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Courtesy Kyle Sloter

Kyle Sloter has dealt with bad luck throughout his college career, so he was not surprised when Mother Earth herself turned against him at Northern Colorado's pro day.

"We had 45 miles-per-hour winds," he recalled in an interview with B/R. "The [timing] lasers kept getting knocked over."

Sloter and his former teammates had to move indoors, where he worked out on a basketball court in borrowed sneakers. Those aren't exactly scouting-combine conditions, and Sloter had a disappointing workout.

But when Sloter later attended Colorado's pro day, he was told he could not re-run his 40 or other drills, because he was already in the database for the indoor debacle.

Luckily, Sloter was permitted to throw in front of the scouts in Boulder.

"All 32 teams were there, and he lit it up," Sloter's trainer, longtime NFL offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild, said to B/R.

"I'm used to adversity at this point," Sloter said. "You just gotta fight through it."

Sloter has spent more time battling fate than opponents during his college career. Recruited as a quarterback at Southern Mississippi, he switched to wide receiver when a coaching change buried him on the depth chart.

A system change took away his slot receiver role. Sloter tried playing tight end, then transferred to Northern Colorado in search of a quarterback opportunity. Except that many of Sloter's college credits didn't transfer, forcing him to miss parts of spring practices so he could complete courses and an internship. Sloter started the 2016 season as a backup quarterback in the Big Sky Conference.

Injuries pushed Sloter into the starting lineup, where he threw 29 touchdown passes in 2016. But it's no mystery why Sloter, despite a 6'4" frame and 4.5-second speed when not sliding around on hardwood, fell short of even the most thorough prospect lists.

"I saw draft charts where there were 250 quarterbacks listed, and he wasn't one of them," Fairchild said.

That was before Fairchild tightened Sloter's delivery and unleashed him on scouts at Colorado. But Fairchild stressed that Sloter, whose Northern Colorado offense is more NFL-like than most of the ones we watch on autumn Saturdays, is much more than a big athlete who had a good workout.

"He can make every throw," Fairchild said. "He did it in on the pro day. He's shown he can do it off pocket movement. It's not just take five steps, set and throw to your primary. He can readjust his target line, his launch point."

Working in an NFL-friendly system helps, too.

"He's been under center," Fairchild said. "He's had to drop back. He changes protections. I'm not saying he's NFL-ready, but he's a lot further down the path than some of these guys."

Sloter is no longer being left out of top 250s. He's getting late-round grades from teams and appearing on some top-20 QB lists.

"It's exciting to see myself up there," Sloter said. "But I wouldn't short-change myself either. I believe I deserve to be higher."

"In the end, I'll have some proving to do, and I'll do just that."