2020 In College Football Will Be the Year of Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, and North Dakota State's Trey Lance

SI's Albert Breer shares the story of Trey Lance, a QB who could turn heads this year

If you're a college football fan you know all eyes will be on Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields this coming season, but if you shift your gaze a little further west - you'll see Trey Lance, the North Dakota State QB who could make a lot of noise this season. 

Video Transcript:

Madelyn Burke: Trey Lance is not yet a household name, but the North Dakota State quarterback should be on the radar of football fans soon. As Albert Beer writes, the 20-year-old has a shot to crash next April's Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields party atop the draft. So, Albert. I want to know what makes train Lance so special.

Albert Breer: Well, it's a combination of things, really, Madelyn. I mean, I think you look at the numbers and they're off the charts. I know and I didn't know a lot about him a month ago, but as I started to kind of look at it, 28-0 touchdown to interception ratio, 9.7 Yards per attempt in his first year as a starter at North Dakota State, rushed for eleven hundred yards. Then the team won 16-0 and won its eighth national title in nine years. And so really, I wanted to go out and do a little background work. I talked to some scouts about him, and they all said he's the real deal. 

Now, Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields are both considered (Lawrence at least and Fields can get there) generational type of talents. So I wanted to compare how Lance kind of stacked up with those guys. And, you know, I don't know if he's going to catch those two, but he's certainly within shouting distance now after a season he put together at North Dakota State. 

In talking to the head coach there, Matt Entz, it's really interesting how he said the way they recruit quarterbacks - they really have to find guys who have the mental capacity to run their offense. And so on top of the physical talent, he really has shown the mental ability to handle a pro-style offense because that's what they run in North Dakota State. We've seen Carson Wentz make the transition from that offense to the NFL pretty smoothly. 

What was really interesting about it is like you start digging a little bit more on that and you find out this is a kid who had Ivy League offers. And, you know, he's an overlooked recruit. But the Ivy League schools, Cornell and Brown, were after him. So clearly a very smart kid, a very athletic kid who rushes for eleven hundred yards. A very good passer. 28 to nothing touchdown-interception ratio. Of course, the question about the level of competition is going to come up when we get to next April. But the kid sure looks like he's got a lot going for him going into the 2020 season.