2026 NFL Draft Pro Day Circuit Separates Clear Winners from Losers

The pro day circuit that rolled through late March and into early April 2026 did exactly what NFL evaluators expect it to do: it separated prospects who had already made a statement from those scrambling to make one for the first time. For FCS players, whose film often impresses scouts but rarely earns prime-time exposure, the window is brutally short and the margin for error is nearly zero.

No FCS program entered the sprint with more momentum than North Dakota State, which hosted its pro day on March 19 at the Nodak Insurance Football Performance Complex in Fargo. Wide receiver Bryce Lance and quarterback Cole Payton had already put the Bison on the national radar at the NFL Scouting Combine in late February in Indianapolis, and the pro day gave scouts who missed it a chance to see the follow-through in person.

Lance, a 6-foot-3, 204-pound wideout, posted a 4.34-second 40-yard dash that ranked among the top five times at the receiver position during the entire combine, paired with a 41.5-inch vertical leap and an 11-foot-1-inch broad jump. His Relative Athletic Score of 9.98 out of a possible 10.00 ranked seventh among all wide receivers measured since 1987, a statistic that reframed him not just as a good small-school player but as a freakish mover at any level. Lance averaged 21.2 yards per catch during the 2025 season and scored a program-record 17 receiving touchdowns in 2024, production that scouts typically footnote with questions about FCS competition. The testing numbers answered those questions before anyone could ask them. He is projected as the first FCS player selected in the 2026 draft.

Payton, the left-handed signal-caller who started just one season at the FCS level, delivered his own historic combine showing. His 40-inch vertical jump ranked third all-time among quarterbacks at the combine, trailing only Anthony Richardson and one other, and his 4.56 40-yard dash and 10-foot-10-inch broad jump produced a 9.97 RAS, fourth-highest for a quarterback in combine history dating back to 1987. Those numbers matter for a Day 3 prospect precisely because they reframe the conversation: teams evaluating a raw passer with one year of starting experience now have to factor in elite athleticism that translates to pocket mobility and escapability.

The broader landscape for FCS prospects mirrors what Bleacher Report's April 1 roundup of pro day winners and losers spelled out for the wider draft class: a single workout can either validate film or override it. The piece noted that UCF's Keli Lawson, who bypassed the combine entirely, vaulted onto draft boards by posting an eye-popping broad jump and near-elite vertical at his pro day, the kind of explosion numbers that signal special-teams value and positional upside even before route running enters the conversation. For FCS players who rarely get combine invitations, Lawson's path illustrates exactly what a well-executed pro day can accomplish.

The losers side of that equation is just as instructive. Bleacher Report identified prospects whose poor pro day outings removed previously presumed draft invitations. For FCS programs preparing athletes for next year's cycle, that cautionary data point is essential: one underprepared morning, whether it manifests as a sluggish three-cone drill or an erratic throwing session, can cost a player not just a draft slot but a priority undrafted free-agent offer.

The combine and pro day circuit runs through April 23, when the draft opens in Pittsburgh. For Lance, Payton, and the handful of other FCS prospects who executed when the lights came on, the results are already locked in. The numbers did the talking.