The way that Lance launches himself off the line and into the secondary is not just the speed, though that trait is immediately evident, but the efficiency of the movement itself: the knee drive, the ground coverage per step, the way he maintains form as he approaches top speed rather than reverting to a desperate lean. Watching Lance open up on a vertical route for the first time is the kind of moment that makes you understand why teams spend first-round capital on receivers who cannot separate in a phone booth but will rearrange an entire defensive structure simply by existing on the field.

The 4.34 forty and 1.49 ten-yard split are substantiated by what happens on tape. Within three seconds of the snap on any uncontested vertical, he is in the face of the safety, who has to make an immediate decision about retreating rather than playing his assignment. That pressure creates dig routes, it opens underneath windows and it demands safety rotation that changes the arithmetic of the entire coverage call. His stride length means he covers that ground without appearing to press, which makes him harder to gauge for defenders trying to decide when to turn and run.

There is more nuance to his athletic profile than the raw speed. His 9.94 RAS reflects a genuinely complete testing day: the vertical of 41.5 inches, the broad of 1101 centimetres and a shuttle of 4.15 all point to a receiver with genuine lateral athleticism that his straight-line dominance can sometimes obscure. He can sink into his hips without completely losing momentum, which gives him a functional base to transition at the top of routes. His ball tracking is a strength: he adjusts well to off-target throws, uses late hands to disrupt defenders’ timing and works hard to present wide windows when breaking back to the ball along the boundary.

His release package is further along than expected for a player at the FCS level, where press coverage is a less constant challenge. He shows the awareness and footwork to avoid early disruption even when he has not been consistently tested in that phase. His blocking effort is honest; he climbs to the second level with purpose, gets his hips under his grip and widens his feet to establish a stable anchor. These are learned habits, not athletic gifts, which suggests a player who has been attentive to his craft even in an environment where those details were not always tested.

The route running is raw in ways that will require meaningful investment. His hips stay flat through directional turns, which means he steers around corners rather than bending through them with the efficiency that allows elite receivers to maintain speed through breaks. His breaks can be rounded, his lateral adjustments are not sharp enough to stress disciplined coverage and his routes are often signposted enough that prepared defenders can sit on them. There are also unconventional break directions that may be artifacts of NDSU’s scheme, but they will need to be addressed within a more structured NFL route tree.

The level of competition he faced at North Dakota State is a genuine projection variable. The speed plays at any level, but the route details that determine whether a receiver can separate against a prepared NFL corner, rather than simply outrun him, have not been tested against the athletes he will face every week. He is not ready to contribute immediately in a complex passing system; the most realistic projection involves a development period of at least half a season, during which the technical foundations are rebuilt around his physical tools. His size at 204 pounds also means he could benefit from added strength at the top of routes, where he can be displaced by more physical defenders.