Lions Eye Reliable Safety VJ Payne for Draft

0:00It's April 9th. I'm Corey with The Story, and this is NFL News Today, your AI-powered football briefing. Detroit Lions are eyeing a healthy safety in the upcoming draft after season-ending injuries wrecked their secondary with Kirby Joseph and Brian. Branch, both going down. One name popping up is BJ Payne from Kansas State, a mid-to-late round prospect who's medically clean and projected maybe as early as the fourth round, four, the Lions. Fans got an Iron Man streak, playing every single game over his four college seasons, 12 of 12 in 2025, 13 of 13. The year before, and so on, without missing a beat. Fans and scouts love his reliability at just 22 years old heading into 2026, making him a low-risk ad to shore up that banged up. Position. A fresh medical report slaps him with a 0 out of 10 concern level, backed by his four interceptions and 10 pass breakups across his career, plus a blazing 4.4-040-yard dash

1:01at the combine. This guy's availability could be the steady hand the Lions need to rebuild their back-end strong.