An annual tradition involves quarterback prospects making climbs based on pre-draft workouts and meetings. With a big gap emerging between Fernando Mendoza and the field this year, room for growth exists to bridge it. A familiar program has produced a candidate generating buzz to potentially be this year’s second quarterback chosen.
North Dakota State’s Cole Payton is generating early praise, with Sportsboom.com’s Jason La Canfora indicating some in the scouting community view him as this draft’s second-best QB prospect. Early-second-round grades have followed within this contingent.
The Bison, whose status as the top Division I-FCS program has triggered an upcoming move to the Mountain West Conference, have seen two of their quarterback prospects become top-three picks over the past 10 years. Carson Wentz completed a radical pre-draft rise in 2016, going second overall. Trey Lance went third overall five years later. Both the Eagles and 49ers’ moves required monster trade packages to move up. In between, Easton Stick was drafted in the 2019 fifth round.
While Wentz enjoyed an MVP-worthy 2017 and led the Eagles to the playoffs in 2019, neither he nor Lance ultimately justified their draft slots. That may play into teams’ evaluations of Payton, who is only a one-season starter at the FCS level. That season brought a strong dual-threat profile, with the 6-foot-3 prospect passing for 2,719 yards (with a 16-4 TD-INT ratio) and rushing for 923 — to go with 13 rushing scores. Payton averaged 12.1 yards per attempt and finished third in voting for the Walter Payton Award, given to the FCS level’s best player. This reminds of Lance’s 2019 season. Lance, however, was long held as a first-round prospect before San Francisco’s monster trade-up. Payton has yet to make inroads to that level and probably will not.
With Dante Moore and Arch Manning returning to school and other 2026 prospects not delivering on hype last season, a void exists. Alabama’s Ty Simpson is generally regarded as this draft’s second-best QB, so it will be interesting to see if Payton — who impressed at the Senior Bowl — can turn more heads as the pre-draft process progresses. With a host of teams needing help at the position and Mendoza almost certainly ticketed for Las Vegas at No. 1 overall, teams talking themselves into other options on Day 2 — or late in the first round — will be a draft storyline to follow.
Hjmmmm cardinals maybe?…🤔