While the top five quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft -- Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, Justin Fields and Trey Lance -- continue to generate national headlines, there's another QB worth considering for the New England Patriots: Kellen Mond.
Mond, a four-year starter at Texas A&M, falls under the next tier of college signal-callers, likely to be drafted on Day 2 or Day 3 later this month. This ultimately could make him a more realistic option for New England if, as projected, there's an early run on quarterbacks.
There's been an abundance of chatter about whether the Patriots, who own the 15th overall pick in the first round, will trade up for a quarterback. If they don't, they could shift their focus to Mond, who, according to The Boston Globe, met with Patriots officials at the Senior Bowl and has remained in contact with the team throughout the offseason, even exchanging text messages with New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
"We've got to set up some type of meeting," Mond recently told The Globe's Jim McBride. "They're starting to do formal meetings, like interview-style.
"Senior Bowl, it was more very formal, like, 'Hello Kellen Mond, tell me about you.' And then now it's gotten more deeper into football. So that should be good."
Mond, listed at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, had a solid senior season for Texas A&M, guiding the Aggies to a 9-1 record while throwing for 19 touchdowns and rushing for four. The 21-year-old has excellent arm strength, as well as the ability to make plays with his legs, which would make him an intriguing fit alongside veteran QB Cam Newton, who recently re-signed with New England on a one-year contract.
It doesn't hurt, either, that Mond, who earned MVP honors at the Senior Bowl, has spent the offseason studying Tom Brady and Drew Brees in the hopes of applying their astute pocket awareness and footwork to his own game.
"Absolutely," Former Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson, who worked with Mond at the House of Athlete combine, told McBride of whether the QB would fit in New England. "There's not a style that he can't adapt to, because he has athleticism and he's very intelligent and he has an unbelievable arm."
Jackson went so far as to call Mond the "sleeper of the draft." Perhaps we all should wake up before it's too late, especially as it relates to the quarterback situation in Foxboro.
