Vikings Draft Texas A&M QB Kellen Mond with 66th Overall Pick

EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings started their Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft by selecting quarterback Kellen Mond with the 66th overall pick. This is the second straight year the Vikings have drafted a quarterback, having grabbed Nate Stanley 244th overall in 2020. But Mond marks the earliest Minnesota has selected a passer since 2014 when Teddy Bridgewater joined the Vikings as the 32nd overall pick. Prior to Friday, Minnesota had drafted a quarterback in the third round only once: none other than Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton, whom the team selected in 1961 for the inaugural season. Mond, a redshirt senior who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 211 pounds on his NFL.com bio page, played 10 games for the Aggies in 2020. He finished the campaign 188-of-297 passing (63.3 percent) for 2,282 yards, 19 touchdowns and just three interceptions for a 146.9 NCAA passer rating. He added 74 rushes for 294 yards and four touchdowns. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, Jr., ranked Mond as the eighth-best QB in this year’s draft class. Dane Brugler of The Athletic and analytics site Pro Football Reference each ranked Mond as the ninth-best of the group. Mond, who was named MVP of the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl, joins a Vikings quarterbacks room led by Kirk Cousins, who signed a three-year deal with Minnesota in 2018 as a free agent, and in March 2020 signed a two-year extension. Behind Cousins are Stanley and Jake Browning, who signed with the Vikings as an undrafted rookie in 2019. NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein called Mond a “quarterback with dual-threat physical tools who has grown and matured into a role as a confident game manager.” Jordan Reid, a former QB and coach at North Carolina Central University who is now a Senior NFL Draft Analyst for The Draft Network and a co-founder of ClimbingThePocket.com, gave his thoughts on Mond to Vikings.com earlier this spring: “He set pretty much every single record at Texas A&M, but he does have some fine-tuning that he needs to do,” Reid said. “He would be a very, very nice project for the Vikings to have.”Player Bio Mond was the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback recruit in the country in 2017. He played with his Texas A&M teammate, receiver Jhamon Ausbon, at IMG Academy in Florida, where he transferred for his senior season. In his true freshman year, he started eight of 11 games played (117 of 227, 51.5 completion percentage, 1,375 yards, eight touchdowns, six interceptions; 89 carries, 340 yards, 3.8 yards per carry, three touchdowns), replacing injured QB1 Nick Starkel. Mond earned the first of two Team Offensive MVP awards in 2018 and was also named the team's Most Improved Player after starting all 13 games (238 of 415, 57.3 completion percentage, 3,107 yards, 24 touchdowns, nine interceptions; 149 rushes, 544 yards, 3.7 yards per carry, seven touchdowns). He was part of a historic regular season finale that season, as A&M beat LSU 74-72 in seven overtimes. Mond again started all 13 games as a junior, completing 61.6 percent of his throws (258 of 419) for 2,897 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also scored eight touchdowns on the ground (126 carries, 500 yards, 4.0 yards per carry) and won the Texas Bowl MVP Award (95 passing yards, one touchdown; 119 rushing yards, one touchdown). Mond became A&M's all-time leader in most career passing categories and tied Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel with 93 total touchdowns after leading the team to a 9-1 finish as a 10-game starter in 2020 (188 of 297, 63.3 completion percentage, 2,282 yards, 19 touchdowns, three interceptions; 74 carries, 294 yards, 4.0 yards per carry, four touchdowns). He accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl and was named MVP of the game. -- by Chad ReuterOverview Quarterback with dual-threat physical tools who has grown and matured into a role as a confident game manager. The Aggies' offense asked too much of Mond in the past, which led to diminishing returns. However, the 2020 offense featured a strong rushing attack paired with play-action, where he not only found greater confidence and rhythm as a passer, but also noticeable pocket poise and accuracy. He doesn't often get antsy working from the pocket and throws with solid ball placement underneath. Issues with touch and anticipation create erratic completion numbers when asked to throw down the field and outside the numbers, which will concern evaluators. His zone-read talent and quick release to incorporate RPOs adds to his draft value, but he might lack the consistency to ever become more than a solid backup. Strengths Four-year starter with growing confidence. Improved game management and ball placement in 2020. Touchdown-to-interception ratio jumped from 2:1 to 6:1 in 2020. Has become willing pocket passer who trusts his protection. Quiet lower body when working through progressions. Delivers most throws from balanced platform. Alters arm slot to deliver ball around bodies and arms. Quick, wrist-flick release generates tight spiral with quality zip. Relatively accurate throwing on the move. Dangerous zone-read option. Able to break the pocket and move the sticks with chunk play scrambles.Weaknesses Deep throws are often flat and overthrown. Highly inconsistent in working with anticipation. Doesn't consistently make defenses pay for coverage mistakes. Shies away from big-play opportunities to take shorter throws. Will miss late safety movement indicating incoming blitz. Defaults to aiming rather than throwing at times. Just average attacking high-low route concepts. Inaccuracy and indecisiveness reared ugly heads against LSU. Completed just 35 percent of intermediate throws outside the numbers (and 26 percent of deep throws outside numbers) in 2020.

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Vikings Draft Texas A&M QB Kellen Mond with 66th Overall Pick

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