Cole Payton

Payton's dual-threat ability jumps off the film immediately. Payton has 4.6 speed and the ability to make defenders miss. Payton is built like an athletic tight end, and he's a load to bring down in the open field. He's not the twitchiest rusher, but he can plant his foot and avoid tacklers when needed. His size/speed combo is EXTREMELY interesting. In his final collegiate season, he had 120 rushing attempts, 894 rushing yards, and 13 rushing scores. The North Dakota State passing offense was built around Payton's mobility with plenty of RPO action and bootlegs. Payton will have a sizable learning curve with an NFL offense, but there are also moments in his collegiate offense that offer hope that the transition won't be as hard as it seems. He wasn't asked to regularly make full field reads, but there are moments where he did and quickly moved to his third and fourth option in a progression. Payton is a "see it, throw it" quarterback, but he also has some anticipatory passing moments. The passing offense was also shotgun-based, so under-center work will be a hurdle, but that's also the case for many college quarterbacks these days. Payton has a cannon for an arm. He has easy flip of the wrist velocity and the strength to drive the ball downfield. He exhibits touch when layering second-level throws and precision when ripping deep outs. He can place the ball accurately to all three levels. Payton has an NFL arm in terms of strength and touch. Payton will have an adjustment with the speed of the NFL game and the throwing lanes. There are plenty of examples of him hanging on his first read and waiting for them to uncover and break wide open. He'll have to pull the trigger earlier in the NFL or find comfort with more tight windows. Payton has a gunslinger mentality, which can work in his favor, but with the sizable jump in competition, the early days in the NFL for him could be rocky as he adjusts. There are some plays where he flees a clean pocket to make a play with his legs. His margin for error and the ability to pull a rabbit out of his hat in the NFL will be decreased. He'll have to recalibrate some.