Why Kellen Mond might actually have a chance with the Vikings

Kellen Mond might have a good chance to improve his role with the Minnesota Vikings in 2022 after the team didn’t add any new quarterbacks during this year’s NFL Draft.

When the Minnesota Vikings selected former Texas A&M signal-caller Kellen Mond in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, it was the highest pick the team had used to draft a quarterback since Teddy Bridgewater in 2014.

With this in mind, some felt that Mond had the chance to emerge as the Vikings‘ top backup behind Kirk Cousins last season, at the very least. But for whatever reason, Minnesota felt uncomfortable enough about the idea of Mond as their No. 2 quarterback that they went out and brought back Sean Mannion before the start of the 2021 regular season to be Cousins’ backup.

The rookie campaign of the former Texas A&M passer will forever be remembered for the sound of disgust that came out of former Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer’s mouth when he was asked late last season if the team was interested in getting a look at Mond out on the field.

What the 2022 NFL Draft says about how the Minnesota Vikings feel about Kellen Mond

When the 2022 NFL Draft concluded this past weekend, the Vikings had added a total of 10 players. Then shortly after the draft, Minnesota announced that they had also signed nine undrafted free agents.

Of these 19 new players, none of them are quarterbacks. The Vikings entered this year’s draft with Cousins, Mannion, Mond, and Nate Stanley as the only four signal-callers on their roster, and these are still the only four quarterbacks on the team’s roster after the draft.

Minnesota not adding another signal-caller to their roster during the last few days is great news for Mond. At the very least, it says that the Vikings are willing to give him a chance to compete for the No. 2 job this summer during training camp and the preseason.

Obviously, it will be up to Mond to impress Minnesota’s new coaching staff. But the Vikings’ decision to not draft a quarterback or sign an undrafted passer this year should certainly give Mond a confidence boost as he prepares for his second season in the NFL.