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The North Dakota State University football program is a small Division 1 team playing in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bisons remained a relatively unknown program for years, but have found some recent success, putting them on the map. NDSU is the only college football program to win five straight NCAA championships (2011-2015) and even holds the record for most FCS titles (8). They also won three consecutive championships from 2017-2019.
Ranking the top three NDSU QBs drafted into the NFL
A program with that much success in a ten-year span should obviously boast some seriously talented players who have made it to the NFL. In fact, the Bisons have had 10 players make it to the NFL since 2011 and only two were undrafted free agents. Some notable names include linebacker Jabril Cox, offensive tackle Dillon Radunz, and offensive tackle Joe Haeg. Three quarterbacks have been drafted into the NFL from NDSU, all of whom have won at least one FCS championship as a starter and multiple championships overall.
#3 - Easton Stick
Easton Stick had an amazing 49-3 record at NDSU as a starter, which is the record for most wins by a starting quarterback in Division 1 FCS. He won a total of four FCS championships, two of them as the starting quarterback (2017 and 2018).
The Los Angeles Chargers drafted Easton Stick in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft to be a backup and possible heir to Philip Rivers. However, Chase Daniels became the backup and Stick didn't play as a rookie. He was teased with the prospect of playing in 2020 due to injured rookie Justin Herbert, but Herbert returned before Stick had his first snap in the NFL.
#2 - Trey Lance
Trey Lance is the latest NDSU quarterback to be drafted into the NFL as the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Lance won two championships with the Bisons (one as a starter in 2019). He holds the record for the most passing attempts in a season without an interception (287 passes for 28 touchdowns and zero interceptions). He received the Walter Payton Award for being the FCS's most outstanding player in 2019 as well. Lance played in the pandemic-shortened season in 2020, playing just a single game.
With just 17 starts in college, Trey Lance was still drafted third overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. He's still in his rookie season, so it is still too early to tell if he will end up as the best NDSU quarterback in the NFL. Lance has battled injuries in 2021, with just one start in five games. He is still in li to take over as the starter for Jimmy Garoppolo in the near future.
#1 - Carson Wentz
Outside of Trey Lance being a top draft pick this year, Carson Wentz is likely the most well-known NDSU player of all time. He was the starter during the Bisons' streak of five straight championships from 2011 to 2015. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted him second overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, the highest ever for a FCS player. He finished with a 35-32-1 record in five seasons with the Eagles, including winning Super Bowl LII despite not playing in the post-season due to injury.
Wentz found himself benched in 2020 for Jalen Hurts and was traded to the Indianapolis Colts prior to the 2021 season to replace Philip Rivers. Despite fighting through surgery on his foot early in the season, Carson Wentz has seemingly revitalized his NFL career in 2021: holding a 7-6 record, throwing for 2,948 passing yards with 22 touchdowns and five interceptions.
