NFL draft rumors: Patriots’ front office to be well-represented at Trey Lance’s second Pro Day

Mac Jones and Justin Fields already held their second Pro Days in front of NFL talent evaluators, and fellow first-round quarterback Trey Lance will soon join them. The North Dakota State QB will throw for a second time later on Monday, with members of the New England Patriots expected to be in attendance as well.

While no members of the coaching staff will be there this time around, New England’s front office will be well-represented for Lance’s workout. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, assistant director of player personnel Dave Ziegler and scouting consultant Eliot Wolf will both be in Fargo to get a close look at one of the better quarterback prospects in this year’s draft.

This will not be the first look the Patriots will get at him, though. Lance’s first Pro Day in mid-March was already attended by national scout Matt Groh.

Like Ziegler and Wolf, Groh has been actively involved in the college player scouting process this year — something also mentioned by head coach/general manager Bill Belichick during his annual pre-draft press conference last week.

“Dave Ziegler, Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh have really carried the ball on this,” said Belichick about the trio. “They’ve done a ton of work and their respective staffs that they oversee as well. In particular, those three guys have really done a tremendous amount work, evaluation, organization and have done a great job putting things together.”

Lance is obviously not the only quarterback closely scouted by the Patriots this year. The team also attended workout sessions for the other top-five passers — Jones (Alabama), Fields (Ohio State), Zach Wilson (BYU) and even presumptive number one overall pick Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) — and has reportedly kept in constant touch with projected Day 2 selection Kellen Mond out of Texas A&M as well.

New England is in need for a long-term solution at the quarterback position, and the organization is putting in the work to potentially find one.

As for Lance, he is expected to come off the board within the top 10 picks next week. A high-upside passer who has the tools to become an effective dual-threat quarterback at the next level, his potential landing spot could be anywhere between the third (San Francisco 49ers) and ninth (Denver Broncos) overall selections. In turn, New England might have to trade up from No. 15 to get in a position to draft him.