Chances are that unless you follow small-college football in Minnesota, you don't know about Winona State's Jack Nelson, who set Northern Sun Conference records by throwing 102 touchdown passes and for 12,007 yards in four seasons. Nelson, who grew up outside of Rochester in Byron, Minn., is chasing the dream of going pro.

The reality is that he probably won't be taken in the seven rounds of the NFL draft, which runs from Thursday through Saturday. But he's hoping to be one of the dozens of players afterward who get signed to free-agent deals with the hopes of catching on with a team.

Call it a crazy dream -- and then keep in mind that small-college stars Tony Romo and Kurt Warner weren't drafted before becoming NFL standouts. Neither was Warren Moon, who played in the Canadian Football League before starring with Houston and then playing for the Vikings.

Nelson told Pat Ruff of Rochester Post-Bulletin that playing in the NFL "was a childhood dream of mine. I remember writing it down on a piece of paper as a little kid. It's something I've always wanted to do."

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Nelson started 43 games for Winona State, which went 8-3 last season, and averaged 279.2 passing yards per game in that time. His complete statistics are here.

"He is one of those kids who looks like an NFL quarterback that you see on Sundays," Winona State offensive coordinator Cameron Keller told the Post-Bulletin.

You can read the Post-Bulletin story here.

But what about the rankings? Nelson is ranked 49th of 136 draftable quarterbacks, according to Draftscouts.com. (By comparison, Minnesota's Mitch Leidner is 21st.)

The web site TyrantScouting.com, which bills itself as an authority on small-college players, lists Nelson as the 45th best player below the Football Bowl Subdivision (major college) level. Here's that list.

Let's go to the highlights, courtesy of Ch. 8 in LaCrosse, Wis.

And from FootballGameplan.com: