The Denver Broncos selected Jahdae Barron with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, passing on several other players many analysts felt were a better fit at the time.
Barron joined a secondary that was strong and as the Jim Thorpe Award winner for being the best defensive back in the country last season, was expected to come in and add another dimension to that group. To this point, that has not happened.
Barron has played sparingly and is clearly behind guys like Riley Moss and Ja'Quan McMillan in the pecking order. Throughout his coaching career, Sean Payton has been known for bringing rookies along slowly, but Barron has just 10 tackles and two pass deflections in his first seven games. He does have a fumble recovery as well.
Barron has been in on just 24.5 percent of the team's defensive snaps so far this season, making his rookie year a bit of a disappointment thus far. Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report chose Barron as the team's most disappointing player to this point in the season.
"Patrick Surtain II has set the bar seriously high for first-round cornerbacks in Denver, and it's too early to become concerned here. That said, the rookie No. 20 overall pick has yet to earn a major role and has played just a quarter of the team's defensive snaps. He's got the fifth-lowest defensive PFF grade on the team", wrote Gagnon.
It has been a slow year for Barron and that will likely continue unless there's an injury. Payton likes to stick with a certain rotation of players, but hopefully, Barron will get a chance to be mixed in a little bit more as the season goes on. As for now, the last image Broncos fans have of Barron is getting tossed aside like last night's garbage by Theo Johnson on this touchdown catch last Sunday.
TIPPED. CAUGHT. THEO JOHNSON 41-YARD TD!
— NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2025
NYGvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/lvra7BVdWo
Barron's talent level suggests that there will be much brighter days, but it's going to require some patience from Broncos Country for those to come out.
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