Mills & Mond: QB Risers in the NFL Draft?

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Davis Mills and Kellen Mond are intriguing QB prospects after the top 5 prospects in the NFL Draft. Let’s look into what kind of future they may have in the NFL.

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The 2021 NFL draft is star-studded with top-end quarterback prospects, but after the top 5, there are questions if any of them could turn into NFL starters. There are always players that move up a team’s draft board before the NFL Draft.  A couple of QBs that have recently been getting more hype as the draft comes closer are Davis Mills from Stanford and Kellen Mond from Texas A&M. Let’s take a look and see if they have what it takes or are just a reach for QB needy teams.

Davis Mills

Injuries at Stanford

Mills was a top 15 recruit and the # 1 ranked QB coming out of high school, with offers from powerhouses Alabama and Georgia. Mills injured his knee his senior year of high school and once again his freshman year during practice at Stanford.

In two years as a starter, Mills totaled over 3,400 yards, 18 TDs, and 8 interceptions. His time at Stanford was short but was not helped with 26 drops by receivers, and a conservative offense that threw over 60% of throws under 10 yards.

Strengths

• Escapability in the pocket and can gain solid yards
• When in rhythm; makes strong throws and gives receivers the ability to gain yards
• Very good in short/intermediate throws in between the hashes
• Showed great improvement from 2020 to 2019

Weakness

• Sometimes holds the ball too long and can cause sacks
• Struggles with outside throws to the hashes at times
• Ball Placement can be high or behind when pressured
• Suffered from various injuries

Mills Summary

Mills’ film looked a lot better in 2020; but in a shortened season it is hard to draw too many conclusions with how conservative the gameplan at Stanford was.

Mills really excels with short drops where he can hit receivers in stride in the middle of the field. He is a typical drop-back passer, but can maneuver the pocket; although sometimes his ability to extend plays can cause sacks.

Mills seems to be finally overcoming his injuries and needs more experience to work on consistency and timing on deeper throws.

Kellen Mond

4 Year Starter

Mond was not as highly ranked as Mills coming out of high school, but was a top 125 recruit. He had offers from big schools in the south like Auburn, Clemson, and Georgia.

Mond was a starter all 4 years at Texas A&M but had a rough Freshman year with only 51% completion, 8 TDs, and 6 INTs. After his freshman year, a new coaching staff helped elevate Monds’ play. In his SR year he finished with his best completion percentage and quarterback rating. Mond also experienced a large number of drops by receivers and his adjusted completion percentage was over 70% in his Jr and Sr season.

Strengths

• Dual Threat QB, tough, and not afraid to take hits
• Can throw on the run; sets feet when throwing across the field
• Has a very strong arm and can make some wow throws
• Varies ball speed for the situation and allows for catchable passes

Weakness

• Struggles on identifying pressure and needs to improve on pocket presence
• Bad decision making at times and waits too long to take off from the pocket
• Lacks anticipation on throws and doesn’t give receivers a chance at making a play at times

Mond Summary

After starting all 4 years in college, Mond had more experience and more game tape to evaluate. He is a true dual-threat QB and shows off his toughness; taking big hits when running. Mond can make NFL-type throws like the ones shown below, but just does not show consistency with his accuracy or decision making.

Another issue in Mond’s game is that he tends to wait for receivers to show that they’re open rather than using anticipation to lead them open. One thing he does very well however is vary his ball placement and velocity to allow for receivers to be able to make catches in all situations.

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NFL and Beyond

Both Mills and Mond are not ready to be immediate starters, but show traits that could make a team want to take them for a developmental prospect in the NFL Draft.

Mond has 4 years of experience, so some teams may be worried that he has reached his potential and may not continue to improve.

The many injuries Mills experienced hurt his development, so teams may see the high-end prospect and think with more experience he could still reach his potential coming out of high school.

In a normal 4  round rookie draft in dynasty, the QBs will only be fliers late in the 4th round. Both QBs’ value will be dependent on the landing spot and draft capital.

Some examples of teams that would be positive for their future are Chicago, Minnesota, or Washington. They will have starters for 2021 but could use a QB for the future.