One completely overlooked reason Broncos may have drafted Jahdae Barron

Travis Wakeman

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One completely overlooked reason Broncos may have drafted Jahdae Barron image

The Denver Broncos got a fabulous addition to the defense when they used the No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron. 

There are many obvious reasons the Broncos took Barron with that pick. For starters, Barron was the best defensive back in college football last season as the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award. He brings tremendous coverage and ball-tracking skills to a secondary that was already strong. Though cornerback wasn't seen as a "need", the Broncos couldn't pass on the value. 

And when Barron sat down to talk about the pick, he was impressive there as well. How could you not be a fan of this?

But there is a strong reason to believe that the Broncos have been tracking Barron for quite some time. At Texas, Barron was coached by Terry Joseph, who was the team's defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach. This offseason, Joseph was hired by the New Orleans Saints to be their defensive passing game coordinator. 

Who is Terry Joseph? He is the cousin of Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. 

The Broncos had a strong secondary entering this draft. Pat Surtain II won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award last season. Riley Moss had a tremendous second season in the league and Ja'Quan McMillian has turned himself into a solid slot corner. 

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In other words, the Broncos weren't in need of a cornerback. But there is something they just had to have about this player, and that could be due to some inside intel within the family. 

Joseph completely repaired his image in the league and in the organization last season by having his defense perform as well as just about any unit in the league. Now, Joseph has a chance to have the best defense in the league and the addition of Barron could push it over the top. 

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Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.