Mond’s Day 1 Mini-Camp struggles shouldn’t be a surprise

Joe Johnson   |  

May 15, 2021

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Everytime the Vikings draft someone that I deem a reach or mistake, they struggle during rookie minicamp. When Laquon Treadwell had multiple drops during his camp after I started our 2016 NFL Draft chat with an all caps “ANYONE BUT TREADWELL”, I wrote that we should be concerned and was roundly mocked for reading into nothing (at best), or forcing my bias where it needn’t be (at worst).

Maybe I learned my lesson, or maybe I was right but not articulating things as well as I could’ve. In 2016 I should’ve said “If he can’t do this NOW? How can we expect him to do it in a big spot?”. Either way, people wrote those drops off as “concentration drops” not some Troy Williamson-ian overarching or fundamental problem, until Treadwell dropped multiple balls and is now widely known as a bust.

That’s just it, though. It’s hard to really pinpoint why bad outcomes happen in the NFL. Case in point, Kellen Mond, who I recently debated with my KDLM Sports radio show, ‘The VikingsTerritory Breakdown’ co-host Joe Oberle about this week.

The crux of my argument about Mond was the same as my missed opportunity with Treadwell was. If he was (as NFL.com’s Draft Profile put it) “erratic” when throwing down the field/outside the numbers? If Texas A&M got “diminishing returns” when they asked Mond to do more despite his records at that school? If he has a ceiling solely as a back-up?

Then we can’t just write off his struggled during the first mini-camp as “not knowing the offense/his teammates” solely. The keyword there is solely. Those things obviously contributed, but it’s not as if outside of those things the Vikings landed a prospect like Justin Fields.

The Vikings also didn’t have to trade up or use a first-rounder on Mond. Why? Because he’s a project prospect, and that’s the thing I’m trying to convey here. That I’m not saying: “SEE? He’s a bust!” but rather that Mond has A LOT to learn before we can even consider handing the reigns to an otherwise stacked/elite offense to him.

If Justin Jefferson is frustrated with Kirk “Second most accurate passer in league history by a full percentage point” Cousins? What would he do when he’s wide open and Mond overthrows him or tucks the ball down to run… Again?

If you read Will Ragatz’s breakdown of day one of rookie mini-camp it isn’t the errant throws or near pick by Mond that should pique your interest but rather, this quote:

“The first thing I noticed about Mond is that he still looks a little stiff and robotic in his movement. With continued work on his footwork and technique, that should improve.”

Every rookie signal caller needs to work on things and improve, Mond is no different but seems to have issues with his fundamentals that the NFL.com profile laid out.

So, if I can be patient and say give it time, then all I ask is that the “MOND IS MAHOMES 2.0!” Crowd do the same.