For the second offseason in a row, Texas A&M had a battle for the starting quarterback job. And, for the second year in a row, it involved Nick Starkel and Kellen Mond.

A year ago, with Starkel entering his redshirt freshman season and Mond his true one, the two went back-and-forth throughout spring ball and fall camp. Eventually, Starkel was named the starter for the opener. However, he was injured during the first game against UCLA and required ankle surgery. Mond was then elevated and had some highs and lows. Eventually though, a couple games after he returned from the injury, Starkel regained the starting spot.

With a new head coach in Aggieland in Jimbo Fisher, the competition was wide open again. Throughout all of the spring and fall camps, the two sophomores split reps with the first team. With the opener set for Thu., Aug. 30, though, the Aggies have not joined other programs across the country in announcing a starter.

While both will see action in the game, GigEm247 has learned that Mond is expected to be the starter for the Aggies. He received the reps with the first unit over the weekend and GigEm247 has learned the both players have been told the plan is for Mond to get the start Thursday.

Fisher recently said that the Aggies could very well both quarterbacks multiple games into the season. He has been happy with the progress of both and they bring different skillsets to the table. Starkel finished with just shy of 500 yards passing in the Belk Bowl last season, the second-highest single game total in school history, while Mond is a more dynamic runner. This very well could be a competition that goes on for each week early in the season.

Mond started eight contests for the Aggies in 2017, leading the team to a 5-3 record. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder threw for 1,375 yards while completing 51.5 percent of his passes as a true freshman. He had eight touchdowns and six interceptions. However, Fisher has praised his growth as a passer this offseason. Mond was also third on the team in rushing with 340 yards and three scores on the ground.

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A year ago, Starkel started five games and appeared in eight. He was the team's leading passer, finishing with 1,793 yards while completing 60.0 percent of his passes. The 6-foot-3, 218-pounder had 14 touchdowns to go with six interceptions.

Mond, who hails from San Antonio, played his senior year of high school at IMG Academy in Florida. There are now five starting quarterbacks in FBS from that program in Mond, Zack Annexstad of Minnesota, Deondre Francois of Florida State, Shea Patterson of Michigan and Artur Sitkowski of Rutgers. Both Annextad and Sitkowski are true freshmen.

After Mond and Starkel, the only quarterback with any game experience on the roster is walk-on Bo Schneider. He began his career as a scholarship quarterback at UCF and started three games as a true freshman before eventually transferring back to his home state. After sitting out last year, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound junior is eligible to play this season. The third-string quarterback all fall has been redshirt freshman Connor Blumrick.

A&M begins the season against Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent Northwestern State on Thu., Aug. 30. There will likely be a lot of backups that receive significant playing time and that seems like it will include the quarterback position as well. After that, the team hosts No. 2 nationally-ranked Clemson. Interestingly, the Tigers will also almost assuredly play a pair of quarterbacks in returning starter Kelly Bryant and true freshman Trevor Lawrence.