Cole Payton QB North Dakota State |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #9 PLAY STYLE: Dual Threat QB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 03/23/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.56 seconds (94%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jersey: #9 | |
| PLAY STYLE: Dual Threat QB | |
| Last Updated: 03/23/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.56 seconds (94%*) | |
| Overall Rating: | 81.1 / 100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Average rating of opposition Defense player has faced | ||
| Defense Rating: |
|
71% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Release Speed: |
|
60% |
| Short Passing: |
|
76% |
| Medium Passing: |
|
83% |
| Long Passing: |
|
87% |
| Rush/Scramble: |
|
80% |
|
DRAFT PROJECTION:
6th
Overall Rank:
#200
Position rank:
#8 (QB)
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| College Games: 35 College Snaps: 1077 | ||
247 RATING: 77/100
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Justin Fields - Ohio State |
|
57% |
| Jayden Daniels - LSU |
|
57% |
| Cam Miller - North Dakota State |
|
57% |
Drafted: ROUND: 5 - Pick Number: 178 (PHI)
Draft Profile: Bio
An undefeated 12-0 senior season capped by a Class A state title at Omaha Westside High School should have drawn more recruiting attention than Cole Payton received. Over three seasons as the starter, he went 31-5 and piled up 5,338 passing yards with 65 touchdowns through the air, plus another 2,122 yards and 37 scores on the ground. That senior year was the crown jewel: 2,742 total yards and 39 touchdowns. Nebraska named him its Gatorade Player of the Year for the 2020-21 cycle, and he earned two all-state first-team nods. He was also a baseball player, a multi-sport kid with competitive DNA. Despite all of that production, Payton was only a two-star recruit with a 0.77 composite grade from 247Sports, which tells you plenty about how the recruiting world viewed an FCS-bound quarterback from Omaha.Payton landed at North Dakota State knowing full well he was walking into a quarterback factory. Brock Jensen, Carson Wentz, Easton Stick, Trey Lance, Cam Miller. That lineage drew him to Fargo, and he has said publicly that he believed one year of starting at NDSU would carry more weight than multiple seasons elsewhere. He redshirted in 2021, then spent three full years (2022-2024) as the backup behind Miller, mostly deployed as a designed runner in short-yardage and goal-line packages. In that backup role he still managed to rack up impressive rushing totals: 84 carries for 615 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2023 alone, including back-to-back 100-yard games to open the season against Eastern Washington and Maine. An injury in October 2024 cut his junior year short after eight games, but by that point the Bison coaching staff already knew what they had in him.
When Miller graduated and Payton finally took over in 2025, the results were immediate and historic. He led NDSU to a 12-1 record and an 8-0 conference mark, completing 161 of 224 passes (71.9%) for 2,719 yards and 16 touchdowns against just four interceptions. He also rushed 136 times for 777 yards and 13 scores, averaging 5.7 yards per carry as the team's second-leading rusher. Payton set NDSU single-season records for pass efficiency (193.8), yards per attempt (12.1), and total offense per game (268.9). Three of the top six single-game offensive performances in school history belong to him, including a 380-yard explosion at South Dakota State where he beat the No. 2-ranked Jackrabbits with four rushing touchdowns. He finished third in Walter Payton Award voting, earned multiple All-America honors from Stats Perform, FCS Football Central, and the Associated Press, and graduated as NDSU's career record holder in completion percentage (.702), pass efficiency (185.5), and yards per attempt (11.3). He capped it off with invitations to both the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Built like a prototypical NFL quarterback at 232 pounds with broad shoulders and a thick lower half that absorbs contact and keeps him upright in the pocket and on designed runs.
- Freakish combine athlete who posted a 40-inch vertical (third all-time for QBs), 10'10" broad jump, 4.56 forty, and 7.12 three-cone, confirming rare explosive power for the position.
- Dangerous rushing threat with 31 career touchdowns on the ground; runs with real anger between the tackles and has the build-up speed to rip off chunk plays once he hits the second level.
- Deep ball placement is outstanding, particularly outside the numbers, where he can lay it over the shoulder in stride and give receivers room to run after the catch.
- Comfortable rolling to his left as a natural southpaw and delivers accurate strikes on the move without losing velocity or ball placement on bootlegs and designed rollouts.
- Poise under pressure stands out for a guy with limited starting reps; keeps his eyes downfield when the pocket collapses and looks to create rather than just bail and scramble.
- Scored well across all three passing levels on film study, flashing genuine touch on intermediate crossers and the ability to drop the ball into tight windows over the middle of the field.
- Extremely low turnover-worthy play rate for a first-year starter, showing good decision-making discipline and an understanding of when to throw the ball away or tuck it and run.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Only one season of starting experience at the FCS level, meaning his processing speed and anticipation against complex NFL coverages remain largely untested and underdeveloped.
- Mechanical overhaul is needed; he throws with a wide base and an arm-dominant delivery that leaves his lower half disconnected, leading to inconsistent accuracy on short and intermediate throws.
- Lacks the drive velocity to consistently fit the ball into tight NFL windows, especially on in-breaking routes where late throws get jumped by linebackers and safeties.
- Fumble issues cropped up with increased volume in 2025 (four fumbles on 120 rushing attempts), and ball security will be tested further against NFL-caliber pass rushers collapsing the pocket.
- Zone coverage reading remains a genuine concern; he thrived against man-heavy FCS schemes but has not proven he can manipulate safeties or work through full-field progressions against disguised shells.
Scouting Report: Summary
Payton is not a plug-and-play starter. Anyone who watched the film and came away thinking otherwise is fooling themselves. This is a raw, one-year FCS starter with mechanical issues that need significant work before he can function as a full-time pocket passer at the next level. The wide base, the inconsistent lower-body involvement, the arm-dominant release that robs him of consistent drive velocity on short and intermediate throws: all of that needs to be rebuilt. His release speed grades out as average, which tracks with what you see on tape. He gets away with some of these issues because his arm talent is real and his placement on deep shots is genuinely impressive, but NFL defensive coordinators will exploit the gaps in his timing and processing that FCS opponents could not.That said, there is a real player in here, and the physical tools are tantalizing. The combine confirmed what you could already see on film: this is one of the most explosive athletes to come through the quarterback position in years. The vertical, the broad jump, the forty time, the agility drills: all of it points to a guy who can do things with his legs that most quarterbacks simply cannot. He ran for 31 touchdowns in college and averaged over seven yards per carry for his career. That rushing ability is not a gimmick. In a league that increasingly values quarterback mobility and designed runs, Payton's ground game is a legitimate weapon that can be schemed up from day one, even before his passing mechanics catch up.
The path forward for Payton looks a lot like a Taysom Hill-style deployment early in his career, where a creative offensive staff uses him in designed packages, short-yardage situations, and red zone run concepts while he develops as a passer behind a veteran starter. The ceiling is there for more. His deep ball placement, his composure under duress, and his competitive toughness all suggest a guy who could grow into a capable starter if the development plan is right. But that is a big "if," and he needs patience and coaching to get there. He belongs on a roster, and the physical tools alone make him worth the investment as a late-round selection, but the team that drafts him has to commit to a multi-year development timeline and resist the temptation to rush him onto the field before the mechanics and processing are ready.
Cole Payton percentiles vs other Quarterbacks (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Cole Payton (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
152.4
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
14.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.