NDSU QB Cole Payton Draws NFL Attention Ahead of Combine

Cole Payton turned a one-year starter breakout into national attention by setting North Dakota State single-season marks for pass efficiency (193.8), total offense per game (268.9), yards per play (9.71), and yards per pass attempt (12.1). That production came alongside a 2025 snapshot of roughly 2,719 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and a 72 percent completion rate in a 13-game sample cited by The Draft Network and NFLDraftBuzz, and it has him trending toward the NFL Combine conversation with a listed 40-yard dash of 4.65 seconds on draft profiles.

Payton’s path has been unconventional. PFF’s scouting file notes he was a former two-star recruit from Omaha, Nebraska, who won the Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year award as a high school senior in 2020 and served as a backup and situational rushing option at NDSU until his 2025 season as the full-time starter. Sports Illustrated’s compiled career totals list 3,188 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns and 6 interceptions across a career line it records as 52 games played, while NFLDraftBuzz’s profile lists 35 college games and 1,077 snaps, creating an immediate discrepancy draft evaluators will want reconciled before final grades land.

Measurables have become a headline. Multiple draft sites list Payton at 6-foot-3 and roughly 233 pounds, and NFLDraftBuzz places his 40 at 4.65 seconds in the 84th percentile while grading his long passing at 100 percent and his rush/scramble trait at 93 percent. Those numbers feed sharply different projections: The Draft Network issues a bullish “Draft Grade: Round 2 - Winning Starter” and a glowing evaluation that “Cole Payton is a tough, strong, athletic, pass-first QB with phenomenal developmental building blocks to become an elite NFL signal-caller.” By contrast, NFLDraftBuzz projects a seventh-round selection and gives an overall rating of 79.8/100, PFF slots him near 238 on its big board, and Sports Illustrated’s profile warns that “He projects as a fringe NFL roster prospect.”

Scouting reports split on mechanics and polish. Sports Illustrated describes a three-quartered throwing motion with a big wind-up and a release point “far outside of his frame,” warning that when Payton “stares down his target, he puts himself in turnover-worthy situations” and that his deep ball “does not throw with touch consistently.” The Draft Network praises his arm strength and downfield ball placement but calls out inexperience and “awkward, arm-dominant” mechanics that can lead to erratic footwork. PFF offers a middle ground, noting a “shotput-style finish” yet saying his “footwork and base are consistent” and assigning mostly 6/10 trait scores for accuracy and out-of-structure play.

Where Payton clears consensus is toughness and mobility. Sports Illustrated and The Draft Network highlight his willingness to absorb contact and extend plays, and Vikings Wire labels him “hyper mobile” with the “skill to layer throws over the middle with precision.” Vikings Wire also provides a counterpunch to the hype, warning that “When he runs a stellar time at the NFL Combine, he will soar up draft boards. This is a mistake,” and projecting a seventh-round outcome while likening his upside to a Taysom Hill-style utility role rather than a clear starter.

The evaluations span second-round optimism to fringe-roster skepticism. With the NFL Combine and pro day results still the hinge point, Payton’s verified measurables, official snap totals and reconciled season versus career numbers will determine whether he becomes a legitimate mid-round riser or a developmental, dual-threat option late in the draft.