Schools to Watch for After 4-Star QB Kellen Mond Decommitted from Baylor

Consider the proverbial hammer dropped in Waco, Texas.

With everything that's gone on with Baylor in the past week—the dismissal of Art Briles, the removal of Kenneth Starr as president (and then Starr's resignation as chancellor, per ESPN's Joe Schad), the multiple players from the 2017 class decommitting and the 2016 signees reportedly requesting releases (per ESPN.com's Jeremy Crabtree) from their national letters of intent—things hit rock bottom from a recruiting perspective right around 6:11 p.m. CT.

IMG Academy's Kellen Mond, a 4-star quarterback and arguably Baylor's most important recruit of the 2017 class, announced his decommitment via Twitter and once again became a free agent among a pool of schools looking to land that prize target at the quarterback position.

Mond is the nation's No. 4-ranked dual-threat quarterback. Of the nation's top 10 dual-threat options, only two are uncommitted: Mond and Tate Martell.

Mond, who will participate in this weekend's Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles, was on WOAI-TV in his hometown of San Antonio explaining his decision and thanking the coaches for recruiting him. He also announced that his top three schools are Auburn, Ohio State and Texas A&M, with Auburn currently in the lead.

The race for Mond becomes a very intriguing one for Auburn. Of the three schools Mond mentioned, Auburn is the only one without a quarterback commit in its class. The Tigers have five pledges in their 2017 class, including 5-star offensive tackle Calvin Ashley and 4-star running back/athlete Alaric Williams.

From an offensive standpoint, Auburn has solid pieces to build its class around. A quarterback commit like Mond would help solidify the needs of the class without question.

Texas A&M's 2017 class is nine deep and includes 3-star quarterback pledge Connor Blumrick, a big prospect at 6'6" and 203 pounds who announced his verbal two weeks ago.

Ohio State's 2017 class, currently ranked No. 1 in the country, has 13 pledges, including 4-star quarterback commit Danny Clark, a Buckeyes commit since December 2013.

The idea of Mond choosing Auburn would make a lot of sense, and his 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions are trending that way. With him admitting Auburn is his front-runner, he's basically the Tigers' to lose.

The one thing about recruiting that never changes, however, is that the process is a marathon and never a sprint. There are still eight months remaining until national signing day, and you can bet those three teams—and others—will be fighting passionately for Mond, a classic dual-threat option.

Per the San Antonio Express-News' Ben Baby, Mond threw for 1,991 yards and 26 touchdowns and rushed for 898 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior at Reagan High School in San Antonio. He transferred to IMG at the beginning of the spring semester.

Those talents will be warranted at the school of his choice. Auburn is hoping to close the deal and land its quarterback of the class. Ohio State and Texas A&M are hoping to make moves to add depth to the position.

Damon Sayles is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Damon via Twitter @DamonSayles.