Jahdae Barron’s path to more playing time isn’t getting any easier

There are some draft picks that haunt a franchise quietly. Not the spectacular bust that generates national headlines. But the slow faders, the players who never do anything dramatically wrong, but never do enough to justify where they were selected.

Jahdae Barron is starting to look like that kind of pick. And the evidence is getting harder to ignore with each passing week.

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 discuss what has become one of the more troubling developments of Denver’s early season, the vanishing role of their 2025 first-round selection.

Mike Evans laid out the numbers that sparked the conversation.

“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 confirmed that the trend 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 Broncos surprised everyone on draft night when they selected Barron out of Texas with the 20th overall pick, passing on what many believed would be a first-round running back. The projection was that Barron would develop into a versatile defensive back capable of competing for the CB2 role, and potentially pushing Riley Moss or Ja’Quan McMillian for meaningful snaps. Through two games this season, that projection has collapsed entirely.

Four defensive snaps against the Chiefs. Two against the Jaguars. Four tackles total. Zero impact.
Klis explained what happened behind the scenes.

“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’s the problem distilled to its simplest form. Barron can only play one role, and that role already belongs to someone else, someone who has earned it through consistent, high-level production. McMillian isn’t giving up his spot. And if Barron can’t play anywhere else, the snaps simply don’t exist.

Klis then delivered the assessment that should sting the front office.

“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.

First-round picks are supposed to be foundational pieces. Players who contribute immediately and grow into cornerstones of the roster. Two snaps in a game is not a cornerstone. It’s a healthy scratch without the paperwork.

The Broncos have one of the deepest and most talented defensive rosters in the NFL. That depth is both the reason Barron can’t find the field and the reason his absence hasn’t hurt. But a first-round pick who can’t crack the rotation in Year 2, is a first-round pick that didn’t work. And no amount of depth can make that reality feel any less wasteful.

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