North Dakota State QB Trey Lance declares for 2021 NFL Draft

Trey Lance will join Trevor Lawrence as part of the 2021 draft pool. A North Dakota State quarterback prospect who has been consistently mocked as a first-round pick, Lance will opt to leave the Division I-FCS school early to prepare for the draft, Pete Thamel of Yahoo.com reports.

Despite Lance only playing one season of college football, he is draft-eligible after redshirting in 2018. North Dakota State tabled its football season to 2021 but played a one-off game last weekend.

In 16 games for the Bison last season, Lance dominated by throwing 28 touchdown passes, no interceptions and rushing for a Bison-best 1,100 yards. He joins Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields, who has yet to declare, as top quarterback prospects for 2021. Lawrence is playing as a junior but announced he will leave Clemson after this season.

Lance led North Dakota State, an FCS-level dynasty, to a 16-0 season and a national championship. The Bison have seen two recent passers go on to the NFL, with Carson Wentz‘s stock rising swiftly in 2016 en route to being the No. 2 overall pick. Wentz’s successor, Easton Stick, is currently backing up Justin Herbert with the Chargers.

Still, it represents a major development a non-Division I-FBS player is declaring after one season of action. While Lawrence profiles as the player who will be connected to the team with 2020’s worst record, Fields and Lance figure to be in the mix soon after.