In one of the pivotal moments of their lives, a series away from another march through the College Football Playoff, Jahdae Barron assembled his Texas Longhorns defense in a second overtime and delivered a message.
Play your game, Barron told them, as Longhorns safety Michael Taaffe recalled months later. There’s a reason you’re in this spot. Everything that we do happens for a reason.
Keep playing your game, and trust one another.
It brought them up, Taafe reflected. It settled them down. And on a third-and-8 in January’s CFP quarterfinal, Texas defensive back Andrew Mukuba stepped in front of a toss from Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt and fell to the turf with a game-sealing interception.
“A lot of stuff for him is like, yes, the versatility on the field,” Taafe told The Denver Post of longtime friend and teammate Barron. “But, the versatility as a leader and being able to connect with different people on the team to get his voice across … that’s something I’ll always remember.”
That voice still carried on Friday, even after Barron traded five years of Texas burnt orange for Broncos orange a day after the franchise selected him with pick No. 20 of Thursday’s NFL draft.
In his introductory news conference in Denver, the cornerback addressed Broncos Country and media alike with measured confidence, the same beyond-the-tape maturity that enamored head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton. With mother Techonia Davis and siblings watching from the side, Barron spoke to media of family-taught lessons on “treating everybody the same, whether it’s the janitor or the president,” the same leadership versatility that endeared him to Texas faithful.
That included, apparently, one Texas-fanatic actor who wrote on Twitter Thursday that Barron was a “great young man.”
“I’m best friends with, like, Matthew McConaughey,” Barron smiled to media.
The on-field versatility, though, is the reason the Broncos shocked the NFL world and snatched Barron up in the first round, despite all public indications connecting Denver to the skill positions for months. Two years ago, as recounted by Texas’s assistant director of player development, Michael Huff, Barron sat down and immersed himself in studying the mental side of every defensive slot. Corner. Nickel. Dime. Linebacker. Safety.
He took snaps at nearly every alignment in a breakout 2024 season at Texas, as Longhorns defensive passing-game coordinator Terry Joseph — cousin of Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph — occasionally trotted Barron out in a hybrid linebacker-DB “star” role.
“He put me there, just understanding I was very savvy,” Barron said Friday. “I can manipulate blocks, just with my eyes.”
His film study turned the game into “chess,” before his 4.39 speed could take over. He won the Jim Thorpe Award after picking off five passes in 2024, given annually to the best defensive back in college football.
His arrival in Denver suddenly presents the Broncos with a heap of secondary questions. Perhaps he’ll challenge Ja’Quan McMillian at slot corner? Or maybe he will play outside next to Pat Surtain II? Either way, Barron’s far from a “one-trick pony,” as Huff put it.
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Beyond scheme questions, the infrastructure is there for Barron to thrive immediately in Denver, a five-year collegiate player praised widely for his maturity. He’d chatted with both quarterback Bo Nix and Surtain since hearing his name called, Barron recounted Friday, the Texas product adding he’s watched Surtain’s game. He’ll get to join a slew of former Longhorns, Barron calling newly-signed quarterback Sam Ehlinger “my G.O.A.T. growing up.”
And he’ll work to “master” any role in the secondary he’s given, Barron said Friday.
“I want to thank Broncos Country just for having me,” Barron said in his opening address. “I’m gonna give you everything I got, day in and day out.
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