2015 NN community mock draft, round 3: The 49ers select ....

The 2015 NN community mock draft continues to roll through the third round, and we are back with another San Francisco 49ers pick. Karl Cuba has posted his thoughts below. You can also review his thoughts on the 49ers first round pick from two weeks ago, and then their second round pick last week. We will have four picks each of the next five days to wrap up the 2015 NN community mock draft.

Here is where we stand through the first 14 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)
12. Minnesota Vikings - Josh Shaw, CB, USC
13. Cleveland Browns - Sammie Coates, WR, Auburn
14. New Orleans Saints - Henry Anderson, DL, Stanford

With the 79th pick of the NN community mock draft, Karl Cuba and the San Francisco 49ers select...Tre McBride, WR, William & Mary

Alternates: Rashad Greene WR Florida State, Tyler Lockett WR Kansas State, Alex Carter CB Stanford

I opted to reinforce the offensive and defensive lines with my first two selections, following the template that Trent Baalke has used to build his teams in the past. However, the second choice for both picks was a receiver, having identified the position as one of those most in need of help, so it seems obvious that the time has come to grab a wideout. This is especially true when there really aren't any inside linebackers available that are worth taking in the middle of the third round.

This isn't a forced pick though, I was praying that McBride would be available with this pick ever since I selected Carl Davis in the second round. I think he's one of the more underrated players in the draft, I feel that if he'd played for a bigger program then he would almost certainly be much more highly regarded. Matt Waldman, the writer of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio (which I would highly recommend) ranks him as the fifth receiver in this class and I have to agree with his assessment.

I hope a comparison to Sammie Coates will illustrate why. Coates is commonly seen as an outstanding athletic specimen and that's the reason he has been mocked up to the bottom of the third round, though he will probably fall to the third as he has in this draft. Let's have a look at their combine numbers:

40 time: 4.41s ... 4.43s
Vertical: 38" ... 41"
3 cone drill: 6.96s ... 6.98s
20 yard shuttle: 4.08s ... 4.06s

Separated at birth right? McBride's numbers are on the left and while Coates has a slightly better vertical and longer arms it is McBride who is much more likely to catch a 50:50 high ball.

This is because while McBride has two outstanding qualities as a receiver, he reaches back to pluck the ball out of the air as well as any receiver in the class and he has superb body control that allows him to contort his body in the air in a manner similar to Brandon Lloyd. This means he is better at high pointing the ball than many much taller receivers. If you recall my earlier selections one of the reason I stayed away from Dorsett, Smith and Agholor is I didn't know if they would be able to win isolation matchups on the perimeter, a requirement for a starting receiver but McBride's hands and balletic athleticism should allow him to become an X or Z in the NFL.

He knows how to throttle back and settle in the soft spot in a zone and breaks back to the ball in flight. He runs well after the catch with experience as a returner and running out of the backfield. He does have occasional drops but these are often the result of him looking to turn and run before completing the catch. I'd rather have a guy who drops those than a player with fundamentally bad hands as this type of concentration error is much more correctable. This is also true for the other flaws in his game: he would be helped by getting a little stronger and his routes are good but should be better when you consider his workout numbers and superior balance. You have to assume that he will have access to better coaching and conditioning in the NFL than he saw at William and Mary and he's a smart, hardworking young man who was offered a place at Harvard and a father who served 25 years in the military. You might have got the impression that I really like him as a prospect, usually when you hear ‘small school' you automatically assume that means he's raw but that isn't the case with McBride.

Greene and Lockett are decent players but their size will likely limit them to the slot in the NFL. They will likely be productive but the niners need someone who can take over from Anquan Boldin if he retires after this year.

If McBride had been taken I would most likely have looked to Alex Carter, the tall, physical corner from Stanford. You'd like your corners to be a little faster but his other drills show decent athleticism and you'd be able to rely on his run support immediately. His size could possibly see him moving to safety if his team needed him in that role. My recommendation in these circumstances would be to target Chis Conley or Kenny Bell, another Waldman recommendation, in the fourth round. Both players are very good athletes who are underrated because their teams didn't throw very much.

With only three picks and several holes in the roster I couldn't have filled them all but I really like my haul with both lines set for a while and having stolen one of my favourite receivers in the third round. I couldn't get a linebacker though and the pickings look thin hereafter, maybe we can sign Lance Briggs after the draft as a one year stopgap.