Trey Lance is one of the most compelling prospects in this year's NFL Draft class. Not only did he start at quarterback for North Dakota State -- an FCS program that doesn't face college football's top-tier competition -- but he played just once in 2020 due to the pandemic, and 19 total games across three collegiate seasons.
It goes without saying that Lance has question marks and doubters. So, will the 6-foot-4, 226-pound redshirt sophomore be ready to start immediately at the NFL level in 2021?
North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz says... definitely maybe.
"I'm not going to go out on a limb and say he can [start right away], but if there's a young man who has the ability and the intellectual know-how to get prepared to do it, it would be Trey Lance," Entz told CBS Sports Radio's Tiki and Tierney show on Thursday. "I think ever since probably his high school days in Marshall, Minnesota when he was a quarterback, everyone's been telling him he can't do it. And he's continually proved people wrong. He came here and learned our offense.
"We like to at least think that we emulate NFL offense, the way we go about our business. We have a wordy offense. There's a lot of verbiage to our offense -- we're under center, we're in the gun. Our quarterback has to be able to get us in and out of the right play, the right protections. We put a lot on him. And [Trey] came in and was able to be a sponge to [former team quarterback] Easton Stick, to Randy Hedberg, our quarterback coach, Tyler Roehl, our offensive coordinator, and you just saw his growth and development every day.
"2019, if you go back and watch, very little trade-shift in motion early in the season. By the end of the season, we were trade-shift in motion. There were probably a handful of snaps each game we didn't trade-shift in motion, and that was because Trey just became accustomed to getting people in, and understood how defenses would rotate and the new picture that he might see."
According to Pro Football Focus' NFL Draft big board, Lance is currently ranked the 10th-best prospect. He's a shoo-in to be selected in the first round along with top quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones, and prior to the Carolina Panthers' trade for Sam Darnold less than two weeks ago, Entz believed Lance was going to land there, at No. 8 overall.
Lance doesn't have a traditional body of work -- he tallied 4,272 yards of total offense with 30 passing touchdowns and 18 rushing scores. But he has pro-level athleticism and arm talent, in spite of his inexperience.
"I think his strengths are his ability to grasp concepts and see the game," Entz said. "He sees the game at a much slower pace than maybe what a young 19 or 20-year-old typically would. He has a strong arm, can make all the throws, can make the throws back to the field. I think he proved that in his pro day that he had here just a couple weeks ago.
"The one thing that I would say that he has to continue to work on -- and I know he's put in the time, especially while he's been away from NDSU -- he probably had a little bit longer or deliberate delivery when he was in college. I know, just from talking to him this week, he was working on his mechanics still. Always working on something, always trying to get better, find that edge...
"Of course, everyone's going to say inexperience. But, you've got to get it somewhere, and I know whoever gets him in the NFL is going to have a great prospect there."
The NFL Draft is scheduled to begin in exactly two weeks, on April 29 in Cleveland.
The entire conversation between Entz and Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the video and audio players above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.