My Guy: Kellen Mond

[Hoog]

Kellen Mond is a “my guy” for me in the second round at QB. If you would have brought up his name during his Freshman or Sophomore years, I would have laughed but this kid has been tremendous his last two years. He just improved every year and I see him as a future high end starter in the NFL. Is he ready to start day one, nope, but with a red shirt year spent learning and an occasional snap or two in games we are ahead in or out of, I think he could be a starter year two without issue.

Mond is a 6’3”, 205lb quarterback who played his college ball at Texas A&M. He played four seasons there and during those four seasons, Mond totaled 9,661 yards passing and threw 71 touchdown passes and 27 interceptions. He also rushed for 1,609 yards and an additional 22 career rushing touchdowns. This play earned him an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl where he came away with the MVP honors for that game.

The more film I watch and the more articles I read about Mond, the more excited I am to draft this kid. He is rising up the boards after his nice performance and time at the Senior Bowl. Chris Simms even has him as the 4th best QB in the draft and I have seen mention that he could actually sneak into the bottom of the first round. When I watch film, I see a bit of Baker Mayfield and DeShaun Watson to his game.

Notes, from my video viewing, I wrote down the following:

Athletic- he has excellent balance, moves really well, has the speed to go by people when he takes off, but it sometimes is used as a fault because he takes off when he actually had a receiver open that would be the better option. The when to run and when to stay and pass thing will need to be worked on a bit.

Great Arm- he can really fling the ball but has a very nice touch on downfield balls. Again, this can be a fault of his as he tries to force it because he thinks his arm can beat the defender. He will also do this while his feet aren’t set or throw across his body a bit. I don’t want to totally eliminate this trait, as that’s where Baker and Mahomes excel but if you can clean it up and use it as a weapon, then this kid would take more steps forward.

Decision Making/Accuracy- he has come a long way in this department. He still needs to clean it up a bit, as I mentioned above, but he is said to be a hard worker and good learning QB and it showed in his last two years. I have no doubt that sitting a year under Dalton and learning from our offensive coaches this will not be an issue down the road.

Bouncy Feet/Scheme- two areas he will need to work on are his bouncy feet. You can watch all the video and one thing that stood out for me was he would get bouncy feet at times and rush things. The bouncy feet would hurt his throws in that his feet weren’t set and his mechanics would suffer. If he can settle his feet and get throws off he is a much better QB. The scheme they have run at A&M was kind of a Pistol/Shotgun offense that really didn’t allow him to read options. It was a ready, set, throw or run type offense that didn’t have time to check down or read defenses. This is another reason I want him to sit the year and learn. Be the sponge and clear up any issues.

Overall, I think there is huge potential in Kellen Mond and getting the OT in the first then taking him in the second is the plan I would follow.

Here are some things I found on Mond:

From The Draft Network:
From a statistical standpoint, Kellen Mond is one of the most prolific players to not only play in College Station, but also the SEC. He’s a slim, but adequately built quarterback prospect who possesses lots of velocity with throws when able to step into them. With a high-elbow but snappy type of release, he has the torque and enthusiasm behind passes that enables him to be very efficient in the short to intermediate areas. Mond always displays high levels of poise as he often shows that he’s never in a hurry. From his mechanics to how he deals with pressure surrounding him, he remains under control and focused on the task at hand. He’s one of the most battled-tested throwers in the country as he takes an excruciating amount of hits throughout games but continues to battle and make throws. The often occurrence of shots to his body has helped him better deal with pressure from all directions inside the pocket. He’s mainly a half-field read thrower that can get the ball out quickly and efficiently when on schedule. While barely scratching the level of an above-average athlete, he has enough athleticism to get himself out of trouble and gain hidden yardage when breaking outside of the pocket as well. He’s strictly a shotgun/pistol quarterback who’s had all of his experience there.

Playing faster is sometimes needed, but he remains at the same pace. Decaying pockets can be challenging for him to escape and he waits too long to make that decision instead of correctly timing when, where, and how to exit the pocket in order to explore and create off-script opportunities. He shows great stages of poise, but will have plays where he makes questionable throws down the field in hopes of being bailed out by aggressive perimeter options.

From Jonah Horvis (Fanside NFL Mocks):
Kellen Mond, a quarterback out of Texas A&M, is a guy who should be getting more attention than he is this draft season. In his senior year, Mond threw for 2,282 yards, 19 touchdowns, and only tossed thre interceptions. Now is Mond a first-round caliber player? The answer is simply no. However, he has the tools and abilities to be a nice project for a team that may not need the immediate starter, but a potential future starting option at the position.

Standing at an ideal size for a quarterback at 6-foot 3 inches and weighing around 220 pounds, Mond has nice arm strength and the mobility that many teams look for in a quarterback. Mond has shown during his time at Texas A&M that he can make tight-window throws and has great placement with his throws.

Go back and watch the Alabama game from this past season and you see Mond hit right on the mark on highly contested throws throughout the game. A skill many young quarterbacks struggle with, Mond made look effortless against a top-tier opponent in Alabama. Even though his mechanics can seem tight, Mond used those mechanics all year to make tight throws in coverage.
A reason why Kellen Mond doesn’t get the same attention as other guys do in the 2021 NFL Draft class could be the system he was in at Texas A&M. At times, the scheme they ran could be predictable and make Mond seem to be a system quarterback. This can be the case for many prospects coming out of college, as that question was raised with Tua Tugavolia and is being asked about Mac Jones as well.

Mond displays steller athleticism and the ability to move inside and outside the pocket. Even though it might come foreign at first, Mond has the ability to avoid pressure with his legs, stay strong and make throws in the pocket when it collapses, and has very good arm strength and placement to complete passes at an NFL level of play.

[G08]

I love his skill-set more than Mac Jones/Kyle Trask/Davis Mills. He has work to do but, again, I'm convinced the rookie QB we draft will be sitting all of 2021 (if we do things right -- heavy on the IF).

I trust DeFilippo to overhaul mechanics so, while I won't say he's "my guy", I certainly would be excited if we took him at 52.

[G08]

Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond is one of the fastest rising players among mock drafts in recent months following his Most Valuable Player performance in the Reese's Senior Bowl, which in turn has caused scouts to take a longer look at him. And it's not just Mond's on-field talent that Scouts have honed in on during that period either. For all of his athletic abilities, NFL Network analyst and draft scout Daniel Jeremiah believes that Mond's eagerness to study film -- Jeremiah described the Aggies signal-caller as a "film junkie" -- could separate him from some of the other quarterbacks in the draft class as far as his potential is concerned.

“He has really continued to improve throughout his collegiate career," Jeremiah said of Mond in a recent episode of Path to the Draft. "Capped it off with a Senior Bowl MVP performance. He’s got a live arm, to me he’s somebody that was accurate, showed the ability to throw with anticipation this year, more so than we had seen in previous years. And he’s just a film junkie.

"When I talked to folks at A&M they said you’ve got to kick him out of the facility, he’s there all the time. Even on the plane ride back from games that he’s standing up next to his head coach Jimbo Fisher in the isle of the plane breaking down that tape. He’s all in.”

[thunderspirit]

I like Mond well enough. He makes some decisions a four year starter (three in the Jimbo Fisher spread) shouldn't make, which gives me some pause. (They're not on the level as last year's Steven Montez had, but some are head-scratchers for sure.) To me he's Jake Plummer 2.0, with the good and not-so that comes from that comparison.

I like Mills a little better as a prospect myself, but can't argue with Mond's 43 starts versus the 11 for Mills.

[Hoog]

For me, I want Pace to let the draft come to him for once. There are a lot of QB's with potential in this draft and if Fields, Jones, or Lance fall to you then take them at #20 but don't move up because you have Mond, Mills, and even Trask in the second that have just as much potential. I'm not too sure I wouldn't even pass on Jones if Darrisaw was there at #20. One other thing to consider here is possibly trading down to #30 - #32 to pick up an extra 2nd (late) and then taking Mond or Mills there so you have them longer term under the first round (I think my thinking is right there? ) . Then draft your OT and WR/CB with your two picks in the 2nd round.

[G08]

One other thing to consider here is possibly trading down to #30 - #32 to pick up an extra 2nd (late) and then taking Mond or Mills there so you have them longer term under the first round (I think my thinking is right there? ) . Then draft your OT and WR/CB with your two picks in the 2nd round.

I think the compensation would be a little off; if we dropped down from #20 to #30, it's roughly 230 points lost for us, which equates to pick #72 (3rd round pick). If we wanted the Bills' second, we would technically owe 54 points.

[cblaz11]

This guy reminds me of the Virginia Tech QB that came out a few years back..Logan something I think.

Pretty sure he’s a TE now...No thanks

[Grizzled]

He's much better and played more years at QB than Tannehill at TAMU. If Jones is still available at #20, I think the Bears have to take him. But if he's gone (and Pace hasn't sacrificed other picks to grab him), I could see Mond in the 3rd. This being the draft, however, the Bears might need to snag him at #52 if they've taken an OT in the 1st.

[Hoog]

This guy reminds me of the Virginia Tech QB that came out a few years back..Logan something I think.

Pretty sure he’s a TE now...No thanks

Actually Logan Thomas might be who you are thinking of but that kid couldn't really run and didn't have the arm Mond does. There was another VaTech kid, Jerod Evans, who I absolutely loved but didn't make it in the NFL. Bounced around until last year. Would have loved to seen him go to Canada or somewhere to get things straight. He and Mond are somewhat comparable but Mond is more accurate and more of a QB rather than a runner. Mond is the better prospect right now than Evans ever was but they have the same build and are good runners, Mond just has more QB attributes as well.

[Yogi da Bear]

From a physical perspective, he's a poor man's Mitchell Trubisky, which is why I hike Pace might target him. He has legs, but he's not as quick as Mitchell. He has an arm, but it's not as strong as Trubs. He might be a little more accurate, but he makes a lot of the same WTF throws that Mitchell does. The one question that we don't know is how well he processes the field. If he can do that much better than Mitchell, than he could be a good deal for us. Not sure though if we can rely on Pace to determine that. He certainly didn't do a good job of it with Trubs. But Mond does have far more collegiate experience than Mitchell ever did.

[WP.1]

This guy reminds me of the Virginia Tech QB that came out a few years back..Logan something I think.

Pretty sure he’s a TE now...No thanks

yup

1. Zach Wilson, BYU
2. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
3. Mac Jones, Alabama
4. Kellen Mond, Texas A&M
5. Justin Fields, Ohio State
6. Trey Lance, North Dakota State

Simms ranking lead me to Mond.
geez, Draft Top 4 QB and TE is a decent match/grading. J. Fields must be crying somewehre.