As Broncos general manager George Paton watched from a field-level view, North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance went through a 66-throw Pro Day on Friday, the final chance for NFL evaluators to watch him work in person before next month’s draft.
Paton was one of nine NFL general managers present and was joined in Fargo by college scouting director Brian Stark and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula. Each team was permitted to have three individuals in attendance. Thirty of the 32 teams were represented, including four head coaches.
The 20-year-old Lance, who measured in at 6 feet, 3 7/8 inches and 224 pounds, completed his first 14 pass attempts and finished the session by going 9-of-11 in the red zone.
“It was awesome — a ton of fun as you can imagine and to be around the guys and have the opportunity (to throw) with everybody here,” Lance said in a post-workout Zoom session. “I thought we had a clean day. Obviously missed a few, but overall, I thought it went well.”
Lance was accurate throwing wide left and to the middle of the field. His best throw was a 35-yard corner route down the left side and he showed good velocity on a variety of intermediate out and in-breaking slant patterns. He looked comfortable on bootlegs and throwing from multiple arm angles, but in designing the workout with personal quarterback coach Quincy Avery, Lance said he wanted to emphasize a different part of his game.
“One of my strengths is to move the pocket, scramble and make plays with my legs,” he said. “(Friday), I wanted to show I could throw the ball a little bit more from the pocket (with) rhythm stuff and things like that, which I thought I did.”
What Lance lacks in experience, he makes up for in success.
A native of Marshall, Minn., Lance chose North Dakota State — which has developed NFL passers Carson Wentz (Indianapolis) and Easton Stick (Los Angeles Chargers) — because it wanted him as a quarterback, not a defensive back.
Lance redshirted in 2018 and won the starting job in ’19 as a redshirt freshman. The Bison went 16-0 and Lance threw 28 touchdowns and no interceptions and rushed for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns. The FCS fall season was moved to the spring because of the coronavirus pandemic, but NDSU arranged to play a single game in the fall (against Central Arkansas) to serve as a showcase for Lance.
Lance projects as the third- or fourth-ranked quarterback, but may not make it past the fifth pick.
The Broncos have the ninth pick and staying put probably won’t allow them to select Lance or Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence will go first to Jacksonville and BYU’s Zach Wilson is expected to go second overall to the New York Jets or a team that trades up.
Atlanta (No. 4) and Carolina (No. 8) could potentially draft quarterbacks, which would be Lance and Ohio State’s Justin Fields. The Broncos would have to trade as high as up to No. 3 with the Dolphins.
“Trey is going to need some time,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said earlier this week. “You’d have to be patient with him. But when you talk to the folks at North Dakota State, this kid is incredibly intelligent. He can do all of the stuff at the line of scrimmage you need to do and he’s a fantastic athlete and runner.”
