The Denver Broncos have the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in their cornerback corps, a man who became only the seventh cornerback so honored in the 54-year history of the award.
And yet the biggest story in the team’s cornerback room heading into training camp isn’t Pat Surtain II. He’s the known commodity, so known that most games involve opposing offenses designing game plans to stay away from No. 2 whenever possible.
Eyes will drift to Surtain in training camp because of who he is, and because watching him is a treat. His preparation is intense; his technique is flawless. His everyday work is teach tape.
But the game-changer for the Broncos’ secondary could be the newcomer.
HOW JAHDAE BARRON COULD FIT
The Broncos weren’t expecting Jahdae Barron to be available when their first-round turn came at the No. 20 selection. They did their due diligence on him; they held a Zoom interview and came away impressed. But realistically, the chances of him falling past pick No. 13 — let alone reaching slot 20 — seemed remote.
Any pre-conceived notions of how their draft might go sailed away when Barron became available.
Cornerback wasn’t Denver’s No. 1 position of need, but it lurked below the surface. The team was likely to add depth there at some point in the draft, especially after Riley Moss’ Week 12 injury last year served as a breaking point for the entire defense.
It was also a second significant injury for Moss in as many seasons, which raised an obvious concern for the 2023 third-round pick: Is he simply injury-prone? His improvement last year was obvious; he became one of the NFL’s better No. 2 cornerbacks, and an ideal complement to Surtain.
But without Moss in December, a Broncos unit firmly in the NFL’s top three sagged to dead last in total defense.
Even without the return of Alex Singleton and the arrivals of Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga along the defense’s spine, the selection of Barron would instantly help ensure that another injury to Moss will not be the pulled thread that led to a complete unraveling,
The question now is this: If Barron ends up playing extensively right away, does take time from Moss on the outside? Or from Ja’Quan McMillian at nickel corner, working on the inside?
Or does Barron settle into a role in which he moves around the secondary?
One of Barron’s attributes is that he has experience working at multiple secondary spots, going back to when he handled the “star” role at Texas, a position that had him moving around the field.
And even though the cerebral challenge of learning multiple positions immediately is great, his early use during OTAs offers an indication that Sean Payton and the Broncos believe Barron is up to the challenge of being moved around, as he worked inside and outside during offseason work.
“He’s extremely smart, and he played both at Texas,” Payton said during OTAs. “His instincts are real, real high. You can give him more than maybe some other younger player at the same position.
“Some guys you might say, ‘Let’s just leave him at left corner or right corner.’ I think he’s one of those players that can handle volume.”
In that regard, Barron could end up projecting in a similar role to that held by Chris Harris Jr. during the salad days of the “No-Fly Zone,” when he played outside in the base defense and inside when the Broncos went into nickel and dime alignments.
Either way, if Barron ends up in the top three, someone who played extensively last year — Moss or McMillian — would drop a notch. That would provide the Broncos depth that they didn’t possess in 2024. At some point, that would come in handy.
But don’t expect Moss or McMillian to yield playing time without a battle. This promises to be one of the most intriguing competitions in training camp, as the veterans look to hold off the promising rookie who brings maturity beyond his years.
Barron’s ceiling is lofty. Taking him at No. 20 made sense; he is a premium prospect at a premium position. But he won’t be handed playing time.
BRONCOS CORNER DEPTH BEYOND THEIR BIG FOUR
The promise of Kris Abrams-Draine’s performance last December allows the Broncos to feel better than they did last year, when Levi Wallace was forced into action and fared so poorly against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 2 that he wasn’t even on the roster by the end of the month.
Abrams-Draine’s development as a rookie last year was slow — and it put him so far behind that he remained inactive for the first 12 weeks of the regular season.
“He was probably the rookie that we felt was furthest behind after OTAs and the summer,” Broncos general manager George Paton said. “Then we got into training camp and he kept making plays, and it just wasn’t too big for him.”
And after Jerry Jeudy scorched Wallace on Monday Night Football, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph inserted Abrams-Draine into the game for crucial snaps in what was a tight contest. He fared well, and that led to more work later in the month.
“You saw that when we played the Chargers on Thursday night (in Week 16) and it wasn’t too big for him. He started making plays,” Paton said. ”
“He has unique cover skills, really good instincts, and he doesn’t get fazed. We’re really encouraged with him.”
Abrams-Draine’s emergence and Barron’s arrival might help pushing Damarri Mathis — a full-time starter as recently as the 2023 season — out of the mix. To be certain, the 2022 fourth-round pick is in a make-or-break training camp.
That’s also the case because of the pressure coming from elsewhere in the room. Reese Taylor and Quinton Newsome return from last year’s practice squad. Jaden Robinson and Joshua Pickett are a pair of intriguing undrafted rookies.
Finally, there is Mario Goodrich. He parlayed a solid season with the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League into a contract last week.
Dondrea Tillman, the last UFL-to-Broncos leap, became one of the league’s most efficient edge rushers on a per-snap basis. He followed that with outstanding work during the recently-completed offseason practices, which potentially consolidated his role in the edge rotation.
Thus, Goodrich’s potential to stick cannot be overlooked. He will get a valid shot.
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