When the Denver Broncos used their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Jahdae Barron, much of the NFL world was flat-out shocked. Even before Barron arrived, the Broncos boasted one of the more talented secondaries in thes NFL.
The cornerback trio of Patrick Surtain II, Riley Moss, and Ja'Quan McMillian might not be rivaled by any, and the safety tandem of Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones is a top-5 unit in the league, Unsurprisingly, Barron didn't see the field that much during his rookie season.
There simply was not much of a path for him to get on the field. This past offseason, the Broncos gave a rather significant raise to McMillian on a one-year deal, and Moss didn't at all let him his starting CB job opposite Surtain. Now, through two games in the 2026 NFL Season, the Broncos might be approaching a brutal reality with Barron.
Denver Broncos second-year CB Jahdae Barron has played just 6 snaps in two games
Last year, despite not having a clear path on the defense, Barron managed to get on the field for 334 defensive snaps. Through two games in the 2026 season, he's on pace to play 51 defensive snaps this year. Barron is already entering his age-25 season, and it's still not clear if he's someone the Broncos want to play on the outside or in the slot.
Some would say that he could do both, which would be ideal, as the team may say goodbye to one of Moss or McMillian this offseason. However, was this really the plan with a first-round pick? There is a non-zero chance that Barron doesn't have a legitimate, realistic chance to become a starter until his age-26 season in the NFL, which would be his third year in the league.
And even in that event, there is no guarantee he'd even perform well. If Barron was impressing the coaches on defense, he'd be on the field, right?
From the minute this pick was made, it just felt... off.
The Broncos clearly wanted to keep the 'best player available' mindset going with this pick, but when a roster is as loaded as Denver's, it's better to be more targeted and have a needs-based approach in the draft, in my opinion.
Barron has been a virtual non-factor in his NFL career thus far and also might not have a path to notable snaps this year. It just doesn't feel like there was good process with this pick to begin with, as you could argue that the Broncos need to prioritize both Moss and McMillian for new contracts given how solid both have been.
McMillian is the better player, and if the Broncos were to only pick one of the two, he should get a long-term deal, but in that event, you're then rolling the dice on a third-year player who has hardly gotten on the field up to that point to slide into one of the toughest CB jobs in the NFL.
The Broncos may have totally whiffed with this pick.
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