AP photo North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance throws at the school’s NFL Pro Day Friday.

FARGO, N.D. — With just seven weeks before the 2021 NFL Draft gets underway in Cleveland, Ohio, draft preparations have kicked into high gear for draft prospects and evaluators alike.

For North Dakota State University quarterback and 2018 Marshall High School graduate Trey Lance, that preparation continued on Friday as NDSU held its pro day at the FargoDome.

“It was awesome, a ton of fun,” Lance said after his workout. “Being back in the FargoDome feels great, looking forward to seeing the guys play [tomorrow].”

There were 30 of 32 NFL teams in attendance for the pro day workout, as many media outlets and draft prognosticators believe Lance could be a Top 10 selection when the NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 29.

After the workout, Lance declined to comment on specific teams he’s met with, but added that he’s had “a ton” of virtual meetings with teams and will continue to do so in the coming weeks.

Lance’s workout was broadcast live on NFL Network. “Looking back over my Trey Lance notes and I see the same words over and over again – quick eyes, trust, anticipation, toughness,” NFL Network draft expert Daniel Jeremiah tweeted before the workout. “I know it’s a limited body of work but the foundation is outstanding!” Jeremiah added that he got a text during the workout from someone in the league who compared Lance to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, with Jeremiah also saying that Lance is “dripping with ability.”

As part of the workout, Lance measured in at 6 feet, 3 7/8 inches tall and 224 pounds, with a wingspan measuring 6-4 3/4 and a handspan of 9 1/8 inches.

Lance finished his day completing 58 of his 66 throws in the 24-minute workout. The Marshall native did not perform any on-field agility drills for evaluators.

“I thought we had an awesome day, a clean day,” he said. “Obviously missed a few, but I thought overall it went really well.”

In his first year as full-time signal-caller for NDSU in 2019, Lance threw for 2,786 yards and 28 touchdowns to no interceptions while adding 1,100 rushing yards with 14 touchdowns on the ground. He took home a number of individual awards, including the Walter Payton Award and Jerry Rice Award as he completed an undefeated redshirt freshman season with a FCS national championship.

The Missouri Valley Football Conference did not play a fall schedule in 2020, but Lance and the Bison did play one game this past fall against the University of Central Arkansas before Lance declared for the 2021 NFL Draft.

“I played every game I possibly could in college,” Lance said on Friday. “It would’ve been great and I was anticipating to win another national championship in January and then have to make a decision (after that), but it didn’t work out that way. Everyone got cheated out of something with COVID, so for me my mindset is to control what I can control and not worrying about everything else.”

As a senior for the 2017 Marshall Tigers, he passed for 1,386 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for 641 yards and 10 scores. The 2017 Independent All-Area Football Offensive Player of the Year finished his prep career at MHS second in program history in career passing yards (3,026) with a school record 33 passing touchdowns, while adding 1,177 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground.

Over the past six months since the Central Arkansas game, Lance said he’s cleaned up his mechanics and footwork.

“That was the biggest thing for me was being as clean and polished as possible going into this and for the last six months,” he said. “Having this opportunity to get right in those little things and being clean, polished and efficient in all my movements has been a big emphasis for me.”

The Marshall community has gotten to know Lance not only for his on-field ability, but for his impact off the field as well. He expects to bring that to whatever team he joins in April.

“They get a great human being and a guy who loves football first and foremost,” Lance said about what fans should expect. “I don’t believe football is why I’m on earth, but it is what I love to do and that’s going to be my platform for everything else and that’s what I spend my time doing.”