Jahdae Barron’s role in Denver keeps shrinking, and that’s turning into the kind of draft-night headache teams hate to admit out loud.
The Broncos used the 20th overall pick on Barron out of Texas in 2025, expecting a versatile defensive back who could compete for the CB2 job and maybe push Riley Moss or Ja’Quan McMillian for real playing time. Instead, two games into this season, the usage has gone the other way. Barron played four defensive snaps against the Chiefs and two against the Jaguars, and he has four tackles with no real impact to show for it.
On a recent edition of “Stokley and Evans, with Mark Schlereth” on 104.3 The Fan, 9News Broncos insider Mike Klis joined the show to talk through what’s happening with Denver’s first-rounder. Mike Evans put the issue front and center with the snap count.
“Out of 59 potential snaps for the defense the other day, Jahdae Barron took two. I mean, what is happening here?
We knew his role, was his role, but we still figured he would have a role. Two snaps, what’s happening?”
Evans asked.
Klis said the situation is moving in the wrong direction.
“Yeah, his snaps are going down from last year. They figured out a way to get him on the field for 30% of the snaps last year. They said they were gonna try to get that up this year, and it’s been the opposite,” Klis said.
The explanation, Klis said, is that Denver has essentially identified Barron’s lane - and that lane is already occupied.
“I think maybe they found out that he is a nickel. They tried him at the boundary during training camp and the preseason.
He’s a nickel, and Ja’Quan McMillian is their nickel. That’s basically what’s happening there,” Klis said.
That leaves Barron stuck. If he’s limited to one spot and McMillian owns it, the path to meaningful snaps gets narrow fast. And that’s where the Broncos are now: a first-round pick with nowhere obvious to play.
Klis didn’t soften the bigger picture, either.
“Right now, you would just have to say if they had that number 20 overall pick again, they’d go a different direction,” Klis said.
That’s the harsh part of this story. First-round picks are supposed to be building blocks, not players who disappear into a loaded depth chart.
The Broncos have a defense deep enough to absorb Barron’s absence, but that doesn’t make the pick look any better. Two snaps in a game is a brutal return for a player taken that high, and the concern only grows when the role keeps getting smaller.
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