Could Buccaneers Draft From Familiar School to Pick This Athletic Safety?

It's no secret that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need all the help they can get on defense. It's set to be a defense-heavy draft for Tampa Bay in 2026, even after a free agency period where the team picked up tons of pieces on that side of the ball with players like linebacker Alex Anzalone, defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson and edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad.

Edge rusher and off-ball linebacker have both been cited as Tampa Bay's biggest needs for this draft, but it needs depth everywhere. Cornerback is dire after the departures of Jamel Dean and Kindle Vildor, but one underrated place where the Bucs need depth is safety. After Christian Izien left in free agency to play for the Detroit Lions, the Buccaneers don't have a definitive third safety among players like Marcus Banks, Rashad Wisdom and newly-acquired special teams ringer Miles Killebrew.

With that all said, it makes sense that the Buccaneers would try and shore up their safety depth. And there's one player from Kansas State, a school the Bucs have frequently drafted defensive backs from, that could fit the bill.

Could Bucs look at Kansas State's VJ Payne?

Kansas State Wildcats safety VJ Payne (19) against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the Rate Bowl at Chase Field. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

NFL Draft on SI's Justin Melo went over one developmental prospect for each NFL team, and for the Bucs, he honed in on Kansas State safety VJ Payne.

"Kansas State safety VJ Payne is a durable 42-game starter with size (6-3, 206) and athleticism (4.40, 35-inch vertical, 10-foot-7 broad jump). Payne has the versatility required to play every safety role for a defensive backfield. That skill set appeases Todd Bowles, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers do not have enough depth at the position currently."

Payne is certainly athletic — he netted a Relative Athletic Score of 9.86, boasting an impressive 6-3 height and 34-inch arms. He also had quite a productive year at safety in 2025, putting up 40 solo tackles, two forced fumbles and a pick.

VJ Payne is a SS prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored an unofficial 9.86 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 18 out of 1242 SS from 1987 to 2026.

Pending agilities and bench, splits projected.https://t.co/AyTcjPdlvs pic.twitter.com/nnALHQZuMy
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) February 27, 2026

The Bucs are no strangers to drafting defensive backs from Kansas State, either. The team took Josh Hayes in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and they took Jacob Parrish in the third round of last year's draft. Hayes has struggled while playing cornerback but has excelled in a special teams role, while Parrish showed a ton of promise in his first year starting at nickel in 2025.

Payne could end up getting picked on Day 2 or Day 3. While the Buccaneers need to nail their first round pick (assuming they don't trade out of the first round), their paltry depth on defense means that there's very little room for error when it comes to Day 2 and Day 3, and Payne could be yet another Kansas State Wildcat that general manager Jason Licht brings to the squad in an effort to shore up Todd Bowles' defensive corps.

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