March 5, 2021; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Texas A&M Aggies Join House of Athlete Scouting Combine for Athletes Preparing to Enter 2021 NFL Draft at Quarterback Kellen Mond Inter Miami Stadium Compulsory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA Today Sports
The Vikings are getting deeper into their OTA. This is the time of year when players are learning new schemes, and coaches are learning what the players are good at. Basically, it’s a time of exploration to see who has it and who doesn’t.
The biggest question for many fans is, where is the development of Kellen Mond? This is a critically important question. Since signing his full guaranteed contract in 2018, many fans are ready to move on from Kirk Cousins.
This makes the development of Kellen Mond even more critical. At the moment, he is the only glimmer of hope that the Cork cousin era is coming to an end. However, this only happens when Mond improves, and he needs to improve. A A lot.
Fortunately, the new offensive coaching staff is more interested in working with youngsters than Mike Zimmer. There was a theory that Zimmer hated the Rookies. This theory almost implies that he sabotaged the development of players like Mond.
While this is quite a crazy theory, it is not too far away. However, Zimmer wanted to keep the team in the best position to win, and that means if a guy like Mond is not started, that’s what he’s going to do. But now there are Kevin O’Connell and Wes Phillips next to Mond and it’s time to work.
What needs to be done to improve Kellen Mond the most?
In terms of developing any quarterbacks in the NFL, the number one thing they must do is adapt to the pace of the NFL. Additionally, throwing time is reduced, ball throwing windows become harder and defensive plans become harder to read.
In college, a quarterback will have 3 to 4 seconds to throw the ball. Well, the NFL, that’s going to tighten up. An NFL quarterback needs to read and throw the ball in about 2.5 seconds. This is incredibly fast.
Last year, in the preseason, we saw the Mond game. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be reading fast enough or making the right reading. This can be fixed via Simplified Play Call. However, lightning is still fast when thrown. He needs to make significant improvements here.
However, Mond’s biggest weakness is his accuracy. A quarterback has all the arm strength you want, but he doesn’t hit his target as you would expect. This is a complex problem, mainly because the NFL’s windows are so small.
On the bright side, Wes Phillips was quick to praise her during the OTA, as Chris Thomson reports:
It should be music to everyone’s ears. Hopefully, Mond has improved enough to achieve the backup role. Perhaps he has improved so much that the Vikings feel comfortable moving ahead of their cousins soon.
However, sharpening in practice is much different than playing. Only time will tell if Mond can improve enough. We should learn a lot more as the pre-season begins.
Mitch Massman is a lifelong fan of the Vikings. His first heartbreak was playing in the 1998 NFC Championship. His full-time job as an economic development professional in rural Minnesota. He imagines the Vikings winning the Super Bowl one day, but until then he will write about the Vikings. Follow him on Twitter skol_vikings3
