San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Three native Texan QBs determined to find spots in the NFL.
Mock draft
Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond has but one regret in the NFL draft process to date.
“I definitely wish that there had been a combine,” Mond said of the annual NFL talent show that was canceled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “When you’re able to get all of the quarterbacks on the same field and in the same room, not only to see guys, but see them throw right after each other, that definitely tells a lot.”
Mond, who grew up in San Antonio, is part of a trio of prospects from the state with a strong college résumé and a wide range of semi-educated guesses on where he’ll go in the draft, along with Texas’ Sam Ehlinger of Austin Westlake and Florida’s Kyle Trask of Manvel. The lack of a combine only made where they will be picked even more of a mystery.
“Teams don’t really want to show their hands or how they’re feeling about certain players,” Ehlinger said of his gut feel on where he might be selected. “It’s kind of like insider trading secrets.”
The three are the next in line from the state high school systems that produced current NFL starters Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Jalen Hurts, Matthew Stafford, Derek Carr and Ryan Tannehill along with solid backups in Case Keenum, Andy Dalton, Nick Foles and Colt McCoy and the recently retired Drew Brees.
Mond, who began his high school career at Reagan and finished at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., is expected to be the first selected among the three. The four-year starter might go late in the first round Thursday or perhaps in the second round Friday.
Trask projects as a mid-round pick, and Ehlinger, like Mond a four-year starter in college, might go in the later rounds. None of the trio led their respective programs to so much as a conference title — but it wasn’t for lack of determination.
“It’s a different world for sure,” Ehlinger said of the months since the end of the Longhorns’ season and preparing for the NFL. “Every single day it’s making myself better, not only for the draft process but also long-term as a football player.”
All three quarterbacks emphasized their preparation not only on grass and turf but inside a room with a remote control in hand.
“I start off my day with some film, and I’ve (been) breaking down every NFL offense, just trying to learn systems, tendencies and personnel,” Ehlinger said. “I plan to watch every single snap from the 2020 season. (I’m) breaking down each team … and really just getting a grasp for the type of play calls and system that each team runs.”
Mond and Ehlinger can point to starting as college freshmen and holding their respective starting jobs for the most part the rest of the way — Mond described it as “being thrown in the fire” — while Trask took a different route to the draft.
He backed up former University of Houston quarterback D’Eriq King at Manvel and mainly had Southland Conference schools offering scholarships based on his potential. Florida offered Trask a scholarship after watching him throw in camp and based on the praise of then-Manvel coach Kirk Martin, and Trask then waited patiently three years before earning a chance to start — and that was because of an injury to Feleipe Franks.
“It wasn’t the easiest of times just to sit and watch — no one wants to sit and watch on game days,” Trask said. “That was tough, but it also was motivation for me to keep pushing.”
While Trask was not active on the field early in his career at Florida, he was extremely active in the Gators’ quarterback room.
“I’m just not afraid to ask questions,” he said. “Even when I wasn’t the starter, I was probably asking the most questions in the room. I was truly trying to prepare as a starter and know every little detail about the offense. That way, when I got thrown out there, I knew exactly what to do.”
Trask’s preparation paid off, and last season, he was a Heisman Trophy finalist, leading the nation
Hearst Newspapers’ John McClain projects the first round of the NFL draft, including the Cowboys’ pick at
No. 10, and the Texans’ first pick in the third round. The draft is Thursday-Saturday in Cleveland.
JEREMIAH OWUSU-KORAMOAH
GREG NEWSOME II
TEVEN JENKINS
CALEB FARLEY
ELIJAH MOORE
NAJEE HARRIS
CHRISTIAN BARMORE
JAMIN DAVIS
AZEEZ OJULARI
ZAVEN COLLINS
TREVON MOEHRIG
AYSON OWEH
RASHOD BATEMAN
TRAVIS ETIENNE
MILTON WILLIAMS
QB
QB
QB
TE
WR
OT
OT
QB
CB
WR
CB
WR
LB
EDGE
OT
T/G
EDGE
LB
CB
OT
CB
WR
RB
DT
LB
EDGE
LB
S
EDGE
WR
RB
DT
Brigham Young
Ohio State
North Dakota State
Florida
LSU
Oregon
Northwestern
Alabama
Alabama
Alabama
South Carolina
Alabama
Penn State
Michigan
Virginia Tech
USC
Miami
Notre Dame
Northwestern
Oklahoma State
Virginia Tech
Mississippi
Alabama
Alabama
Kentucky
Georgia
Tulsa
TCU
Penn State
Minnesota
Clemson
Louisiana Tech
3. San Francisco (from Miami via Houston); 6. Miami (from Philadelphia); 12. Philadelphia (from Miami via San Francisco); 23. N.Y. Jets (from Seattle); 25. Jacksonville (from LA Rams); 31. Baltimore (from Kansas City) in touchdown passes (43) while ranking second in passing yards (4,283). Now he must prove himself all over again at the top level of football and demonstrate he’s more mobile than the bronze figure on top of the Heisman.
“I really wanted to show that I’m not just a statue back there, that I can move,” Trask said of his pro day performance for NFL scouts. “… I wanted to make sure they know I have a strong arm. A lot of the things I’ve been hearing is I can’t move and I have a weak arm, so I wanted to show just the opposite.”
Meanwhile, Ehlinger and Mond are considered two of the toughest, smartest quarterbacks in the draft. The duo’s durability is not in doubt after 43 starts for Ehlinger at UT and 44 for Mond at A&M.
“We fell short of winning a championship, but there were a lot of good wins in there,” said Ehlinger, who won all four of his bowl games. “The four years before I was there, there were (three) losing seasons and not making bowl games to the last four years of … winning our bowl games and always being in the running at the end of the season, with the exception of my freshman year, for a conference championship.
“We fell short of winning a championship, but I feel like I’ve left the program in a better place.”
Mond holds similar sentiments, and both are right. The Aggies were 3-0 in bowl games that Mond started — he did not start the Belk Bowl loss to Wake Forest as a freshman — and he finished as the school’s all-time leader in touchdown passes (71), passing yards (9,661), completions (801) and total offense (11,269).
A&M finished No. 4 nationally last year in the Associated Press poll, its highest final ranking since winning the national title in 1939. Mond said he helped lead a “culture change” from coach Kevin Sumlin his freshman year of 2017 to Jimbo Fisher the past three seasons.
“(Sometimes) a first-rounder leaves, and you’re the next man up and you just fill a role that already was there,” Mond said. “But actually having to change an entire culture — that’s what makes me different. Before the season if somebody went to the media and told you, ‘If Kellen Mond loses his No. 1 receiver (in Jhamon Ausbon) from the year before and loses his three other top receivers from (2019), would he have his best season and go 9-1?’
“I’m pretty sure 100 percent would have said no. I don’t mind being underrated (in the draft) because the chips are going to fall where they may. So I just try to be even-keeled, and everything will happen at the best time for me.”