Cole Payton

Payton enters his rookie year buried at QB4 in Philadelphia's room, stuck behind an entrenched Jalen Hurts and two established backups in Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee, with essentially no near-term path to regular-season volume. The redeeming signal so far is traits-based: an efficient, athletic preseason debut (a touchdown pass and a evasive scramble) drew public praise from the coaching staff for his accuracy and decision-making, and his dual-threat college profile gives him real developmental upside if he can climb the pecking order. The countervailing concern is usage — a light preseason snap count that included special-teams work suggests the staff isn't yet prioritizing his on-field reps, and a crowded, veteran-heavy QB room could squeeze his roster security in future cycles. Hold as a deep-bench dynasty stash in QB-needy leagues only; there's little sell urgency given the tier is already low, but this isn't a buy target until he shows real separation from McKee and Dalton in practice reps or preseason usage next summer.