Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - MISJUDGED: Denver Broncos ROLE for Jahdae Barron Can Grow in 2026

Starting point is 00:00:00 Jaday Barron's rookie role in 2025 contained a lot of ups and downs, but in 26, there should be a little bit more clarity about what he'll bring to the table. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Broncos, welcome into a bonus episode, Lockedon Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in the country. Thanks to all you every dayers out there.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Thanks for tuning in, making us your first listen, however you choose to do so. Broncos country, we appreciate you so much here on today's episode of show. We're going to talk about rookie cornerback, Jada Baron, getting ready for his second season. We'll look at his up and down rookie campaign. Plus, we'll also discuss how the Broncos can amplify his role going into his second season here on today's episode of the show. I'm Cody Roar, Credential Broncos reporter from Ohio Sports. Folks, let's talk about Jada Baron. I feel like there's a conversation that needs to be had.

Starting point is 00:01:01 certainly when you look back at his rookie season, the expectations of a first round pick. That is something I think many people in Broncos country looked at and they felt like it was overwhelming. And I think if you look at it from the standpoint of the depth that the Broncos had at the cornerback position, the rise of Jaquan McMillan, what he was able to do this season in the nickel, that maybe impacted things a little bit with Jaade, but here's the reality of the situation here. Jade was meant to be drafted initially as a player that could help.

Starting point is 00:01:31 him in certain situations defensively against some of these past heavy teams and maybe the role, especially because of the fact he was a first round pick, a lot of fans have the mindset that, hey, a first round pick means that you need to be a starter on day one. That is not always the case. And I think in situations where you already have strong depth as is at cornerback, yeah, I mean, it kind of makes it a little bit harder to get on the field maybe as much as you would like him to. And I'd say Jad Hay wanted to be on the field a lot more than maybe he was last season. But I think when you put everything in a perspective about Pat Sartan, Riley Moss, those guys being the solidified outside corners, J-Quan-McMillan being the starting nickel and the type of year that

Starting point is 00:02:10 he had likely going to get a contract extension here from Denver. I mean, everything makes sense here. But that doesn't mean that Jada was a bust. And I think that's what a lot of people are saying early on is they're already labeling him a bust. I don't think that's the case. I disagree with that notion. And I'll tell you why here. Vance Joseph has been on the record, really since. training camp of saying that we want to put Jadee in situations where he can fail in practice. And we don't necessarily have to worry about him failing in games. And I think if you factor in the overall small sample size of what he did in 2025, taking a look at the overall total number of snaps that he played defensively,

Starting point is 00:02:47 334. That was 30% of Denver's defensive snaps. And granted, he was mainly coming in in dime situations, right? So you talk about two slot corners, J-Quan and Jade, you talk about having two outside cornerbacks and Riley and Pat and then obviously your two safeties, that was Denver's dime package. There were some unique situations this season where the Broncos actually brought him in as a nickel backer right next to Alex Singleton, where they would remove Justin Sternad off the field that'd keep Jaquan in and they'd have Riley and Pat match up, but they would bring him in as a

Starting point is 00:03:18 linebacker here. So what most fans don't know, I'm sure some have picked up on this, this hasn't really been talked about a lot. Jaude came into the NFL and in Denver scheme specifically for Vance Joseph. not only was he learning outside corner, slot. He was also learning that linebacker role. He learned a little bit of safety there. He has to know all of the terminology. He has to know how all of these positions work in tandem with what's being called on the defense, folks.

Starting point is 00:03:44 And look, you can go to Dre Greenlaw being a new addition, even a veteran guy saying learning Vanjose's defense was like speaking Spanish. Imagine what that's like for a rookie who is not just learning one position, but he's learning three to four different roles where he could see time on the field. So I want to factor that into the equation here because I do think that Jada is being a little unfairly measured by the fan base a little bit. There has been a lot of conversation about, ah, he's a bus. Can they trade him? Stop that.

Starting point is 00:04:11 No, there's no reason for that to happen. I think we saw some really good things. Let's talk about some of the ups here with Jade's rookie season. I feel like at times when they neutralized him against certain tight ends, he did a really good job. Let's talk about Jake Ferguson of the Dallas Cowboys and shutting him down. I mean, that guy through the rate of games that Denver had played at that point, he was at a historic pace in terms of receptions, yards, production for where he was at the tight-in position coming in from a red hot Dallas Cowboys offense held him to Z.

Starting point is 00:04:40 He didn't have a single catch in that game. And Jade had an interception in that game. He comes up well against the run. There's times where he's played some outside corner this season as well in different looks. And he's done okay. Like I would say, you know, he's giving up a couple of plays, you know, across the middle of the field. But people don't know if that zone or if that's, That's, man, you have to go back and look at it for the play for what it is to really determine what the coverage is because Denver's scheme is so dynamic.

Starting point is 00:05:05 It looks like, man, on one side, looks like zone on the other. You know, they have match principles inside of Vance Joseph's defense. They have a lot of different rules. And it's based on whether or not you're dropping an outside linebacker and a coverage of defensive lineman, your blitzing the linebacker. All these things change the dynamics of coverage. It's not just your basic vanilla cover one, cover two, cover three, cover four. you see a lot of different looks here from Denver. You see a lot of cover six, a lot of cover eight from them.

Starting point is 00:05:30 They like to mix and match their coverages here. And I thought, Jardé, with all those things being thrown his way, I felt like when you look at his overall on-field play, I thought he did a pretty solid job for a rookie guy, right? Especially for a guy who's not getting a lot of snaps in comparison to other players at that position. Now, I think that there's a lot of questions, too, about, hey, how can the Broncos amplify his role here in 2026?

Starting point is 00:05:53 I think there are a lot of solutions here. And I'll talk about that here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by friends over there at TurboTax. Tax season, it doesn't have to take over your life. This year, TurboTax, they are making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day. With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted local expert. Start to finish without the stress or the guesswork. And the one thing that I want to highlight is the efficiency of it.

Starting point is 00:06:21 I just recently did my taxes with TurboTax. I handed off to the nice lady who did my taxes. I gave her every document, every W-2-1099 deduction possible. She took care of all that, got me everything that I needed in terms of the credits that I also need this year for this tax year. And she came in clutch for me. She delivered. And it's a huge time saver. It gives you real peace of mind knowing that an expert is handling it.

Starting point is 00:06:42 So for limited time, you can have your taxes done by local TurboTax expert for just $150 all in. If a TurboTax expert didn't file for you. you last year. Just filed by February 28th. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. Visit turbotax.com slash local to book your appointment today. Today's episode is also brought to my friends over there at Fandu. If you've ever wanted to experience the NBA finals live and in person, well, guess what Fandu? They are giving you the chance to turn that dream into a reality with their NBA sweepstakes. And here's how it works. Use your profit boost on any NBA future and you'll automatically be entered for a shot to win an NBA final trip for two. That's right.

Starting point is 00:07:19 flights, tickets, the whole experience taken care of by our friends at Fandu. If you're already looking at the board and thinking about which team can make a deep run here late in the year, this is the perfect time to lock in, potentially on a Denver Nuggets future NBA champion bet here this upcoming season. Visit Fandu.com to get started. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the finals, play your game with Fandu, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. after a rookie season that contained many ups and downs, how can the Broncos help Jada Baron succeed a little bit more in 2026?

Starting point is 00:07:54 Even if J-Quain-McMillan is back in the mix, there's still a role to be had here for Jada Baron. We'll break it down here on today's episode of the show. Broncos country with Riley Moss sent to enter a contract year during or after this season. It's going to be interesting to see what the Broncos approach is. I think internally from conversations that I've had with people, the Broncos, they view Riley Moss and Pat Sartan as their salute. solidified outside guys, no question about it.

Starting point is 00:08:19 I think there are a large contingent of Broncos fans at times who want Riley to move inside the slot or want him to move to safety. That's not going to happen. You know, in Riley's position, depending on matchups, Riley can move inside outside. But the preference right now from the team is to keep him on the outside. And I think the biggest critique against Riley was the past interferences. But then at the same time, people are like, well, you invested a first round draft pick in this rookie cornerback.

Starting point is 00:08:43 Well, if he can't get reps at the nickel because you've got just. J-Quan Macmillan, who's set to get an extension here more than likely by Denver, well, how do you get Jadee on the field more? I think, once again, matchup specific. That doesn't hurt. Like, Jadae is a very humble guy. And look, I could tell you this. If he was frustrated about not playing last year, you couldn't necessarily tell.

Starting point is 00:09:04 This is a dude who puts, I think he's got a great perspective. I mean, hangs out with Matthew McConaughey quite a bit. They're really good friends. He has a really good perspective on a lot of things that happen. You know, he only focused on the things that are within his control. really his playing time in 2025 was not in his control, but maybe in 2026, it can be just a little bit here. I think as the Broncos and the NFL starts moving towards more of these diversified skill sets offensively, where, hey, it's all about these big play wide receivers.

Starting point is 00:09:31 It's having a good outside guy, good fast slot guy, good tight end. You need to deploy guys in certain specific matchups. You know, I don't know exactly what the Broncos schedule in 2026 is going to look like. We know their opponents. We don't know the when and the where, but when you identify offseason moves at all these teams, the Denver is going to be playing that they make. Well, now it's start to figure out, hey, who can we best deploy our second year player on? I think the Broncos internally, they like how they can move Jaaday around a little bit, right?

Starting point is 00:09:56 I think the more flexibility you have, the more opportunities certainly you were going to get, even if he didn't get those in his rookie season. If you have a tight end that you feel like we just need a guy who can cover him, Jade can do that. He's proven that. He's covered Travis Kelsey, though granted Travis Kelsey is not who he used to be, so to speak. he had a pick six in coverage against Kelsey that was wiped off the board due to a Broncos penalty

Starting point is 00:10:18 and that matchup they had here in Denver. The skills are all here for Jaade to succeed, right? I even think there's scenarios where let's say the Broncos want to play Talenoa Hufanga at times, certain down and distant situations in the box more. Who's to say you can't put Jadae back there at safety alongside Brandon Jones and get creative with what you want to do, right? You've got a guy who can get over the top and prevent anything deep from happening. you've got a guy who can come up and play in the middle of the field while allowing your best overall balance of, hey, we want to put this guy in the box

Starting point is 00:10:49 versus just isolating Hufanga and coverage at times because I would say down the stretch here, some teams in the past game, at least specifically at tight end, they targeted Hufanga and coverage several times this season. Not to say that Hufanga can't cover tight ends, but if you have a matchup, but you have a guy that you feel like you can erase one of those receiving

Starting point is 00:11:08 tight-in threats, Jada is the best bet for that. And I think that you can match him up, inside the slot if need be. You could even move Jaquan to the outside. Like that's the thing. I don't think many people are factoring in about Denver's defense. These guys can all play inside out to the point where the Broncos believe that Riley and Pat can play man-to-man coverage. Well, if they like specific matchups against certain teams and let's say that those two matchups that, you know,

Starting point is 00:11:31 whoever Pat's following and whoever Riley's following, both those guys, let's say they go twins two by two. Let's say those guys line up in the slot. Well, guess what? Pat will line up in the slot. Riley will line up in the slot on that guy. You can have Jay Kwan and Jadae play on the outside against other receivers too. That's the thing about it. They're not just limited in Vance Joseph's defense to just one spot.

Starting point is 00:11:52 I think that you can see and you will see now that he's going to have another year in the system. And there may even be competition too for the cornerback spot opposite of Pat or Tan. I wouldn't be shocked. Look, nothing right now says that that's going to be the case here. We have yet to hear from Sean Payton. Maybe he'll answer some of these things in the buildup to the NFL draft, maybe at the NFL scouting combine next week. Maybe we'll hear something from him about the cornerback depth and the position there.

Starting point is 00:12:17 But ideally, if you have competition, now that gives Jaday another year, another chance saying, hey, I know this defense. I've picked it up a little bit more. Now I'm going to go out and training camp and compete further. A lot of people forget, he was playing a lot of outside during training camp initially, played that a little bit as well in the preseason. Now within a year under his belt, coming off of a cleanup procedure that shouldn't impact his ability to perform in the offseason program.

Starting point is 00:12:42 Jade is better set up for success in 2026. I think he was as a rookie, and he's going to get more opportunities. And he's going to have to play some special teams a little bit more as well. In last season, special teams, why, he played 91 snaps. That was 19% of Denver's overall special team snaps. And then I think there's another number two. You can deploy him more, I think, based on a down and distant situation, probably more so than you did this season, according to our friends over there,

Starting point is 00:13:05 True Media, in 2025, Jade played 160. 16 defensive snaps on first down. He played 111 snaps on third down. He didn't see as many snaps on fourth down. I only saw 13, I mean, 13 snaps there, which the frequency of teams going forward in that situation, not very high. So that's understandable why that's a little bit lower here.

Starting point is 00:13:26 Second down, he only played 76 snaps defensively last season. So really it was the first and the third downs. And I'd say there's an argument that those are the money downs. Those are the most important downs for Denver defensively. and he saw a lot of action there, even if his overall snap count wasn't as high. So there's a lot to be excited about with Jaday, folks. I would encourage you not to label him as a bust. I think that's premature.

Starting point is 00:13:49 I don't think you do that, especially for a guy who did show some flashes, even if he had a limited role as a rookie. Let's see what his sophomore year brings to the table here. But I'm excited about what Jaday can do here in the future for this team. I think Broncos country is going to see a lot of that behind the scenes. Players and people that I've talked to inside the Broncos organization, say he carries himself with great authority. And on top of that, he's a good teammate.

Starting point is 00:14:12 He's never somebody who's going to pout or be sour. He celebrates the victories, even if he's not on the field. That's the type of guy that is. He's got high character. So let him just figure things out. I think everything's going to be fine. But Broncos country, that will wrap up today's bonus episode here on Jada Baron. Let me know your thoughts here on the Broncos, soon to be second year cornerback.

Starting point is 00:14:32 How do you feel about it? And I encourage you to go back. If you have a chance to have NFL pro, go back and watch the film on him. can highlight and target and filter specific plays with that player where he makes a player where he's on the field, go do that. And I guarantee you your opinion about him might change a little bit if you were on the fence about Baron. We'll see you tomorrow for another episode, Lockdown Broncos.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - MISJUDGED: Denver Broncos ROLE for Jahdae Barron Can Grow in 2026

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.