*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
Some Scouts Grade Mond on Day 2 of 2021 NFL Draft
Updated Nov. 20, 2020By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
Texas A&M has the fifth-ranked team in the nation, including an impressive late fourth-quarter win over the sixth-ranked Florida Gators, yet there is little to no media attention around Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond. The other quarterbacks of top-five ranked teams, like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Ian Book and Mac Jones, have all gotten a lot of media acclaim, while butMond has been neglected. While Mond has not received much hype for the 2021 NFL Draft, some NFL teams are giving him a grade in the third round.
“I came close to giving him a second-round grade, but I ended up giving him a third,” said an area scout. “I had Jalen Hurts last year, and Mond is a better passer. Hurts had the history of winning at Alabama and the hype to help him, but Mond is definitely a better passer than Hurts was at Oklahoma. Mond has plenty of arm. The ball comes off his hand fast, and I was surprised at how accurate he’s been this year. That was my issue with him in the past. But it seems as though [the Texas A&M coaches] are keeping it very simple with him. He’s not asked to go through many real exotic progressions. His reads seem sort of predetermined.”
“I wish he were a little more dynamic as a runner, but that’s just not really him. He’s a good athlete for the position, but is more of an undersized pocket passer who can run if needed.”
In 2020, Mond has completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,468 yards with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. The 6-foot-3, 217-pounder could be smaller than those listed numbers.
At the start of the season, two directors of college scouting said they had Mond as more of a mid-round backup and thought he could go in the early rounds of Day 3 during the 2021 NFL Draft. Mond has played well overall this season, so sneaking into the second day seems possible for him. One of those sources called Mond “a poor man’s Colin Kaepernick,” and Kaepernick was a second-round pick, so it stands to reason that Mond has a shot at going on Day 2 and probably won’t fall lower than the fourth or fifth round. Overall, it sounds like Mond is helping himself with a senior year that is improving how scouts view him for the next level.
