El Paso's Steven Montez Anxiously Awaits His NFL Draft Call

As the NFL Draft approaches, the next football star out of El Paso is hoping that he receives the long-awaited call from a football team this week.

Former Colorado and Del Valle standout quarterback Steven Montez is the city's next draft hopeful after having a sold four-year college career in the Pac-12. However, the journey has been far from what he expected going into the pre-draft process.

His college resume—detailed with his accomplishments below—earned him recognition across the country and gave Montez the opportunity to star in the Senior Bowl and compete in the NFL Combine.

He became the fourth player in CU history to accumulate 7,000 career passing yards against Colorado State (8/30) and then became the second to hit both 8,000 and 9,000 later in the season. With 9,492, he trails only Sefo Liufau (9,568), already passing Cody Hawkins (7,409) and Joel Klatt (7,375) this season.
He moved into second place for career total offense and currently has 10,479, trailing only Liufau (10,509).
He now has 61 career touchdown passes, the most in CU history.
He has 1,286 pass attempts, putting him in second on CU’s all-time list.
He has 797 completions, putting him in second on CU’s all-time list.
He has 987 career rushing yards and 1,562 yards of adjusted rushing taking out sacks.
He has set 43 school records, 31 outright and nine tied.
He has two of the four seasons in CU history with 3,000 yards of total offense.
He has started 38 games at QB including 35 straight and played in 46 games.

(Source CU Athletics)

But due to the coronavirus pandemic, NFL draft hopefuls—including Montez—have been thrown off their regularly-scheduled workouts, pre-draft meetings and have been tasked to do everything remotely and virtually. This creates obvious uncertainty for any prospect coming into this draft.

It appears that Montez set himself up to be a mid-round prospect. His official 40-yard dash time at the combine clocked in at a 4.68. He trained under former UTEP and NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer, alongside top quarterback draft choices like Joe Burrow. And, he signed under the VaynerSports agency group.

Current NFL mock drafts have Montez going all over the place. Most mock drafts tab the 6-foot-5 passer going somewhere between the fourth and sixth round. Other mock drafts have Montez going undrafted.

Montez told SportsTalk yesterday that while he's had serious conversations with some different teams, the possibilities are open on where he could land. Instead of staying home and watching the draft with family and friends in El Paso, Montez is having to make accommodations at his apartment in Boulder, CO., to have immediate family members present for his draft day.

El Paso—and the country—will wait and see where the quarterback lands this week.

You can catch all three rounds of the NFL Draft on 600 ESPN El Paso, with coverage starting at 5 p.m. MT on Thursday.