considered nothing other than cornerbacks for this particular pick.  I had hoped to select CB Ronald Darby (Florida State) here, but Chicago grabbed him at #71; then, I expected to select CB Quinton Rollins (Miami OH), but Atlanta grabbed him at #73  ... thus, Shaw is the pick.  I also considered Alex Carter (Stanford) and Steven Nelson (Oregon State), both, like Shaw, having third-round grades.

With the 77th pick of the NN community mock draft, RutherfordBHayes and the Cleveland Browns select...Sammie Coates, WR, Auburn

Alternates: Lorenzo Mauldin, DE/OLB Louisville; Chris Conley, WR, Georgia; Markus Golden, DE Mizzou.

I really, really wanted to take Lorenzo Mauldin from Louisville. In fact, I had already written a long "this is why I take LoZo" email draft. However, I think the talent level demands some serious consideration. I took Funchess in the second round, a WR that is a big physical Kelvin Benjamin style WR (hopefully!). I don't think Funchess' blocking is quite up to par, but he can at least do something TE-like, to warrant him to be on the field more often than not. As a replacement for Cameron, at least as far as the passing threat is concerned, Funchess should be fine.

I thought that I had sewn up the passing attack, but with Coates still on the board, I have to take him here. He is the deep threat, playmaker that could develop into something great. He just has to learn to not drop the ball.

But, this pick--like I said--is a real problem for me because Mauldin is a great DE/OLB that could really shore up the defense. But, with Bowe, Hartline, and Coates, the Browns could be really set at the WR position. Add in Funchess, and I think the Browns are pretty set at viable passing options for either Johnny Football or Josh McCown.

With the 78th pick of the NN community mock draft, Poldarn and the New Orleans Saints select...Henry Anderson, DL, Stanford

Alternates: DL Marcus Hardison

The Saints are admitttedly going into this draft with the intention of fixing their defense. With two of the three previous picks I drafted the most glaring needs, at pass rusher and ILB. The DL also needs some new blood, as none of the recent draft picks distinguished themselves. By the third round, the prime NT prospects are gone. Two players, Henry Anderson from Stanford and Marcus Hardison from Arizona State, are both athletic but dividing DL prospects, ranked anywhere from 2nd round to the 6th. However, they are the only two left on the board I see as impact players in a 3-4 DLine. Anderson is the better prospect of the two.