HEADLINES

Kellen Mond

Vikings Draft QB Kellen Mond At No. 66

April 30th, 2021 at 8:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

In the middle of a run of Day 2 quarterback picks, the Vikings entered the fray. They are taking Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond at No. 66.

Two picks after Kyle Trask went to the Buccaneers, Mond will join a Vikings team that also has an established quarterback. The multiyear Aggies starter will step in behind Kirk Cousins.

The Vikings have not yet re-signed Sean Mannion, who has worked as Cousins’ backup for the past two seasons. While they could opt to add a veteran to serve as their backup quarterback while Mond learns, the rookie as of now has a ticket to QB2 status.

Mond started for the past three seasons at the SEC school and loomed alongside Trask as the top quarterbacks available after the much-hyped top five. The seasoned passer finished his career with a 71-27 TD-INT ratio, facing perennially tough schedules.

While the Vikings re-signed Cousins, their fourth-year starter’s contract only runs through 2022. The Vikings can shed that contract without incurring any dead-money charges next year.

Draft Notes: Mond, Offensive Run, Bengals

April 25th, 2021 at 5:17pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Here are the latest draft rumblings from around the league with the big event less than a week away:

  • We’ve heard endlessly about the top passers in this draft, but there’s an interesting group of second-tier guys as well. One of those second-tier guys is Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond, who apparently has a real shot to go earlier than most think. Several people have told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter video link) that if any of the second-tier quarterbacks are going to be “the shocking first-round pick,” it could be Mond. The four-year SEC starter is currently expected to go off the board sometime on Day 2, but Pelissero notes there are a lot of things scouts love about him. This will be something to keep an eye on this week.
  • An interesting general draft note here. Obviously there’s going to be an early run on quarterbacks, but the drafting of offensive players isn’t going to stop there. There are a number of pass-catchers and O-linemen who could go off the board very early. In fact, there’s a scenario that could “definitely happen,” where each of the first ten guys drafted on Thursday are offensive players, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Rapsheet says “plenty of teams” picking in the teens and 20s “have been buzzing about how many offensive guys will go early.” It would be the first time in draft history that no defensive player was taken in the top ten, Andrew Siciliano of NFL Network tweets.
  • The Bengals have made upgrading Joe Burrow‘s protection a priority this offseason, understandably so after he tore his ACL during his rookie campaign. They signed tackle Riley Reiff in free agency, and are expected to add help in the draft. Although they had been linked to Oregon tackle Penei Sewell early on, it looks like that help might not come in the first-round after all. There’s a “growing belief that the team is moving toward selecting LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes (subscription required). Dragon notes Bengals exec Duke Tobin said the team would add offensive line help “at some point” in the draft. He writes that the team’s front office thinks this “draft possesses a rich crop of offensive linemen,” and that the organization thinks there will be “starting-caliber offensive linemen available in the second and even third round.”