Texas A&M Football: 5 reasons Nick Starkel should start in 2018

Texas A&M football has a new coach. Will they have a new quarterback too? Here are five reasons Jimbo Fisher should stick with incumbent starter Nick Starkel.

Due to a foot injury, Nick Starkel’s Aggie debut was cut short against UCLA. Insert Kellen Mond in the second half and well, we all know how that one went. One could argue that the defense was more at fault than the offense, but all things considered it wasn’t a great debut for the true freshman Kellen Mond.

The question that stands now is who will start for the 2018 season? Nick Starkel showed poise and leadership, but Kellen Mond now has more on field experience. The decision will be interesting to say the least, but I see Nick Starkel being the starter in the 2018 opener.

5. Kellen Mond’s lack of consistency is a huge problem

Overall, for a true freshman that had no intention of starting, Mond did a good job in 2017. However, he wasn’t consistent. Against Alabama, he looked like a certain quarterback who won the Heisman in 2012. Then against Mississippi State and Florida, it looked like he had never played football in his life.

This up and down tendency that Mond has is not ideal for a starting quarterback position. That isn’t to say he won’t learn a lot in spring and summer ball, but it doesn’t seem likely that it will be enough to beat out Starkel.

4. Nick Starkel’s arm is enough to get him the starting job

This season, we learned two things. First, Kellen Mond is the mobile quarterback. Second, if you want strong passing plays Nick Starkel is your guy. I think, with his arm strength and ability to throw the ball down field, Starkel is a shoe in for the starting job in 2018.

We saw his arm in the offensive shootout against Wake Forest. While the Aggies did not come out victorious, he broke Johnny Manziel‘s passing record for a bowl game and threw four touchdowns. He showed poise and presence in the pocket that just isn’t possessed by Kellen Mond at this point in his career.

With the amount of talented receivers Texas A&M currently has on campus, it would make sense to go with a throwing quarterback over a running one. I am a firm believer that you should always go with the consistent arm and let a running back control the run game. We saw at the Belk Bowl that when necessary Starkel can make a run or two and that is just enough for me.

The Aggies, using Starkel, can focus on tempo and spreading the ball out instead of worrying about Kellen Mond’s ability to make well-timed football decisions that he no longer has upperclassmen receivers to bail him out of.

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3. The coaching style of Darrell Dickey lends itself to Starkel over Mond

Aggie fans everywhere are salivating at the thought of former Memphis offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey running the offense in 2018. Between him and Jimbo Fisher, we are likely to see more use of the tight end position and spreading out the ball more and more.

Jimbo Fisher runs a very pro-style offense that redshirt sophomore Nick Starkel will into perfectly. In Dickey’s years at Memphis, the average passing yards per game number increased as did the number of wins for the Tigers. He also focuses heavily on the tempo of the game and the need to spread out defenses. Memphis head coach Mike Norvell called it a spread offense that was hard to pick up yet once you did it functioned like clockwork.

For a picture of Dickey’s success as a coach, we look to players like Paxton Lynch who will likely be a starter for the Denver Broncos in the coming seasons. The Aggies haven’t been able to sustain a quarterback since the departure of Johnny Manziel. They are hoping that Nick Starkel, who showed promise against Wake Forest and against UCLA to start the season, could be that guy in 2018 and 2019.

The question now stands if his success can be sustained over a full season as a starter. Since he was injured in game one, we did not get to see his full potential. The bowl game was for sure a head start in the race to be the starter, but he still has a lot to prove.

2. To an extent, Nick Starkel’s seniority wins out for him

This is an interesting argument to consider. As a redshirt sophomore, Nick Starkel is entering his third year on the campus of Texas A&M. He sat behind Trevor Knight in 2016, learning and practicing. When Trevor got hurt, he considered burning the redshirt but ultimately Jake Hubenak got the chance to finish out that season. In 2017, he lost over half the season to an injured ankle. He has had more time to learn and perfect his craft than Kellen Mond has and that shows on the field.

While it is interesting to think about the fact that a new coaching staff halfway cancels out any kind of seniority, the amount of practice time and mentorship that Starkel has been afforded so far at Texas A&M makes him the better candidate to start right away.

This could almost be an arguement in support of Kellen Mond. Some time to work with the coaching staff to perfect his craft before starting again for the Aggies could do him a world of good in the coming seasons. I don’t believe that he is ready for 2018, but he has flashes of what could be a big time quarterback for the Aggies in the near future.

1. Starkel’s allows other players to shine

As we saw quite a bit in 2017, Kellen Mond’s tendency is to run with the ball in comparison to finding an open receiver for a larger gain than his legs give. He doesn’t presently have the awareness necessary to be as productive as the Aggies need to be. That isn’t to say he didn’t shine at certain points, including many passes to Christian Kirk. However, it isn’t enough to win the SEC.

With Starkel’s ability, which is at least at a higher level than Mond’s in terms of pocket presence and awareness, the Aggies simply have a better chance to shine. He provides the ability to spread the ball out and when that happens the offense operates at a much higher level.

Take a look at the UCLA game for example, in the first half the Aggies were able to pretty much their way with UCLA. The offense was clicking on all cylinders and everything was looking up. However, a change at quarterback killed that and quick. A full season with Starkel will not only allow him to shine, but his receivers as well at a more consistent pace than they would with Mond.

Next: Way-too-early college football top 25 rankings for 2018

While many SEC teams operate with a dual threat quarterback, Kellen Mond has a long way to go before he can be that for the Aggies. As it stands right now, Starkel is the best bet in 2018.