Is it time for the Vikings to write Kellen Mond off already?

The Minnesota Vikings drafted Kellen Mond in the third round of last year’s draft, but has his time as an heir apparent to Kirk Cousins come to a close?

The Minnesota Vikings shook up the 2021 NFL Draft when they selected QB Kellen Mond from Texas A&M. Making Mond the highest QB selected by the Vikings since Teddy Bridgewater in 2014. Mond finished his collegiate career as one of just three SEC QBs to record over career 9000 Wpassing yards and 1,500 rushing yards, next to Tim Tebow and Dak Prescott. The Prescott-Mond comparison was widely mentioned before Mond took the field for the Vikings.

An unpolished prospect, Mond seemed to be an heir apparent to the Vikings QB position with uncertainty around Kirk Cousin’s future, or the Vikings’ commitment to the veteran. The idea of sitting Mond for a year, and letting Cousins walk wasn’t unheard of at the time of the selection.

But time ticked on, and a less than stellar preseason saw Mond take the 3rd string QB position, and only saw limited game time in a blowout loss against the Green Bay Packers in which he relieved Sean Mannion, as Cousins was out due to testing positive for COVID-19. Mond went 2-3 on passing attempts, for a total of five yards.

Then Vikings HC Mike Zimmer wouldn’t commit to Mond as the starter for Week 17 or even above Mannion on the depth chart, with the infamous quote “I see him every day [in practice].” A pick by fired GM Rick Speilman, Mond’s rookie season was less than stellar.

With a new regime in place, and Mannion back, is it time to write off Kellen Mond as the QB of the future for the Minnesota Vikings?

With Spielman and Zimmer gone, there isn’t a bias one way or another regarding Mond’s future with the Vikings. But the writing may already be on the wall for the 22-year-old. Mannion was officially re-signed as the backup to Cousins.

Additionally, it is being reported that the Vikings see Mannion as the primary backup QB, not Mond. With the past regime not utilizing Mond at all in his rookie season, and now the new regime bringing back journeyman QB who was once replaced in Los Angeles for Blake Bortles, may not have a future in purple and gold.

It’s unclear whether Mond is on the trade block, could be a roster cut come this summer, or will stay put as QB #3 for the Minnesota Vikings, but the hope that came with the announcement by Vikings Hall of Famer John Randle may have all but gone away.