The widespread belief this offseason was that to topple the Kansas City Chiefs, the Denver Broncos would need to draft and stockpile more offensive weaponry around quarterback Bo Nix. Broncos head coach Sean Payton isn't one who simply bows to tradition or conventional thinking, though.
True to form, most fans were surprised when Payton's Broncos invested the No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 draft on cornerback Jahdae Barron, adding to an already impressive defense, instead of a running back, tight end, or wide receiver. Although the Barron pick defied expectations, there might be a lot more at play than we first imagined when his name was announced in Green Bay.
Payton's ambitious move to add Barron, especially when he already has Patrick Surtain II at his disposal, could prove to be a stroke of genius. As he masters defensive coordinator Vance Joseph's attacking scheme, much will be expected of Barron, but the talented rookie won't be short of savvy veterans to help guide him through the process.
Indeed, Broncos legend and Super Bowl 50 champion Aqib Talib believes Barron is in an unrivaled position to learn from a cornerback genius who happens to be the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
"Bro, you got the cheat code. Follow Surtain around, ask him questions," was Talib's message to Barron during an appearance on DNVR. "Get his number and see how to be a pro, bro... You got the cheat code right in front of you. He is a good dude. He's not going to stiff-arm you and mislead you on information. Get up under that dude's wing and learn how to be a pro."
As impressive as Barron's Jim Thorpe Award-winning career at Texas was, the slate gets wiped clean when a player makes the quantum leap to the professional level. Much will be gleaned from vets like Surtain, Brandon Jones, and new arrival Talanoa Hufanga when Barron is out on the field of play learning his craft.
The Broncos now face an AFC West superloaded with a trio of elite quarterbacks. Not counting the other formidable quarterbacks on the Broncos' 2025 schedule, the AFC West alone will field audacious arm talent to contend with a total of six times.
While Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and Geno Smith of the Las Vegas Raiders will prove daunting, Talib is certain that Patrick Mahomes is the top target for the Broncos defense to aim for and take down, especially considering the Kansas City Chiefs have won the division the last nine years.
"Nuts got to be on the floor, man. You can't be scared to play man against him. A lot of teams get scared to play man against him, and that's when Pat do what he do," Talib told his former Super Bowl teammate Bennie Fowler. "We've got the DBs to play man against him. We've got the rush. Blitz the hell out of him. Hit him. Create turnovers, bro. If we don't come out with two turnovers, we ain't going to win. Like Chris [Harris Jr] said, we've got to leave the game with two personal fouls. [We've] got to set the tempo as we're the big dogs. But we've got to play man, we've got to blitz him and we've got to hit him, bro."
Talib tends to open up in his forthright and feisty manner, which is equally enlightening as entertaining if you're willing to listen to him freestyle. Even so, he has always been aware of what it takes to bring down the cream of the NFL crop at quarterback, including his former teammate in New England, Tom Brady.
"That's how we got through [Tom Brady], that's how we got through—the cold quarterbacks who we got through, we dropped our nuts, we blitzed the heck out of them and we played man," Talib recalled the halcyon days of the No Fly Zone. "They're going to catch passes on us, but that style of play, it don't favor the offense, see what I'm saying? It favors the defense. That's how we got to hit him, bro. If he gonna run, Pat's going to come out with 40 yards rushing. Spy him, have a good spy on him, don't let him run on us on third down. Don't let him run on us in the fourth quarter. But we got to play man. That zone ain't going to cut it. We come out playing zone, he's going to beat us. He's too good. Can't play zone against him, man. Got to hit him. Got to play man. Got to keep it tight."
Talib has a growing confidence that the Broncos' secondary is well-equipped and primed to take on the challenge at hand.
"They've got the guys," Talib said.
The former All-Pro knows the Broncos' overriding mindset moving forward will have to be that of rabid alpha dogs who will show no fear when playing tight man coverage. After all, we're talking about attempting to vanquish a truly generational talent at quarterback in Mahomes, and a head coach in Andy Reid who will only have to wait a short while to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he's done in Kansas City.
Coach Payton has identified Barron as a huge key to further unlocking the AFC West, especially when the Broncos face the elite signal-callers. Payton believes his first-rounder has that winner's mentality.
Purely drafting for need tends to put rookies in a position where veteran guidance is most likely going to be scarce on the ground, but by adding Barron to the Broncos locker room, we find the complete polar opposite in play. Denver should provide the perfect environment for Barron to thrive in Year 1, so all that's left is to listen to Talib's advice and play with one's hair on fire.
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