Why Not Start Kellen Mond?
Josh Frey
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As I’m sure every Vikings fan has heard by now, Kirk Cousins tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, leaving him unavailable for Minnesota’s Sunday Night game versus the Green Bay Packers. For about half an hour, this left some of us thinking, “Does that mean Kellen Mond is starting?” as Sean Mannion was also on the Covid list at the time.
Then, Mannion was taken off the list almost immediately afterwards, and Mike Zimmer said he would be the starter. There are some that agree the best decision here is to start Mannion, and while I understand it, I’m still going to ask the question: why not even consider starting Kellen Mond?
First off, let me lay out why I understand the decision that Zimmer came to. Obviously, a third-round rookie’s first start should probably be in as favorable conditions as possible. This is just about the worst-case scenario for Mond. A primetime game at Lambeau Field against the hated Green Bay Packers in frigid conditions; yeah, it really doesn’t get much tougher than that. Add into the mix that Mond didn’t exactly turn heads in preseason, and this is a completely rational choice.
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That said, are we really expecting things to go well with Sean Mannion under center? In Mannion’s two other career starts, he’s combined to pass for 295 yards, zero touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions while completing his passes at a 58% clip. Even with the doubts surrounding Mond, does this really give the Vikings any more confidence?
Secondly, we know one thing for certain going into this game: Sean Mannion is not going to be the future of the Minnesota Vikings. Even though Mond hasn’t done much thus far into his NFL career, the Vikings selected him in the draft for a reason. At the time, they thought he at least had a chance to be the future in Minnesota. The only way to really know what they have with Mond, they have to at least try playing him at some point.
Now, they are likely going to go into the 2022 offseason in the same predicament as last year: what does the future look like after Kirk Cousins? This was the perfect opportunity to do some experimenting with limited expectations, and they’re going to pass up the chance.