Vikings 2026 Draft Profile: NDSU WR Bryce Lance
Here we go with another 2026 Vikings Draft Profile. We’ve covered receivers Chris Brazzell II of Tennessee and Malachi Fields of Notre Dame. Now, we’ll give the focus to NDSU WR Bryce Lance.
The 6’3, 204lb big body wide-out hails from his hometown of Marshall, Minnesota, an almost three-hour drive from Minneapolis, where, of course, the Vikings do their bidding. Yes, you assumed right, he is the younger brother of 2021 NFL Draft third overall pick Trey Lance, who also made a name for himself in Fargo. Bryce set Marshall High School football program records in receiving yards and interceptions while also dominating on the basketball court.
His first couple of years at NDSU were completely forgettable. He was a special teamer in 2022 after redshirting his freshman year, and in 2023, he caught only a single pass for seven yards. He then exploded onto the scene in 2024 with 75 receptions for 1,053 yards and 17 touchdowns. His 2025 season was also impressive, hauling in 51 receptions for 1,079 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Per X user @BOOSKER414, an avid NDSU Bison sports fan, watching Bryce Lance play is like “watching Christian Watson (NDSU alum) with hands, though the hands thing with Watson was overrated.” He also notes that Lance “kinda has Thielen’s knack for creating underneath; you’ll hit him on a quick route and all of a sudden watch it go for 40 yards.” Promising insight from “The Boosk“.
The Strengths and Weaknesses of Bryce Lance
Strengths:
- Fantastic instincts when tracking the deep ball; big-time vertical threat
- Attacks the ball in traffic with confidence, shows elite ability to catch contested passes routinely
- Dependable hands; not many drops on the stat sheet
- Legitimate yards-after-catch ability, runs through arm-tackles with ease
- Scary red-zone threat
- Fantastic intermediate route-running, sells routes incredibly well at the break
- Scored 1st in the NFL’s 2026 NFL Draft Combine athleticism score among WRs (99 rating)
- 4.34 40-yard-dash time displays legitimate speed
- Finished top-5 in each combine drill he participated in (participated in all except bench press)
Weaknesses:
- Struggled a bit against press in collegiate career; needs to refine release package and add a dimension off the line
- Has only displayed the ability to be an average-at-best run blocker
- Strength of competition will be an argument until he proves it null; NDSU went 12-0 in 2025, running through a weak FCS schedule. Concern that he starred only against lesser-competition is legitimate
Bryce Lance on the Minnesota Vikings
If Bryce Lance were to return home and play for these Vikings, then the ideal deployment of the Vikings’ receiver core would be just like the one for Malachi Fields and Chris Brazzell II. Until it happens or doesn’t, we’ll assume Jalen Nailor walked and signed with someone else in free agency.
Having Justin Jefferson and Bryce Lance on the boundary could have a legitimate intermediate route runner on each boundary, along with Jordan Addison burning coverages in the slot. That is, unless Addison is gone this offseason as well.
