{"id":866098,"date":"2026-04-14T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T09:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/866098\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T09:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T09:00:23","slug":"kansas-states-vj-payne-should-hear-name-called-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/866098\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas State’s VJ Payne should hear name called in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

MANHATTAN \u2014 Kansas State safety VJ Payne will likely hear his name called<\/a> in next week’s NFL Draft, becoming the latest member of the Wildcats’ secondary to be selected.<\/p>\n

The Wildcats had two defensive backs selected in the 2025 draft, with Jacob Parrish going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> in the third round, before the San Francisco 49ers took Marques Sigle in the fifth.<\/p>\n

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Payne, a three-and-a-half-year starter for the Wildcats out of Georgia, has earned some pre-draft buzz due to his excellent workouts. He finished his career with All-Big 12 honorable mention selections<\/a> in each of the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

Here are some things to know about Payne and what people are saying about when he could be taken in the NFL Draft, which begins on April 23.<\/p>\n

VJ Payne NFL Combine results<\/p>\n

Arm length: 33 3\/4 inches<\/p>\n

40-yard dash: 4.40 seconds<\/p>\n

10-yard split: 1.52 seconds<\/p>\n

Broad jump: 10 feet, 7 inches<\/p>\n

3-cone drill: 6.94 seconds (Pro Day)<\/p>\n

20-yard shuttle: 4.33 seconds (Pro Day)<\/p>\n

VJ Payne scouting report<\/p>\n

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler: “Overall, Payne has the skill set of an interchangeable defensive back, although he projects best as a boundary safety who can play physical football and overlap short zones. He profiles similarly to JL Skinner of the Denver Broncos.”<\/p>\n

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The Ringer’s Todd McShay: “Payne should push for playing time in sub-packages and on special teams if he doesn\u2019t win a starting job as a rookie. Nick Emmanwori, a 2025 second-round pick, is an optimistic comparison in terms of the role Payne might play, even if Payne is lighter and didn\u2019t test as well.”<\/p>\n

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein: “Long and rangy, Payne is a durable 42-game starter and team captain who can play inside the box, over the slot, and as a split safety. His coverage tape pops more than his run support and tackling. He reads and responds with good timing from depth and uses his length to smother the catch point in man coverage when matched inside. Payne held his own against three of the Big 12\u2019s best receiving tight ends in 2025. He will do his job as a run defender, but lacks an enforcer\u2019s conviction and gets hung up on blocks too easily. Payne\u2019s measurables and coverage versatility improve his chances of becoming a productive pro.”<\/p>\n

VJ Payne NFL Draft rankings<\/p>\n

The Athletic Big Board: No. 12 safety<\/p>\n

Bleacher Report Big Board: No. 141 overall, No. 13 safety<\/p>\n

ESPN: No. 124 overall, No. 11 safety<\/p>\n

The Ringer: No. 88 overall, No. 8 S<\/p>\n

VJ Payne NFL Draft projections<\/p>\n

The Athletic: 4th-5th rounder<\/p>\n

ESPN’s Matt Miller: 87th overall pick to the Miami Dolphins in 3rd round<\/p>\n

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Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State<\/a> athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at\u00a0@WyattWheeler_<\/a>, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: VJ Payne NFL Draft scouting report, combine results, mock draft<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MANHATTAN \u2014 Kansas State safety VJ Payne will likely hear his name called in next week’s NFL Draft,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[258,7,1314,3537,3471,2914,251,6,15,297,19698,252,250],"class_list":{"0":"post-866098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-denver-broncos","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jacob-parrish","11":"tag-jl-skinner","12":"tag-kansas-state","13":"tag-marques-sigle","14":"tag-miami-dolphins","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-nfl-draft","17":"tag-nick-emmanwori","18":"tag-payne","19":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","20":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116402246776836487","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}