I remember years ago filling my head with some useless facts. The state of North Dakota having the least amount of tourists out any of the 50 states in America. It’s South Dakota that has the town of Deadwood and Mount Rushmore. What is the hell do you do up North? Only thing that jumps out to me, I have to admit it’s not a state I have been to, is North Dakota State University. The Bison which the fans up there call it the Thunderous Herd because they have a great football program. Maybe North Dakota can brag and say they have better football than the state of South Dakota. When you think of what players would come to the NFL from either North or South Dakota, I would say farm boys that can pull a tractor and work the farms growing up make awesome offensive linemen. The Bison have produced two quarterbacks in the last several years who were picked very high in the draft. The expectations were very high on Carson Wentz and Trey Lance, but neither of them have shown what they did at the college level as if the NFL game for the small school is too much to handle.

Lets talk about Carson Wentz first as he was drafted number two overall all in the 2016 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Wentz has a Superbowl ring from probably his best season as a pro. Wentz in his second year in 2017 was 11-2 as a starter as the Eagles were in cruise control that season. Wentz had 33 touchdown passes to only 7 interceptions and it looked like the Eagles picked a “winner winner chicken dinner” and have a franchise quarterback for years to come. Wentz went down with an injury and did not return for the rest of regular season or the post-season. This at the same time that Nick Foles, a veteran quarterback, hot at the right time. The rest was history as the Eagles won their first ever Superbowl title. knocking out Tom Brady and the Evil Empire Patriots. Wentz would still be the Eagles’ future for a few more seasons as Foles would get the big money in Jacksonville. Wentz was never the same after that great 2017 season. The Eagles would eventually draft Wentz’s replacement Jalen Hurts as Wentz moved on to Indianapolis. Wentz was having a good season with the Colts until the last game of the season where he was horrific in a game the team needed to win in order to get in the playoffs. In 2021, the Colts were one of the hottest teams in the league at the time and would have been a team nobody wanted to face. Wentz’s bad game killed that pipe dream and his days wearing a Colts uniform. Colts traded Wentz to Washington. Last season for the Commanders, Wentz only played in 8 games & had a 2-5 record while throwing 11 touchdown passes with 9 interceptions. Wentz missed time with injury. When he came back, the Commanders went in another direction with their quarterback position. In seven seasons, Wentz’s record as a starter in the NFL is 46-45 while throwing 151 touchdown passes and he has tallied up 66 interceptions while completing 62% of his passes. This season Wentz remains a free agent as no team has been interested in his talents, not even as a back up option.

In 2021, another North Dakota State quarterback went high in the draft. The San Francisco 49ers selected Trey Lance in the first round third overall. The 49ers already had Jimmy Garoppolo when they took Lance very high which puts additional pressure on a rookie quarterback coming in to camp. This move did not pan out like the Eagles handed the keys over to Jalen Hurts to be the driver of their offense. Lance is only 23 years old and has had a pair of starts in each season he has played in the NFL which has been two seasons so far. In 8 games total, Lance is 2-2 as a starter and has tallied up 797 passing yards with 5 touchdown passes and three interceptions while completing only 54% of his passes. Like Wentz, injuries have taken Lance off the field as he missed the rest of the season last year after making his first two starts of the season. This is when the 49ers discovered Brock Purdy after Jimmy G came in to rescue the 49ers season. Jimmy G was then derailed and Purdy finished the march to post-season. In the off-season, Jimmy G left as a-free agent signed with the Raiders. Purdy going into the season is the 49ers QB 1. The 49ers added veteran quarterback Sam Darnold in the off-season. Lance obviously was not impressive during training camp this season so the 49ers traded the former number one pick to the Cowboys for a simple 4th round pick. Not very Thunderous for a 23 year old first round pick in 2021.

The Bison from North Dakota State have had three quarterbacks drafted in the NFL all-time. All three guys over the last ten year,s as we forgot about Easton Stick. Stick has one game in the NFL for the Chargers as he’s perfect 1-1 passing for 4 yards. Stick was drafted in 2019 by the Chargers in the 5th round. One guy from North Dakota state who not a quarterback had a pretty good rookie season with Aaron Rodgers throwing to him last year. Christian Watson caught 41 balls for the Packers for 611 yards while hauling in 7 touchdown passes. My favorite all-time Bison played for the Buffalo Bills in the 1990’s, Phil Hansen. Hansen was part of those 4 Superbowl teams as he played defensive end. Hansen played 11 seasons in the NFL all with the Bills as he tallied up 61 sacks.

Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys, may have thoughts on how he can get the best out of Trey Lance. The kid obviously has talent to be picked in the first round of the draft and is still only 23 years old. The Cowboys starter is definitely Dak Prescott, we all know that. Last year, Cooper Rush did very well filling the shoes of the injured Prescott. Imagine Rush is QB number two. Lance has to be third on the depth chart. Maybe having Lance hold a clip board and watching on the sidelines for a year could do wonders for the former number one draft pick. You know Lance will get another chance. I think Carson Wentz will get another shot with another team. I don’t see Wentz becoming the guy he was in 2017 as too much time has lapsed. Once upon a time ago, I thought he had a chance at being one of the top tier quarterbacks in the league. I never thought that of Trey Lance. If I was any team and if North Dakota State ever gets another top quarterback from that school, I may be leery about taking in the very first round just because of the Bison recent history. It took North Dakota State a very long time just to produce their first quarterback in the NFL it may take them a long time to circle the wagons to get the another guy to that level because again this is North Dakota we talking about. I think a safer bet is to go with a farm boy from the Thunderous Herd for the offensive line rather than a guy behind center. I wish Lance well. Playing for the Cowboys you may have to root against him now. No one wants to see Jerry Jones being the smart executive on football-related decisions. If Lance ever materializes as a good quarterback, Jones’ fat head will grow an even bigger ego. We just can’t let that happen.