As Nebraska football fans settle in for the 2026 NFL Draft starting Thursday night, the big question for most of them will be, "How early does Emmett Johnson get selected?" There are a few other Huskers who could get drafted as well, and then, of course, there's the Saturday evening when the UDFA announcements pour in. While Cole Payton never played for NU, never even got a scholarship offer from the state's premier program, he is yet another player Cornhusker fans should pay attention to.
Payton played his high school ball with Omaha Westside, who didn't see any FBS offers as a 2-star prospect in the 2021 class. When the dual-threat quarterback chose a college, he decided on North Dakota State where he toiled as a sometimes specialist and backup before winning the starting quarterback job this past season.
Ex-Nebraska prep star has a chance to make Omaha Westside history this weekend
Once he took the starting job, the former Nebraska prep star had great success, completing 72% of his passes for 2,719 yards, 16 touchdowns, and just 4 interceptions. Payton added 777 yards rushing and another 13 touchdowns.
Omaha Westside football alum Cole Payton projects to be the second-ever NFL draft pick produced by the school. 👀 pic.twitter.com/eTuds05EbY
— nebpreps (@THEnebpreps) April 22, 2026
His ability as a dual-threat quarterback to put up big numbers for one of the best FCS programs in the country earned him an invite to the NFL Combine earlier this winter and has a decent chance of getting drafted at some point over the next three days.
Cole Payton has a chance to make Nebraska prep history when his name is called
Should Payton get drafted, and there's even some talk that he'll go before the end of the third round, it would make history for his Nebraska high school. If and when his name is officially called, it will be the second-ever Omaha Westside alum to make it to the NFL.
The first (and so far only) alum of the Omaha high school to play in the NFL is Pat Fischer, who attended and graduated from Nebraska in 1960. The defensive back was then drafted in the 17th round by the St. Louis Cardinals, but ended up being one of the steals of the draft as he played a whopping 17 seasons with the Cards and Washington.
Now with Cole Payton expecting to hear his name called this weekend, it seems like it's a formality for the ex-Nebraska prep star to go out and grab a piece of history.
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