Historically speaking, the Philadelphia Eagles don’t have a great track record of drafting quarterbacks out of North Dakota State University.
A true FCS powerhouse with 10 championship wins since 2011, NDSU does get players drafted every year, with some, like New England Patriots second-round pick Steve Nelson, even making it to multiple Pro Bowls, but for the most part, they trail behind Power 5 universities like Alabama, Ohio State, and the like in terms of making NFL players.
So, when Howie Roseman called up a North Dakota number and added quarterback Cole Payton to the Bird Gang as the 178th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, fans immediately called back to Carson Wentz, the second-overall pick in 2016, who looked like a certified franchise quarterback in midnight green… at least until things fell apart in spectacular fashion.
Standing 6-foot-5, 237 pounds, Wentz immediately made an impact for the Eagles in 2026, throwing for almost 3,800 yards before leading his team to a Super Bowl in 2017, even if Nick Foles had to close the deal after a season-ending injury. Foles again played closer in 2018, leading to questions about Wentz’s durability, but he ultimately signed a nine-figure contract extension all the same, seemingly locking him in as the Eagles’ guy long-term… until Roseman drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, who eventually took over as the starting quarterback the following year.
Is this Wentz-Hurts in reverse, with Payton eventually taking Hurts’ spot before he gets traded away? Almost certainly not, as most talent evaluators view Payton as more of a Tayson Hill clone than a developmental arm with starting quarterback potential, but hey, even if Hurts ends up throwing to the North Dakota product instead of fighting him off, the serendipity remains, and Philly sports talk radio will play on that for the foreseeable future on slow afternoons as a result.
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