Cole Payton
American football player (born 2002)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cole Payton (born October 26, 2002) is an American professional football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Dakota State Bison and he was selected by the Eagles in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL draft.
| No. 10 – Philadelphia Eagles | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Roster status | Active |
| Personal information | |
| Born | October 26, 2002 |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 232 lb (105 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Westside (Omaha, Nebraska) |
| College | North Dakota State (2021–2025) |
| NFL draft | 2026: 5th round, 178th overall pick |
| Career history | |
| |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Stats at Pro Football Reference | |
Early life
Payton grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and attended Westside High School.[1] He was named the Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year after passing for 1,704 yards and 22 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,029 yards and 17 touchdowns.[2] Payton committed to play college football at North Dakota State.[3] He maintained his commitment despite late recruiting pushes from Iowa State and Nebraska to be a walk on.[4] He is a left-handed thrower.
College career
Payton played in three games during his true freshman while maintaining a redshirt on the season.[5] Payton was used in various play packages as a redshirt sophomore and rushed for 615 yards and 13 touchdowns while also completing 18 of 27 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns.[6] Payton completed 10 of 16 passes for 123 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and rushed for 164 yards and one touchdown as a redshirt junior before suffering a season-ending injury.[7] Payton was named the starting quarterback going into his redshirt senior season.[8]
College statistics
| North Dakota State Bison | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||||||
| GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 33.3 | 6 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 50.1 | 8 | 78 | 9.8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 66.7 | 51 | 4.3 | 0 | 1 | 85.7 | 38 | 284 | 7.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 15 | 0 | 18 | 27 | 66.7 | 289 | 10.7 | 3 | 0 | 193.2 | 84 | 615 | 7.3 | 13 | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 16 | 62.5 | 125 | 7.8 | 2 | 1 | 156.9 | 21 | 165 | 7.9 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 13 | 13 | 162 | 225 | 72.0 | 2,719 | 12.1 | 16 | 4 | 193.4 | 136 | 777 | 5.7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Career | 52 | 13 | 199 | 283 | 70.3 | 3,190 | 11.3 | 21 | 6 | 185.3 | 287 | 1,919 | 6.7 | 31 | 3 | 19 | 6.3 | 0 | |
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2+5⁄8 in (1.90 m) | 232 lb (105 kg) | 31+5⁄8 in (0.80 m) | 10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) | 6 ft 6+3⁄4 in (2.00 m) | 4.56 s | 1.57 s | 2.64 s | 4.36 s | 7.12 s | 40.0 in (1.02 m) | 10 ft 10 in (3.30 m) | |
| All values from NFL Combine[9][10] | ||||||||||||
Payton was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round with the 178th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.[11] He officially signed a rookie scale contract for four-years, $4.62 million on May 1.[12]