Pro Day and Draft Prospects

[mslacatfan]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

[MSU01]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

True, but at the same time I doubt the primary motivation of either of those players when they left was to improve their draft stock. They were both teammates of Troy Andersen and saw first hand that it's very much possible to be a high draft pick from MSU.

[Bobcatsinmso]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

They both came out with sweet deals, and they both were overrated. The NFL will stick to the O-line guys from byzonville if any in the 1st round going forward.

[The Butcher]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

They both came out with sweet deals, and they both were overrated. The NFL will stick to the O-line guys from byzonville if any in the 1st round going forward.

Say what you will about NDSU's quarterbacks, but apparently the NFL GMs believe in the programs QB development:
Cam Miller is North Dakota State's 16th player drafted since becoming an FCS program in 2004.
Miller's selection makes it four straight North Dakota State starting quarterbacks to be drafted, dating back to 2013. The starting signal-caller lineage goes: Carson Wentz (2013-15), Easton Stick (2016-18), Trey Lance (2019-21) and Cam Miller (2021-24).

[VimSince03]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

They both came out with sweet deals, and they both were overrated. The NFL will stick to the O-line guys from byzonville if any in the 1st round going forward.

I think Trey Lance was a gamble worth taking and that Covid year threw a lot of evaluations off because of the lack of access to players. However, I'd argue his fit with the 49ers was bad as Shanahan wants a West Coast QB (accuracy, timing, and efficiency). After going to the Cowboys for two years, he's finally in a really good landing spot with the Chargers as Jim Harbaugh prefers QBs with Lance's skillset (seriously take a look at every QB Harbaugh has mentored). Anyway, he's probably a career backup at this point but I hope he gets an opportunity to shine someday. He simply came out of college too soon.

Carson Wentz was literally the MVP of the league his first year starting with the Eagles, has a bad injury, Eagles win the Super Bowl, and then Doug Pederson starts to crumble as a coach as his staff gets depleted. Wentz has an okay 3rd or 4th year with the Eagles (can't remember which one) and then gets another shot with the Colts. He doesn't take advantage and then gets relugated to journeyman QB (arguably the best career to have in football). At the end of the day, Carson probably wasn't going to continue taking the league by storm if he stayed healthy his first year as teams adapt but he 100% was earning his draft status out of the gate.

[lutecat]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

Incarnate Word is not NDSU

[catatac]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

They both came out with sweet deals, and they both were overrated. The NFL will stick to the O-line guys from byzonville if any in the 1st round going forward.

Say what you will about NDSU's quarterbacks, but apparently the NFL GMs believe in the programs QB development:
Cam Miller is North Dakota State's 16th player drafted since becoming an FCS program in 2004.
Miller's selection makes it four straight North Dakota State starting quarterbacks to be drafted, dating back to 2013. The starting signal-caller lineage goes: Carson Wentz (2013-15), Easton Stick (2016-18), Trey Lance (2019-21) and Cam Miller (2021-24).

Thanks for posting that... it's very interesting. I also found it surprising that ONLY 16 players from NDSU have been drafted since 2004... so less than one per year. I had it in my head that it was the norm for them to have at least one or more drafted every year. Would be cool if the Cats are at or could get to the point where we get one player drafted per year.

[seataccat]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

They both came out with sweet deals, and they both were overrated. The NFL will stick to the O-line guys from byzonville if any in the 1st round going forward.

Say what you will about NDSU's quarterbacks, but apparently the NFL GMs believe in the programs QB development:
Cam Miller is North Dakota State's 16th player drafted since becoming an FCS program in 2004.
Miller's selection makes it four straight North Dakota State starting quarterbacks to be drafted, dating back to 2013. The starting signal-caller lineage goes: Carson Wentz (2013-15), Easton Stick (2016-18), Trey Lance (2019-21) and Cam Miller (2021-24).

Thanks for posting that... it's very interesting. I also found it surprising that ONLY 16 players from NDSU have been drafted since 2004... so less than one per year. I had it in my head that it was the norm for them to have at least one or more drafted every year. Would be cool if the Cats are at or could get to the point where we get one player drafted per year.

I think it's pretty remarkable that NDSU has had a lot more players drafted than MSU in their history and they only became FCS in 2008.

[CodyCat]

I know Tommy isn’t likely to play QB in the NFL. But, has MSU ever had its QB drafted? To take it a step further, has any MSU QB ever made a NFL roster?

[110010110]

I know Tommy isn’t likely to play QB in the NFL. But, has MSU ever had its QB drafted? To take it a step further, has any MSU QB ever made a NFL roster?

Does NFL Europe count? Lulay played for the Berlin Thunder back when it was an official NFL development league. He also spent some time on the practice squad for Seattle and New Orleans but never made a regular season roster before heading to the CFL

[AFCAT]

I know Tommy isn’t likely to play QB in the NFL. But, has MSU ever had its QB drafted? To take it a step further, has any MSU QB ever made a NFL roster?

Does NFL Europe count? Lulay played for the Berlin Thunder back when it was an official NFL development league. He also spent some time on the practice squad for Seattle and New Orleans but never made a regular season roster before heading to the CFL

Well, Troy did play QB (I know, drafted as a LB) and although he wasn't drafted, Travis Jonsen played some wildcat QB at MSU.

[seataccat]

I know Tommy isn’t likely to play QB in the NFL. But, has MSU ever had its QB drafted? To take it a step further, has any MSU QB ever made a NFL roster?

I wouldn't count Tommy out at QB. He could definitely be an emergency or wildcat QB just like he started out here. Then do good enough to get more and more reps. The kid is so very capable and hard working.

[110010110]

I know Tommy isn’t likely to play QB in the NFL. But, has MSU ever had its QB drafted? To take it a step further, has any MSU QB ever made a NFL roster?

Does NFL Europe count? Lulay played for the Berlin Thunder back when it was an official NFL development league. He also spent some time on the practice squad for Seattle and New Orleans but never made a regular season roster before heading to the CFL

Well, Troy did play QB (I know, drafted as a LB) and although he wasn't drafted, Travis Jonsen played some wildcat QB at MSU.

Did Jonsen ever crack the 53 man roster? I'm trying to remember if he just was on the practice squad or not.

[nanacat]

I saw that the Big Sky had 5 players heading to the NFL, not counting the ones who started there but moved up. That's pretty impressive I think.

[AFCAT]

I know Tommy isn’t likely to play QB in the NFL. But, has MSU ever had its QB drafted? To take it a step further, has any MSU QB ever made a NFL roster?

Does NFL Europe count? Lulay played for the Berlin Thunder back when it was an official NFL development league. He also spent some time on the practice squad for Seattle and New Orleans but never made a regular season roster before heading to the CFL

Well, Troy did play QB (I know, drafted as a LB) and although he wasn't drafted, Travis Jonsen played some wildcat QB at MSU.

Did Jonsen ever crack the 53 man roster? I'm trying to remember if he just was on the practice squad or not.

Practice squad. Still has a Super Bowl ring though.

[catatac]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

They both came out with sweet deals, and they both were overrated. The NFL will stick to the O-line guys from byzonville if any in the 1st round going forward.

Say what you will about NDSU's quarterbacks, but apparently the NFL GMs believe in the programs QB development:
Cam Miller is North Dakota State's 16th player drafted since becoming an FCS program in 2004.
Miller's selection makes it four straight North Dakota State starting quarterbacks to be drafted, dating back to 2013. The starting signal-caller lineage goes: Carson Wentz (2013-15), Easton Stick (2016-18), Trey Lance (2019-21) and Cam Miller (2021-24).

Thanks for posting that... it's very interesting. I also found it surprising that ONLY 16 players from NDSU have been drafted since 2004... so less than one per year. I had it in my head that it was the norm for them to have at least one or more drafted every year. Would be cool if the Cats are at or could get to the point where we get one player drafted per year.

I think it's pretty remarkable that NDSU has had a lot more players drafted than MSU in their history and they only became FCS in 2008.

I think it all comes down to the money. They've always had more if it to give than MSU, from what I've heard.

[lutecat]

I know Tommy isn’t likely to play QB in the NFL. But, has MSU ever had its QB drafted? To take it a step further, has any MSU QB ever made a NFL roster?

Does NFL Europe count? Lulay played for the Berlin Thunder back when it was an official NFL development league. He also spent some time on the practice squad for Seattle and New Orleans but never made a regular season roster before heading to the CFL

Well, Troy did play QB (I know, drafted as a LB) and although he wasn't drafted, Travis Jonsen played some wildcat QB at MSU.

Did Jonsen ever crack the 53 man roster? I'm trying to remember if he just was on the practice squad or not.

Practice squad. Still has a Super Bowl ring though.

So hear me out....Travis won a super bowl with the Bucs...Tom Brady was the qb...who's now a part owner of the Raiders...who drafted Tommy. So did Travis pick up the phone and suggest his buddy Tom draft Tommy?

[AFCAT]

I know Tommy isn’t likely to play QB in the NFL. But, has MSU ever had its QB drafted? To take it a step further, has any MSU QB ever made a NFL roster?

Does NFL Europe count? Lulay played for the Berlin Thunder back when it was an official NFL development league. He also spent some time on the practice squad for Seattle and New Orleans but never made a regular season roster before heading to the CFL

Well, Troy did play QB (I know, drafted as a LB) and although he wasn't drafted, Travis Jonsen played some wildcat QB at MSU.

Did Jonsen ever crack the 53 man roster? I'm trying to remember if he just was on the practice squad or not.

Practice squad. Still has a Super Bowl ring though.

So hear me out....Travis won a super bowl with the Bucs...Tom Brady was the qb...who's now a part owner of the Raiders...who drafted Tommy. So did Travis pick up the phone and suggest his buddy Tom draft Tommy?

Sounds good, but he never played with Tommy. Although, I'm sure he is very familiar with Tommy's game.

[Bobcatsinmso]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

They both came out with sweet deals, and they both were overrated. The NFL will stick to the O-line guys from byzonville if any in the 1st round going forward.

I think Trey Lance was a gamble worth taking and that Covid year threw a lot of evaluations off because of the lack of access to players. However, I'd argue his fit with the 49ers was bad as Shanahan wants a West Coast QB (accuracy, timing, and efficiency). After going to the Cowboys for two years, he's finally in a really good landing spot with the Chargers as Jim Harbaugh prefers QBs with Lance's skillset (seriously take a look at every QB Harbaugh has mentored). Anyway, he's probably a career backup at this point but I hope he gets an opportunity to shine someday. He simply came out of college too soon.

Carson Wentz was literally the MVP of the league his first year starting with the Eagles, has a bad injury, Eagles win the Super Bowl, and then Doug Pederson starts to crumble as a coach as his staff gets depleted. Wentz has an okay 3rd or 4th year with the Eagles (can't remember which one) and then gets another shot with the Colts. He doesn't take advantage and then gets relugated to journeyman QB (arguably the best career to have in football). At the end of the day, Carson probably wasn't going to continue taking the league by storm if he stayed healthy his first year as teams adapt but he 100% was earning his draft status out of the gate.

I will concede that Wentz was a 1st round pick. He set 2 records for a rookie QB his 1st year, and was 2nd only to TB12 his 2nd year in the NFL for MVP. If it weren't for Nick Foles playing the best game of his NFL career in the Super Bowl, I do not believe he would have a ring. I don't think he would have held up as well against the Patriots in that game, but we will never know as Wentz was injured.

As for Lance, no chance. His career in the NFL has been a disaster. He has had 4 years to develop and has not come close. in fact he almost ended up in the CFL this year until the Chargers decided to blow 6 mil for him as a backup to Taylor Heinke who backs up Herbert. Chargers would have gotten a better value by buying the town of Pray MT for 2.1 million, (which is its listed price currently). Fellow 6th round draft pick and Payton award winner Tommy Mellott will have a better NFL career IMO, and we will find out.. Lance as #3 overall was almost as bad as Tim Couch at #1 in 1999. Overrated, I stand by that.

[VimSince03]

What's crazy is how alot of these guys that left didn't improve their draft stock. You can't tell me that if a guy like Valdez stays here and dominates he's not going to at least get a UDFA contract? Sure he gained more NIL money. But maybe he dominates and gets a natty and gets drafted if he stays. Same for Rush.

Absolutely.

It’s all hypothetical. But I think if they stay here, put up big number, 1st team all American and all that…. Probably a good chance they actually get drafted.

Troy and Tommy have proven that you can get drafted staying at Montana State.

And then on the other end is Cam Ward. He's not going #1 if he stays at IW.

Carson wentz and trey lance would say otherwise. Both top 3 draft picks.

They both came out with sweet deals, and they both were overrated. The NFL will stick to the O-line guys from byzonville if any in the 1st round going forward.

I think Trey Lance was a gamble worth taking and that Covid year threw a lot of evaluations off because of the lack of access to players. However, I'd argue his fit with the 49ers was bad as Shanahan wants a West Coast QB (accuracy, timing, and efficiency). After going to the Cowboys for two years, he's finally in a really good landing spot with the Chargers as Jim Harbaugh prefers QBs with Lance's skillset (seriously take a look at every QB Harbaugh has mentored). Anyway, he's probably a career backup at this point but I hope he gets an opportunity to shine someday. He simply came out of college too soon.

Carson Wentz was literally the MVP of the league his first year starting with the Eagles, has a bad injury, Eagles win the Super Bowl, and then Doug Pederson starts to crumble as a coach as his staff gets depleted. Wentz has an okay 3rd or 4th year with the Eagles (can't remember which one) and then gets another shot with the Colts. He doesn't take advantage and then gets relugated to journeyman QB (arguably the best career to have in football). At the end of the day, Carson probably wasn't going to continue taking the league by storm if he stayed healthy his first year as teams adapt but he 100% was earning his draft status out of the gate.

I will concede that Wentz was a 1st round pick. He set 2 records for a rookie QB his 1st year, and was 2nd only to TB12 his 2nd year in the NFL for MVP. If it weren't for Nick Foles playing the best game of his NFL career in the Super Bowl, I do not believe he would have a ring. I don't think he would have held up as well against the Patriots in that game, but we will never know as Wentz was injured.

As for Lance, no chance. His career in the NFL has been a disaster. He has had 4 years to develop and has not come close. in fact he almost ended up in the CFL this year until the Chargers decided to blow 6 mil for him as a backup to Taylor Heinke who backs up Herbert. Chargers would have gotten a better value by buying the town of Pray MT for 2.1 million, (which is its listed price currently). Fellow 6th round draft pick and Payton award winner Tommy Mellott will have a better NFL career IMO, and we will find out.. Lance as #3 overall was almost as bad as Tim Couch at #1 in 1999. Overrated, I stand by that.

Sorry I didn't convey this in my above response. Lance is 100% overrated up to this point. I just wanted to make the pitch that if there is an offense that fits him, its Jim Harbaugh's.