4 bold predictions for the Vikings 2021 rookie class

Mond will impress in limited action

With their first pick on Day 2 of this year’s draft, the Vikings decided to add someone who could replace Kirk Cousins as early as 2022.

Minnesota drafting Kellen Mond this past weekend certainly raised a bunch of eyebrows. But the Vikings were also in need of a better backup option behind Cousins, so the selection wasn’t exactly shocking.

Mond won’t be opening the 2021 season as a starter, but he will get some opportunities to show why Minnesota spent a third-round pick on him.

The Vikings’ newest passer will get a good amount of action during the preseason and it won’t take long for him to secure the role as the team’s No. 2 quarterback in 2021.

Mond will also get a chance to start in a regular-season game in 2021. By the final matchup on their schedule for next season, a playoff spot will already be locked up by Minnesota, so they will end up sitting most of their starters during the last week of the regular season.

Even without some of the Vikings’ top offensive weapons on the field, Mond will finish the game with at least 250 passing yards, and multiple touchdown passes. His performance will end up instilling enough confidence in Minnesota that the team will look to trade Cousins during the 2022 offseason.