Broncos rookie is barreling toward stealing a starting spot training camp

Training camp has barely gotten underway for the Denver Broncos, but rookie first-round pick Jahdae Barron is already coming for someone's job.

The Broncos are cross-training Barron at multiple positions in the defensive backfield, something he's used to after starting his career at Texas as a safety before transitioning to the cornerback position. While the Broncos aren't cross-training Barron at the safety position at this point, they are working him in as a slot corner as well as an outside corner.

Is he already barreling his way toward stealing someone's job out there?

Jahdae Barron. getting work early at Broncos training camp

Because of the Broncos' depth in the secondary, and because of Barron's proven versatility, it makes sense that defensive coordinator Vance Joseph would be asking him to learn how to play multiple positions. You want to get your best 11 guys out there at all times, and I would be shocked if Barron wasn't consistently one of the top 11 guys out there for the Broncos.

So whose job is he going to take?

At this point, the most likely bet is that Barron takes Ja'Quan McMillian's job in the nickel, although there are a variety of people out there who truly seem to believe that Barron will contend for Riley Moss's job on the outside. I'm not sold on that being the case, since Moss had such a fantastic year for the team in 2024 before he was injured against the Raiders late in the season.

But because Moss struggled against the Bengals and wide receiver Tee Higgins, there's a large sect of Broncos Country that seems to truly believe he left the door wide open for whether or not he's truly a starting-caliber player in this league. The rest of the season doesn't matter, apparently.

With that in mind, very few players in the NFL have the luxury of their jobs being a foregone conclusion year after year, so you never know.

The best scenario for the Broncos is likely to have Jahdae Barron playing on the inside with Moss maintaining his position on the outside. That would give the team an athletic, physical trio of players with outstanding speed and ball skills. Ja'Quan McMillian has done a tremendous job in his first two years as a starter in the NFL, but he got grabby last year and gave up more plays than the Broncos would like to see, ideally.

Part of the motivation for the team getting Barron reps on the outside is exactly the scenario the Broncos ran into multiple times last year when Pat Surtain was out with a concussion and Moss was out with his knee injury. You have to have guys who can step into that situation, and the team isn't going to be caught in any sort of Levi Wallace situation again this year.

The Broncos could have taken a number of other positions in the 1st round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but when Jahdae Barron fell into their laps, he was a no-brainer. Plans for what the secondary could have been changed the moment he was selected. The Broncos didn't take him to have him sit around. He's going to play.

The question is, who is losing their job to him?