2015 Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft: Round 3

Scoring: This mock draft is based on point-per-reception (PPR) scoring formats and is for the 2015 season only (i.e., not keeper or dynasty leagues). Passing touchdowns are worth four points while rushing and receiving touchdowns are worth six points. In addition, one point is earned per 25 passing yards, 10 rushing or 10 receiving yards and per reception.

Mock Draft Start Date: Monday, June 22nd
Mock Draft End Date: Tuesday, July 7th

Four of our site's contributors — Kevin Hanson, Brendan Donahue, Sean Beazley and Dan Yanotchko — will make picks for three teams of this 12-team mock. The mock will go 15 rounds with no kickers or team defenses selected.

Although this is a slow draft, we will post picks as they occur, along with comments from Kevin Hanson, as opposed to waiting for the entire mock draft to be completed.

Round: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 - Teams | Positions

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Here are Round 3 results of our 2015 Fantasy Football Mock Draft:

3.01 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts

Hilton had a breakout 82/1,345/7 season last year. And that breakout year would have been even better if he weren't limited down the stretch by a hamstring injury. With good health, I'd expect Hilton to set new career highs in both receptions and yards this season.

3.02 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans

Emerging as the team's most productive wide receiver last season, Hopkins took a huge step forward in his second season with a 76/1,210/6 stat line. If there's any concern when it comes to Hopkins taking another step forward in his third season, it's the team's less-than-inspiring quarterback play, but he's a strong WR2 for Brendan's team.

3.03 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): Justin Forsett, RB, Baltimore Ravens

Arguably the biggest surprise in fantasy football last season, Forsett scored more fantasy points than all but seven other running backs in 2014. Forsett, who re-signed with the Ravens this offseason, rushed for a career-high 1,266 yards last season and averaged an RB-high 5.4 YPC while adding 44 receptions for 263 yards. With Marc Trestman hired as the team's new offensive coordinator, Forsett could finish with 70 or more receptions after Matt Forte set the single-season running back record (102) under Trestman last season.

3.04 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers

The reigning NFL Most Valuable Player, Rodgers was also the top-scoring fantasy quarterback as well. Since becoming Green Bay's starting quarterback seven years ago, Rodgers has finished as a top-two fantasy quarterback in six of seven seasons with the lone exception due to injury (broken clavicle, 2013).

3.05 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): Andre Ellington, RB, Arizona Cardinals

There are a few running backs on the board that I'd prefer over Ellington here, but the good news is that Ellington averaged more than 20 touches per game last season. (I suppose the bad news is that Ellington averaged more than 20 touches per game last season.)

Given Ellington's size (5-9, 199), it wasn't a huge (no pun intended) surprise that Ellington didn't hold up for a full season and missed the final four regular-season games. With the substantial bump in workload, Ellington underwhelmed as his yards-per-carry average plummeted from 5.5 YPC as a rookie to 3.3 on 201 carries last season.

With all of that said, Ellington's foot injury that he played through all of last season is nearly 100 percent again. Another positive is that the team significantly upgraded their offensive line with the free-agent signing of Mike Iupati and the first-round selection of Florida OT D.J. Humphries.

3.06 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots

Much better in PPR formats, Edelman finished with the 15th-most fantasy points in PPR (versus T21st in standard-scoring formats). After his breakout 2013 season (105/1,056/6), Edelman actually averaged slightly more receptions (6.57 in 2014 vs. 6.56 in 2013) and yards (69.43 in 2014 vs. 66.0 in 2013).

3.07 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Melvin Gordon, RB, San Diego Chargers

For re-draft purposes, I expect Gordon to be the most productive rookie running back in 2015. MG3 has drawn some comparisons to Jamaal Charles and enters into a favorable situation with the injury-prone Ryan Mathews no longer in San Diego. The Bolts should give Gordon a significant share of the early-down work and I expect him to approach 250 touches as a rookie.

3.08 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts

Throwing for 4,761 yards and a league-leading 40 touchdowns, both of which were career highs, Luck's 40 TDs last season nearly equalled his total from his first two seasons combined (46 TDs). During the season, Luck had the second-longest streak of 300-yard games (eight) in NFL history. In addition, Luck gets a boost from his mobility as he has rushed 62-64 times in all three seasons with at least 255 yards each year and a total of 12 touchdowns. While I prefer Rodgers over Luck, they are close and in the top tier by themselves.

3.09 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Carolina Panthers

Along with Mike Evans and Odell Beckham, Benjamin was one of three rookie 1,000-yard receivers in 2014. Like Evans, Benjamin is a big-bodied (6-5, 240) receiver that wins in the red zone (although he reported to OTAs as a bigger-bodied receiver).

As a rookie, Benjamin was the focal point of the passing attack along with tight end Greg Olsen and he should only see his stream of targets increase in his sophomore campaign even though the team used an early pick on Devin Funchess. That said, Benjamin will need to cut down on his drops as only Mohamed Sanu (14) had more drops than Benjamin (11) last season, according to PFF.

3.10 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Jordan Matthews, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

Playing only 65.0 percent of the team's offensive snaps as a rookie, that ratio will undoubtedly spike in his second season as the team lost Jeremy Maclin via free agency. Even if the Eagles were able to re-sign Maclin, I would have expected Matthews to play in two-WR sets ahead of Riley Cooper, who played in 81.7 percent of offensive snaps. In his first season in the league, Matthews finished with 67 receptions for 872 yards and eight touchdowns and finished as a top-25 fantasy wide receiver. While Chip Kelly used the 20th-overall pick on Nelson Agholor to fill Maclin's void, Matthews has top-12 upside in his second season.

3.11 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Brandin Cooks, WR, New Orleans Saints

Playing only 10 games as a rookie before landing on season-ending Injured Reserve, Cooks, like most rookie receivers, was inconsistent on a week-to-week basis. That said, Cooks had three top-12 performances last season including two in his final four games before the injury. Through Week 11, his 86.3 fantasy points ranked 25th among wide receivers over that span.

Going into 2015, I expect better production from Cooks on a per-game basis with a full offseason to get more comfortable with the offense. In addition, the team traded away two of its best weapons -- Jimmy Graham and Kenny Stills -- in the passing game. And Cooks has generated tons of positive buzz in the offseason program.

3.12 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Golden Tate, WR, Detroit Lions

It was a career year for Tate, but at least part of his 99/1,331/4 production should be attributed to a Calvin Johnson injury. In the six games from Weeks 4 to 9, Tate had 50/708/3 and all five of his 100-yard games. During that same span, Megatron was a decoy in Week 4 (two catches for 12 yards) and Week 5 (one catch for seven yards) and missed Weeks 6 to 8. While I'd prefer several other receivers still on the board, Tate is a solid WR2 behind Jordy Nelson for this team.

> Continue to Round 4 of our Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft
> Go back to Round 2 of our Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft

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