Why Jahdae Barron believes he’s CB1

The Jim Thorpe Award winner possesses superb all-around skills and unusual versatility.

After picking up the award for best collegiate defensive back, Texas Longhorns defensive back Jahdae Barron is ready to hear his name called at the 2025 NFL Draft as a projected first-round draft pick and one of the first cornerbacks off the board.

The do-it-all hometown hero hails from Pflugerville and originally committed to and signed with Baylor. After being granted a release when head coach Matt Rhule left for the NFL, Barron signed with the Longhorns and, as they say, the rest is history.

Barron’s career started slow, seeing action in just 14 games over his freshman and sophomore years. However, it began to take off as a junior when he moved from cornerback to nickel, a season in which he started nine games and totaled 78 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, a sack, fumble recovery, and two interceptions.

The following year, Barron made the jump from contributor to star at the Star position. He played in 14 games with 12 starts while registered 61 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one interception, one fumble recovery, and a career-high six pass breakups. As a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist with a COVID year of eligibility remaining, Barron had a decision to make.

Ultimately, Barron opted to return and improve his draft stock while making the jump back outside to corner while wearing the No. 7 jersey that Longhorn legend Michael Huff donned in his playing days.

“I want to leave this mark and do that, represent how I’m on a whole different journey,” Barron said at SEC Media Days. “It’s deep to represent Michael Huff and to play with burnt orange in the standard he played and try to be better and better.”

The decision paid dividends.

“I think Jahdae has made himself a ton of money this year by coming back,” Texas head coach Sarkisian said in November.

In one of the most memorable seasons by a defensive player in recent memory, Barron brought home the Jim Thorpe Award behind 67 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, five interceptions, and 16 passes defended. He was a first-team All American and Defensive MVP of the 2025 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.

Barron’s stat sheet on the Forty Acres convey a dominant defensive back. The tape and testing support that narrative, giving Barron the potential to become the first Texas defensive back taken in the first round since Kenny Vaccaro in 2013.

Barron possess the physical attributes and technical skill that defensive coordinators dream of. The ability to line up all over the field is one of the greatest strengths in Barron’s game. He’s developed into a coverage blanket on the inside and outside while improving his skills in run support. He improved year over year, a feature that will excite NFL front offices. Perhaps the greatest attribute that Barron possesses in his mind. Barron knows how to bait quarterbacks into making throws that end up with receivers on the ground and the ball batted away.

For Sarkisian, one of the most impressive things about Barron is his growth over his time at Texas.

“You gotta remember Jahdae was here for a year before we got here, right? When we arrived who he was then is not who he is today. And that’s part of where the culture, the development of the program. I think he’s a guy that tapped into it right, and took in all the opportunities that he had, and to see the growth for him, not only on the field, but off the field, the maturity, the physical growth, his ability to utilize a football IQ that is elite,” Sarkisian said in an appearance on Chris Simms’ podcast.

At the NFL Combine, Barron confirmed his elite athleticism with a 4.39 40-yard dash, 35-inch vertical leap, and 10’3” broad jump.

Barron’s game is elite and still possesses room for improvement. His technique in coverage will only get better especially with continued work on his top end speed. The continued improvements in tackling that began at Texas will be required through the jump to the NFL.

Barron is widely considered to be the second-best corner in the draft, behind Travis Hunter and above Will Johnson. Although highly speculative, analysts have linked both the Las Vegas Raiders, if they trade down, and Los Angeles Rams to Barron. The Raiders and Rams are two franchises with a big need in the secondary that would be willing to invest first round capital on Barron.

To Barron, however, he’s the top cornerback in the draft because of his versatility after playing nickel, outside cornerback, dime linebacker, and even cross training at safety, where he played 15 snaps in 2024.

“I always believe I am the best and I show it my play and my actions, not just on my words, but I’m the best — I can do it all. There’s a lot of people in this draft class, I’m not knocking what they do, they do a lot of great things. I’m not knocking them, but I can do it all at every position. I can fit the run fit. I can play slot on the two. I can blitz in the A gap. I can play outside on the line. I can be the middle runner. I can play post safety. I can play hash safety. So I can do a lot of things, and I really take a lot of pride in that, a lot of film work in that, and a lot of execution and time and details that I did with Coach [Terry] Joseph and how he developed me just to be able to learn diagnose plays,” Barron said at the Texas Pro Day in March.

Barron is one of the crown jewels of this Texas draft class and one of the most coveted prospects in the draft. His versatility, technical skills, and football IQ will make him a Day 1 pick and asset for whichever team calls his name.

“Whoever gets this guy is getting a pro, right? He’s a guy who’s gonna walk in and it’s gonna be, ‘Where do you need me? I can go do that,’ and from week to week he can play different spots. Reminds me a little bit of Minkah Fitzpatrick that way, where Minkah could do so many things when we’re at Alabama. I think Jahdae can kind of be that same type of guy of, ‘What do you need me to do this week? And I can get that done,’” Sarkisian said.