Mills, Mond possible steals at QB for 49ers
Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady, a sixthround pick, just won the Super Bowl.
And Dallas’ Dak Prescott, a fourthround pick, just became the NFL’s secondhighest paid player.
In general, though, the NFL’s top quarterbacks are top picks. Consider: In 2020, 11 of the NFL’s 14 playoff teams had a firstround pick as their primary quarterback during the regular season. And eight of those 11 QBs were top10 selections.
This brings us to our question: If the 49ers draft a QB in April thinking the rookie could be groomed to replace Jimmy Garoppolo — yes, this assumes Garoppolo stays in Santa Clara — can they possibly locate him after the first round? That is, are there prospects beyond the five QBs expected to be selected in the first 32 picks who have potential to be secondround steals when the 49ers are on the clock at No. 43?
Posed that question, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, a former college QB and NFL scout, offered two names: Stanford’s Davis Mills and Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond.
Let’s start with Mills. Listed at 6foot4 and 225 pounds in his Stanford bio, Mills is a classic bigarmed, pocket passer who was the nation’s top QB recruit coming out of Greater Atlanta Christian High School. Jeremiah mentioned his “poise” when highlighting some of his best attributes.
“He’s got good size,” Jeremiah said. “He’s got a live arm. He’s a really smart kid who’s got quick eyes and makes good decisions.”
Quarterbacks are annually overdrafted, meaning those with just a hint of promise often become firstround mistakes. So what’s wrong with Mills that would cause him to last into at least the second round? The short answer: inexperience and injuries.
Mills started just 11 games at Stanford — throwing 438 career passes — and suffered a serious knee injury in both high school and college. His medical file is a reason he’s also not much of a threat when forced from the pocket. He threw for 3,468 yards and completed 65.5% of his passes with 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Mills is the type of QB that 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has preferred: a dropback passer who played in college in a prostyle offense. The only QB the 49ers have drafted since Shanahan arrived is C.J. Beathard, a 2017 thirdround pick who fits that description.
However, mobility has increasingly become a prized QB quality in recent years. And it’s en vogue thanks to the success of young, athletic QBs such as Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Houston’s Deshaun Watson, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Arizona’s Kyler Murray.
Mond, one of four SEC QBs to throw for 60 touchdowns and rush for 20 in their career, is more in that mold. And, unlike Mills, he doesn’t lack for experience: He was a fouryear starter (43 starts) who owns school records in passing yards (9,661), completions (801) and passing TDs (71). .
So what’s wrong with Mond that would push him out of the first round? For starters, there is his size (62, 205). And Mond had a 57.8 career completion percentage entering 2020, a troubling number since many evaluators believe accuracy rarely improves in the NFL.
“Probably just the size would ding him,” Jeremiah said, “and some of the inconsistencies as a younger player.”