With the San Francisco 49ers trading up to No. 3 and the New York Jets trading Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers, it is now a foregone conclusion that the first three picks in the 2021 NFL Draft will be quarterbacks. It probably won’t take long for the fourth and fifth signal-callers to come off the board in Round 1, either. There may be a long stretch of draft picks, however, until the sixth QB comes off the board. Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond and Florida’s Kyle Trask are two quarterback prospects in that next tier. If it comes down to deciding Mond vs. Trask, which is the right call?
Kellen Mond vs. Kyle Trask: The case for QB6
Let’s examine and compare these two and what they should bring to their new team at the NFL level.
Mond by the numbers
At the Texas A&M Pro Day, Mond came in at 6’3” and 211 pounds, which is on the lean side for an NFL quarterback. There should be some questions concerning Mond’s ability to withstand the punishment at the next level with his angular build, especially when considering his abilities as a runner. Speaking of which, Mond’s 4.59 time in the 40-yard dash was eye-opening.
Mond is a four-year starter at the college level with 46 career starts on his résumé, which is rare nowadays. For his career, Mond completed 59% of his passes for 9,661 yards, 7.1 yards per attempt, and a 71-to-27 TD:INT ratio. Mond also ran for over 1,600 yards and 22 touchdowns in his career.
Trask by the numbers
Trask is bigger than Mond and measured 6’5” and 236 pounds at Florida’s Pro Day. He has excellent size and frame for the position with big hands that measured over 10 inches. Trask’s vertical and three-cone numbers were about average, but he was really poor with the short shuttle, 40-yard dash, and broad jump. Trask has the size but is a subpar athlete for the quarterback position at the next level, and that shows up on tape repeatedly.
Trask backed up Feleipe Franks in 2017 and 2018 and began the 2019 season as Franks’ backup as well. But Franks was injured early on that year and Trask took over, leading to Franks’ eventual transfer to Arkansas. Trask enjoyed a strong year in 2019 but really blew up this past season for the Gators.
In the end, Trask averaged 9.1 yards per attempt, threw 69 touchdowns against 15 interceptions, and finished his college career with 7,386 passing yards and a 67.9% completion percentage. Mond also didn’t have the advantage of throwing to anyone nearly as dangerous as Kyle Pitts or Kadarius Toney, both of whom could end up being first-round picks at the end of this month. Still, Trask made great improvement in his final college season and tore up excellent competition in 2020.
Mond vs. Trask: Beyond the box score
Let’s look past the numbers when comparing Mond and Trask. These are two drastically different styles of quarterbacks.
Mond’s accuracy and pocket presence
Mond performs well from the pocket but is far more capable of making something happen with his legs than Trask, who is really an old school dropback passer. Yet, Trask does maneuver and buy time quite well within the pocket, even if he isn’t a plus athlete.
Mond had a great Senior Bowl, but despite playing so many games at Texas A&M, he didn’t incrementally improve to the degree we saw from Trask during his time in college. Although, we certainly saw better pocket presence this past year as well as a strong understanding of the pro-style system employed at A&M. His ball placement also drastically improved in 2020. Mond remains accurate and dangerous as a passer when on the move, and he has a quick-snap release.
Mond owns an above-average arm, and there are some very impressive deep ball throws on his tape. He will miss too many easy short throws, though, which is frustrating considering his college experience. It could be questioned if he is a natural playmaker when the play doesn’t go to script. He also locks onto receivers and can get jittery in the pocket under pressure.
Trask’s arm talent and working off-script
Although he doesn’t have a power arm — and that is a problem at the next level considering his play style — Trask isn’t bashful about going downfield. He is an aggressive and tough quarterback that will stand in the pocket and take a hit to deliver the football. You wish Trask were more accurate with better ball placement on the easy throws, although he does show good touch on many of his passes. He also demonstrates better timing and anticipation than Mond overall.
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Yet, Trask is an extremely monotone athlete with faint twitch to his movements. With little in the way of second reaction play ability, Trask will have to be very well-protected in the NFL, especially early in his career.
Both of these quarterbacks could be ascending. They both have their strengths as well as their weaknesses and are markedly different players, although clearly, Trask is more productive — but for a shorter period of time. However, considering how the game is played in the NFL, the one to bet on between Mond and Trask — though it is very close — is Mond.
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