Daniel Jeremiah says Texas A&M QB Kellen Mond is a fit for the Broncos after free agency

NFL Network’s lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah gave out his best fits for the quarterback prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft after the dust has settled from free agency. He includes the Broncos in this piece but gives them a name that really hasn’t been mentioned as a possibility.

Jeremiah states that he believes the Broncos will target Darnold and other veterans, but if they do not land one of them, he believes Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond is a good fit to add competition at the quarterback position.

I could see Denver going after Darnold or other veteran options, but if the Broncos don’t land one of them, I do believe they’ll try to bring in some competition for Drew Lock via the draft. Mond would be a fit in the third round. He improved in each of his seasons as Texas A&M, finishing things up by winning the MVP award at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in January. He really improved his decision making in 2020. Mond could come in and push Lock.

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 Draft Network currently has Mond as their 9th best quarterback and their 198th best player in the 2021 NFL Draft.

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.

Some are much higher on Mond than The Draft Network, but this would be a rather underwhelming “competition” for quarterback Drew Lock. Unless Lock tanks, Mond isn’t pushing him for the starting gig this year and likely wouldn’t be all that successful if given the opportunity during his rookie seso, so I for one hope this isn’t the avenue Paton decides to take.

With the “win now” moves done during the opening stages of free agency, I would expect a bigger swing at quarterback than simply adding a mid-round pick into the mix.