History repeats itself in the 2026 NFL Draft as the Philadelphia Eagles drafted a quarterback from North Dakota State. Cole Payton follows in the footsteps of Carson Wentz, taken in the 5th round with the 178th pick. Payton revealed the two actually share an agent and he had high praise for Wentz.
Cole was obviously drafted much lower than
Carson, and they are different types of players, but both have talent. Payton comes in at 6’3”, 232 lbs with a big arm and uses his legs well, showing off his 4.56 speed at the NFL Combine.
In college, Payton played parts of five different seasons, playing full seasons in three of them. For his career, he put up 3188 passing yards and 21 passing touchdowns, with career highs of 2719 and 16 coming last fall. He also had prolific running stats, adding 1918 total rushing yards and 31 career rushing TDs, including 777 yards and 13 TDs on the ground in 2025.
Jalen Hurts has been the starting quarterback for the Eagles since 2020 and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. He’s been backed up by Tanner McKee the past two seasons, so Cole may be looking at the practice squad his rookie season. The hope is that he can develop into a reliable backup in a few seasons. He’s in a good position to be developed, as the Eagles have shown they can maximize the talent of dual-threat QBs.
