Montana State's Justin Lamson earns Manning Passing Academy counselor role

Justin Lamson has landed one of college football’s most visible offseason quarterback jobs, joining the Manning Passing Academy counselor group in Thibodaux, Louisiana, for the June 25-28 camp at Nicholls State. The Manning family-run camp is in its 30th year and bills itself as the premier offensive football camp in the country, giving Lamson a platform that reaches far beyond Bozeman.

His spot in that room carries real weight because the counselor list includes some of the sport’s most recognizable young quarterbacks, among them Arch Manning of Texas, Julian Sayin of Ohio State and Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss. For Lamson, the assignment is more than a summer stop: it puts Montana State in front of top high school quarterbacks, coaches and national observers at a place that has long served as a proving ground for elite passers.

Lamson earned that visibility with one of the strongest quarterback seasons in Montana State history. He started all 16 games for the Bobcats in 2025 and finished with 255 completions on 356 attempts for 3,172 yards, 26 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. His 71.63 percent completion rate and 168.89 passer rating placed him among the most efficient quarterbacks in the FCS, and the Big Sky Conference said he finished third nationally in completion percentage and sixth in passing efficiency during the regular season.

The postseason hardware followed quickly. Lamson was named the Big Sky’s Newcomer of the Year on Nov. 26, 2025, after helping Montana State complete a championship run that included a 31-28 win over Montana in the Brawl of the Wild on Nov. 22, 2025. That victory gave the Bobcats their first road win in the rivalry since 2018 and secured their third Big Sky championship in the last four seasons. Against Montana, Lamson set a Montana State single-game record by completing 18 of 20 passes.

Montana State coach Brent Vigen said Lamson was central to the Bobcats’ success. “Obviously us bringing Justin in was going to be critical, and he’s followed up with the season we needed,” Vigen said, adding that Lamson’s performance put him in position to be one of the league’s best offensive players.

That is why the Manning counselor role matters as more than a badge of offseason prestige. It signals that Lamson’s production has traveled well outside the Big Sky, and it gives Montana State a quarterback whose name now sits in a national quarterback-development setting at the same time the Bobcats are trying to sustain a title chase.