Undrafted & Undaunted: JB Brown Comes to Denver to Take a Job

In the wake of the NFL draft, the Denver Broncos signed 15 college free agents and invited a few more guys to try out at rookie minicamp on May 9-11. One of those college free-agent pickups was Kansas linebacker JB Brown, who garnered a $150,00 guarantee and a $10,000 signing bonus.

Brown was a prolific player at Kansas, totaling 126 tackles over his two seasons there. He played three years at Bowling Green prior to transferring to Kansas. All in all, he appeared in 55 career collegiate games.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Brown ultimately chose to sign with the Broncos because of the fit, guaranteed money, and relative opportunity.

“It was a good fit for me, and (the Broncos) showed a lot of interest with the guaranteed money,” Brown told The Denver Gazette's Chris Tomasson. “I feel like I have a good chance to make the 53-man roster."

But make no mistake; Brown knows that for him to win in Denver, someone else has to lose. Such is the nature of competition.

“It’s a business at this point,’’ Brown said via Tomasson. “To take somebody’s job, that’s what I came to do.”

JB 'The Barber' Brown is also renowned for his hair-cutting skills, a talent he cultivated during the pandemic, per Tomasson. Perhaps Brown can repurpose that moniker. Instead of lowering your ears, he'll take your head off.

"I can bring a lot with special teams and on defense," Barber said via Tomasson. "I’m a good, solid blitzer and at Bowling Green, I was in a very similar defense. I think I’ll fit in perfectly.”

The lay of the land in Denver is fortuitous for Barber, if he can realize his "business" talk and take someone's job. Even before new free-agent Dre Greenlaw suffered a concerning quad injury while working out, beyond him and Alex Singleton, the Broncos' linebacker corps faced many questions.

Justin Strnad was re-signed as an experienced veteran fail-safe, and the Broncos are still hoping Drew Sanders will finally cash in on his draft pedigree. But the former third-rounder will have to avoid the injury bug, which he's been unable to do thus far as a pro.

Barber steps into a competition that also includes 2024 undrafted free agent Levelle Bailey, who shined in preseason action but never saw the field on defense. Singleton and Greenlaw project as the Broncos' starters at inside linebacker, but beyond them, it's a wide-open opportunity, and Barber is hoping to be equal to it.

Talking about taking someone's job as an undrafted rookie might see Barber catch some heat in training camp from the veterans, but if nothing else, it reveals his confidence and pragmatic outlook on how the NFL works.

He can talk the talk. Time will tell whether Barber can walk the NFL walk.