North Dakota State Professional Athletes

The Chargers' QB Battle May Have Ended Trey Lance's Run

The moment North Dakota State fans have been dreading may have arrived. Trey Lance, the former No. 3 overall pick who has spent two years trying to resurrect a career derailed by injuries and benching in San Francisco, delivered one of the worst possible performances when it mattered most — and now his spot on the Los Angeles Chargers' roster is in serious jeopardy.

In Thursday's final preseason game against the Rams — the Chargers' definitive audition for the backup quarterback job — Lance ran the offense for two possessions and did not complete a single pass. DJ Uiagalelei, his direct competition for the QB2 role, outplayed him decisively. For a player who desperately needed to make a statement, Lance made the wrong one.

The stakes couldn't have been clearer going in. Yahoo Sports flagged the Chargers' QB competition as Thursday's most interesting position battle across the entire league, framing it explicitly as a fight for Lance's NFL career. Both Lance and Uiagalelei were competing for the backup spot behind starter Justin Herbert, but the subtext was always larger for Lance — at 24, a former top pick who has never lived up to his draft billing, running out of chances is a very real possibility.

Pro Football Talk confirmed afterward that Uiagalelei had outplayed Lance in that final preseason test. The Chargers must finalize their 53-man roster, and Lance's inability to complete a pass in his final audition makes it difficult to justify keeping him over a younger, cheaper quarterback who performed better when it counted.

Whether Lance lands elsewhere if cut — or whether this marks the quiet end of a once-heralded career — remains to be seen. But the NDSU community that watched him dominate college football will be hoping he finds a path forward.

Wentz Resurfaces in Minnesota

There's a more encouraging NDSU quarterback story unfolding in Minnesota, where Carson Wentz is back in the conversation. According to Bleacher Report, an NFL insider floated the possibility that J.J. McCarthy — the Vikings' presumed starter — could be demoted or traded, with Wentz potentially moving up the depth chart as a result. The report centers on McCarthy's performance in a competition with Kyler Murray, with one insider suggesting McCarthy's standing in Minnesota is shakier than publicly acknowledged.

Wentz, who has bounced around the league since his Eagles days, would represent a surprising but not unprecedented pivot for a franchise searching for stability under center. For NDSU fans, seeing two Bison-connected quarterbacks — one fighting to stay in the league, one potentially stepping back into a starting conversation — makes for a genuinely compelling NFL week.

The broader alumni corps is sprinkled across rosters from Green Bay to Seattle, but the quarterback drama is the story this preseason. Lance's immediate future may be decided within days.

It was a banner week for the Bison Nation pipeline — three NDSU alumni made noise across the NFL, from a starting center seizing a spotlight in Los Angeles to a Dallas fullback caught between a jersey negotiation and an injury scare.

Slaughter Starts, Lance Competes in LA

Jake Slaughter didn't just dress for the Chargers' preseason matchup against the 49ers — he started at center, earning top billing in post-game coverage. The LA Times and Yahoo Sports both led their takeaways with Slaughter's performance, calling him a genuine bright spot in an otherwise rough night for Los Angeles. The Chargers dropped the game, undone by special teams miscues and defensive breakdowns, but the former Bison center gave the coaching staff something to think about on the interior offensive line.

His NDSU teammate Trey Lance also had a moment, flashing the mobility that made him a first-round pick years ago. But Lance's path forward in LA remains uncertain. Head coach Jim Harbaugh publicly acknowledged this week that Lance and DJ Uiagalelei are locked in a "tight race" for the backup QB job behind Justin Herbert. Harbaugh said he remains undecided heading into the final stretch of the preseason. For Lance, who has spent years searching for a stable role in the NFL, the competition represents both an opportunity and a reminder that nothing is guaranteed.

Two NDSU quarterbacks, two very different trajectories — but both still very much alive in their respective battles.

Luepke: Jersey Drama and an Early Exit

Hunter Luepke had the most eventful week of any Bison alum, and it had nothing to do with what he did on the field.

First came the fun story: newly signed Cowboys pass rusher Von Miller revealed he wants to wear No. 40 in Dallas — the same number Luepke currently holds. Rather than quietly petition the equipment staff, Miller went public with an offer to the fullback, turning a routine jersey negotiation into a preseason subplot. The details of what Miller put on the table weren't fully disclosed, but the exchange became one of the more charming human-interest beats of the week across the entire league.

Then came the concerning part. Luepke exited Tuesday's Cowboys scrimmage against the Saints early, drawing attention from the training staff and raising questions about his availability. No official designation was immediately issued, but any absence for a fullback trying to lock down a roster spot is worth monitoring as final cuts approach.

Luepke was productive enough last season to draw Miller's jersey interest in the first place — which says something. Whether he can stay healthy and hold off competition will define his August.

Also Worth Watching

Carson Wentz, who signed with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason, turned heads in his first preseason action. FanSided floated the question of whether Wentz's performance was strong enough to challenge J.J. McCarthy for the starting role — a long shot, but the fact that anyone is asking the question suggests Wentz made a genuine impression.

Meanwhile, Jake Kubas continued to push for a roster spot with the New York Giants, with film analysis suggesting he and Evan Neal could be competing to fill a void at offensive tackle on New York's depth chart.

The Bison pipeline into the NFL remains as active as ever — and this week, it was impossible to ignore.

Bison in the NFL: Aug. 9–15, 2026

The week was a rough one for North Dakota State's NFL contingent. A season-ending injury to one Bison and a health scare for another put the spotlight squarely on two alumni fighting battles that have nothing to do with the scoreboard.

Dillon Radunz Done Before He Starts

The Saints made it official midweek: guard Dillon Radunz is out for the 2026 season after suffering a torn ACL. New Orleans placed him on injured reserve and signed defensive tackle Kahlil Saunders to help offset roster needs created by the wave of injuries hitting the club.

Radunz's torn ACL is a brutal blow for the former NDSU standout, who now faces the long road of rehabilitation before he can return to the field. The Saints' offensive line — already a unit under scrutiny — loses a key interior piece before a regular-season snap has been taken.

The ripple effect lands squarely on rookie Jeremiah Wright, who may be forced into a starting role far sooner than the Saints had planned. Wright was presumably ticketed for developmental reps; instead, he could be suiting up as a Week 1 starter. It's the kind of accelerated timeline that makes or breaks young linemen.

For Radunz, the timing stings. Preseason is supposed to be a proving ground, a chance to lock down a roster spot and set the tone. Instead, 2026 ends before it ever really begins.

Marques Sigle Nursing an Oblique in San Francisco

In Santa Clara, fellow Bison alum Marques Sigle is dealing with his own injury concern heading into 49ers camp. The free safety is managing an oblique injury — the kind of soft-tissue ailment that rarely announces itself with drama but can linger and complicate a player's ability to compete at full speed.

Sigle, who added 8 to 10 pounds ahead of camp, has been making a deliberate physical investment in his 2026 campaign. The weight addition signals a player trying to assert himself and stick on the roster, which makes the oblique issue an unwelcome complication. The 49ers have their own camp storylines — including an open left guard competition and a separate cluster of injuries — so Sigle will need to get healthy quickly to avoid getting lost in the shuffle.

His status remains something to monitor as San Francisco's preseason workload ramps up.

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Two NDSU alumni, two injury storylines, and zero good news out of either camp this week. The Bison pipeline into the NFL runs deep — with more than 20 alums currently on rosters — but for Radunz and Sigle, the 2026 season is off to the hardest kind of start.

North Dakota State's pipeline to the NFL has produced quarterbacks, linemen, and playmakers across the league — and this week, two Bison alumni are driving conversation for very different reasons.

Grey Zabel Is Already Making Seahawks Film Rooms Take Notice

Seattle's 2025 draft class had plenty of question marks heading into the season, but Grey Zabel wasn't one of them by the time it was over. The Seahawks left guard turned in a rookie campaign that's drawing genuine optimism ahead of 2026, with film analysts pointing to Zabel's footwork, processing speed at the line of scrimmage, and consistency in pass protection as reasons to believe his ceiling is significantly higher than what he already showed.

For a franchise that has shuffled through offensive line solutions for years, finding a potential long-term anchor at left guard is no small thing. Zabel's Bison pedigree — the same program that produced Carson Wentz and a steady stream of NFL-ready prospects — lends credibility to the idea that his development arc isn't close to flat. The scouting consensus coming out of Fargo has reliably translated, and Zabel appears to be the latest proof of concept.

He's 22 years old and already has a full NFL season of reps logged. Seahawks fans have reason to circle his name.

Matt LaFleur Bans Backflips — and a Bison Is Part of the Story

Meanwhile in Green Bay, head coach Matt LaFleur has seen enough airtime from his own players — and he's putting a stop to it. LaFleur officially banned backflips from Packers celebrations after both wide receiver Christian Watson and running back MarShawn Lloyd pulled off the acrobatic move during camp or game action.

The reasoning isn't hard to follow: the ban targets oft-injured players, and LaFleur doesn't want either of them landing awkwardly on a celebration and losing weeks of availability. It's the kind of veteran coaching pragmatism that sounds curmudgeonly until someone blows out a knee doing a flip in August.

Watson, of course, is an NDSU alum — a reminder that the Bison pipeline doesn't stop at the offensive line. The wide receiver has flashed genuine big-play ability when healthy, and getting through a full season remains the key variable for his impact in Green Bay's offense. LaFleur's backflip ban is, in its own way, a vote of confidence: he wants Watson on the field enough to legislate away unnecessary risk.

The Bison Blueprint Keeps Producing

With Zabel drawing rave reviews in Seattle and Watson relevant enough in Green Bay that his touchdown celebrations are generating coaching policy changes, NDSU's NFL footprint remains as visible as ever. Throw in Carson Wentz suiting up for the Vikings and a roster's worth of Bison scattered from Jacksonville to San Francisco, and Fargo continues to punch well above its weight class on football Saturdays — and Sundays.

The Zabel film breakdown is the week's most substantive development for NDSU alumni watchers: a young lineman with momentum entering year two is exactly the kind of storyline that turns into a Pro Bowl conversation by 2027.