3. 66 - Kellen Mond, QB, Texas A&M

[swede700]

23 hours ago, vikesfan89 said:

I saw that Mond is the first qb drafted in the 3rd round by the vikings since Fran Tarkenton

Except that with the number of teams there are today, that 3rd rd pick of Tarkenton would now be a late 1st rd pick.  

[swede700]

If anything to me, this means we've finally reached the state of the Spielman tenure where there is truth to the "We have competition at every position" claim that he's made over the years.  While there's no real competition, per se, this year, Mond's development will determine whether there's a true competition going into next year or whether they'll feel comfortable enough in letting Cousins' contract run out and starting Mond in 2023.  

[NorthCountryEvo]

I'm happy with the pick, less because it was Mond, but more so because it is a developmental QB with upside. I'm a firm believer that unless you have a perennial top 10 QB, you should always be at least one per year to hedge your bets on finding talent. That last statement is obviously subjective to the teams situation, but the concept is that by not taking a shot at a developmental guy who could be a gem, you are pigeonholing yourself into a situation where you will be paying a premium in cap space for a free agent or you will be forced into drafting a 1st round QB who still won't necessarily be a lock to be successful, but will lock you into several years of "giving them a shot". Worst case for us, Mond turns out to be bad at QB and we have to take another shot next year or in two when Cousins' contract is up. We either resign Cousins, we draft a QB high as an immediate replacement, or we look to free agency for a new starter. I am a firm believer in taking shots to attempt to find a suitable replacement both from a skill standpoint and a cap standpoint. When you are drafting 10+ picks per year, then it makes it even easier to justify using one for the most important position on the field.

[PrplChilPill]

5 minutes ago, NorthCountryEvo said:

I'm happy with the pick, less because it was Mond, but more so because it is a developmental QB with upside. I'm a firm believer that unless you have a perennial top 10 QB, you should always be at least one per year to hedge your bets on finding talent. That last statement is obviously subjective to the teams situation, but the concept is that by not taking a shot at a developmental guy who could be a gem, you are pigeonholing yourself into a situation where you will be paying a premium in cap space for a free agent or you will be forced into drafting a 1st round QB who still won't necessarily be a lock to be successful, but will lock you into several years of "giving them a shot". Worst case for us, Mond turns out to be bad at QB and we have to take another shot next year or in two when Cousins' contract is up. We either resign Cousins, we draft a QB high as an immediate replacement, or we look to free agency for a new starter. I am a firm believer in taking shots to attempt to find a suitable replacement both from a skill standpoint and a cap standpoint. When you are drafting 10+ picks per year, then it makes it even easier to justify using one for the most important position on the field.

Worst case isn't that he's bad and they have to draft another....worst case is that a legit starter at another position could have been taken (note, I said worst case, not that one was there). The odds of him being a good NFL QB are very, very, low. The odds of a DB or LB or DL being a 3rd round starter aren't great, but they are much, much, higher.

It's fine. But not what I'd have preferred they do.

[viking]

3 minutes ago, PrplChilPill said:

Worst case isn't that he's bad and they have to draft another....worst case is that a legit starter at another position could have been taken (note, I said worst case, not that one was there). The odds of him being a good NFL QB are very, very, low. The odds of a DB or LB or DL being a 3rd round starter aren't great, but they are much, much, higher.

It's fine. But not what I'd have preferred they do.

And the QB position is much much much much more valuable than a LB or DL so the expected value of the pick is still higher than taking more of a sure thing at another positon.

Taking a flyer on a QB in the mid rounds is a good pick, especially with as much mid round draft capital we had 

 

[PrplChilPill]

38 minutes ago, viking said:

And the QB position is much much much much more valuable than a LB or DL so the expected value of the pick is still higher than taking more of a sure thing at another positon.

Taking a flyer on a QB in the mid rounds is a good pick, especially with as much mid round draft capital we had 

 

The amount of capital is not really relevant.....just because you have a lot of money doesn't mean you should spend it unwisely.....and, we'll just disagree on the first sentence. His odds are extremely long, extremely. Whereas the odds of a legit contributor at other positions are decent. 

[viking]

1 minute ago, PrplChilPill said:

The amount of capital is not really relevant.....just because you have a lot of money doesn't mean you should spend it unwisely.....and, we'll just disagree on the first sentence. His odds are extremely long, extremely. Whereas the odds of a legit contributor at other positions are decent. 

The amount of capital we had means you should spread it around just like we did, should we have drafted a 3rd DE instead?

 

The odds of him succeeding are like super slim and he's still worth a 3rd round pick because QBs are so valuable

[Robb_K]

5 hours ago, swede700 said:

Mannion should have been hired as an assistant QB coach 2 years ago instead of wasting a roster spot on him the entire time, considering that's all he was brought in for.  

That was implicit in my statement.  You can't really believe that I thought Mannion's performance over his Vikings' seasons as backup had earned his salary and made him worthy of holding that position.

[Robb_K]

9 hours ago, CriminalMind said:

For us to roll with Mond as opening day starter in 2022-2023, I'm guessing he is going to need to get multiple starts this season somehow.  Either through a Cousins injury or through Cousins being hooked in another down season

What about 10-12 games of playing the entire 2nd Half, after lots of early blow-outs???  😎

[CriminalMind]

42 minutes ago, Robb_K said:

What about 10-12 games of playing the entire 2nd Half, after lots of early blow-outs???  😎

Well than it depends on Cousins playoff performance, cuz trading Cousins in Feb 2022 for a 2nd round pick (and saving $35M on the viking cap) to a QB needy team before teams have a chance to address QB in free agency, looks like a very fair prediction, especially if Mond shows some reasonable progress. Rick would also get to pump his own value to ownership that he can trade Cousins for value and have a potential new starting QB (on rookie scale). And maybe Rick gets his own extension that way. 

[Vikes22]

We have to like the pick because it’s done. I hope he makes and helps our team in the future. I would of rather taken Mills with this pick. That just me. I’m all about accurate QB’s and I think Mills will just fine.

[wcblack34]

3 hours ago, PrplChilPill said:

Worst case isn't that he's bad and they have to draft another....worst case is that a legit starter at another position could have been taken (note, I said worst case, not that one was there). The odds of him being a good NFL QB are very, very, low. The odds of a DB or LB or DL being a 3rd round starter aren't great, but they are much, much, higher.

It's fine. But not what I'd have preferred they do.

For every pick that doesn't work out, there's always a legit starter at another position that could have been taken. Hell, even with Mr. Irrelevant, there's always an undrafted guy who becomes a starter. Your argument would be the same if they took a DE at that spot who didn't work out. 

[NoDakViking]

Anyone think this pick just tanks Cousins' confidence ala Wentz?

[SemperFeist]

9 minutes ago, NoDakViking said:

Anyone think this pick just tanks Cousins' confidence ala Wentz?

Nope

[Robb_K]

4 minutes ago, NoDakViking said:

Anyone think this pick just tanks Cousins' confidence ala Wentz?

I think how the O-line plays will have a LOT more effect on Cousins' confidence, related to what he'll think he can do than the threat of him being replaced in the lineup with Mond.  The fear of Mond taking his place will only happen after Mond gets to prove he's capable of playing better than Cousins, and after he's already gotten a chance to prove it.  AFTER that point, the fear of being taken out for making mistakes may cause Cousins to be more "careful", which will have him making more checkdowns and throwing the ball earlier, rather than risking interceptions and sack fumbles.  But none of that will be loss of confidence in what he can do.  It will be fear of failure, and being replaced.