COLLEGE CAREER – The Saints were pleased to find Lance available in the middle of the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The younger brother of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Trey Lance, the Minnesota native developed into one of the top offensive players in NCAA FCS football, where he played in 57 games with 26 starts, recording 127 receptions for 2,157 yards (17.0 avg.) with 28 touchdowns.
CAREER TRANSACTIONS – Signed to a four-year contract; Selected in the fourth round (136th overall) in the 2026 NFL Draft.
2025 – Started all 13 games, helping North Dakota State to a 12-1 record including an 8-0 mark in the Missouri Valley Football Conference...Named to the All-MVFC first team for second straight year...Finished 12th in voting for Walter Payton Award, presented to the FCS offensive player of the year...Consensus FCS All-American first-team...Led the MVFC with 83.0 receiving yards per game and became the first receiver in Bison history with multiple 1,000-yard seasons...Caught eight touchdown passes and made 51 catches for 1,079 yards, the third most yards in NDSU single-season history and 11th most among FCS players in 2025...Added one rushing TD, a 75-yard play against Southern Illinois...Had four 100-yard receiving games...Career-high 159 yards on four catches against Southeast Missouri State...Made five catches for 103 yards at South Dakota State, a season-high eight catches for 131 yards against UNI, and had 106 yards against St. Thomas with TDs on two of his three receptions...81-yard TD catch against St. Thomas tied for the ninth-longest in Bison history...Third on NDSU career list with 25 touchdown receptions and eighth with 2,157 receiving yards...Selected to participate in 2026 NFL Scouting Combine...CSC Academic All-America® first-team and MVFC Scholar-Athlete first-team. 2024 – Played in all 16 games and started 13 for NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision national champions...All-Missouri Valley Football Conference first-team selection...75 catches for 1,071 yards, then second most catches and third-most yards in NDSU single-season history...Led FCS with a school-record 17 receiving TDs, tying MVFC record...Four games over 100 receiving yards, and four of two or more TDs...Added four carries for 29 yards with one TD…Career-high nine catches in FCS national championship game against Montana State...Six catches for 125 yards and three touchdowns in semifinal against South Dakota State...Had 108 yards and three touchdowns on four catches (27.0 avg.) at Murray State, all in first half...Scored a rushing TD at East Tennessee State...MVFC Scholar-Athlete first-team and CSC Academic All-District selection...Made the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team...Named to the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society...MVFC Honor Roll...Earned MVFC Presidents Council Academic Award. 2023 – Played in all 15 games at wideout and on special teams...One seven-yard catch on season against Maine...Named to the MVFC Honor Roll. 2022 – Played in 13 games primarily on special teams...Did not catch any passes...Named to the MVFC Honor Roll. 2021 – Sat out the season as a redshirt in the Bison Program…Did not participate in any games.
PERSONAL – Graduated from Marshall (Minn.) HS...Played WR and S for Head Coach Terry Bahlmann...Set school records for receiving yards in a game (199), in a season (873) and in a career (1,766)...Also set career records for receptions (68) and interceptions (12)...2020 District Offensive Player of the Year...30 receptions for 631 yards (21.0 avg.) and eight TDs along with six interceptions on defense in a seven-game senior year shortened by COVID-19 pandemic...The district Co-Defensive Player of the Year as a junior in 20218...Also an All-Conference basketball player...Scored a team-high 15 points in Marshall's section championship victory in 2020…Graduated in December, 2024 with a bachelor's degree in marketing and earned a master's in business administration in December, 2025...Earned MVFC Commissioner's Academic Excellence award in multiple years…Older brother, Trey, spent two-and-a-half years at NDSU, quarterbacked the Bison to a national championship with a 16-0 record as a redshirt freshman in 2019, and was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, now playing for the Los Angeles Chargers…Father, Carlton, played in the Canadian Football League and the World League of American Football in the 1990's.
