Jahdae Lyzel Barron ( ; born December 4, 2001) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Barron played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

, winning the 2024

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athle ...

. He was selected by the Broncos in the first round of the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

Early life

Barron was born on December 4, 2001, in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

, later moving to the

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

area when he was in elementary school. Barron attended John B. Connally High School in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. He played cornerback and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in high school. As a senior, he had 41 receptions for 673 yards and six touchdowns on offense and 43 tackles and three interceptions on defense. A four star prospect, he originally committed to play college football at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

(TCU) and

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

before ultimately choosing the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

College career

Barron played in five games and had three tackles as a true freshman at Texas in 2020. As a sophomore in 2021, he started two of nine games, recording 18 tackles. As a junior in 2022, he started nine of 13 games, finishing with 78 tackles, one sack, two interceptions with one of the interceptions returned for a touchdown. Barron returned to Texas in 2023. During the season, he started 12 of 14 games, recording 61 tackles, one interception, seven pass breakups and one fumble recovery. Barron announced that he would return for the 2024 season. As a senior in 2024 Barron won the

as the nation's top defensive back and was a consensus All-American.

Professional career

Barron was selected by the

in the first round (20th overall) of the

. Upon being drafted, Barron requested to speak to the Broncos' draft room to personally thank every person there for choosing him.

Personal life

Barron has a very close relationship with his mother, Techonia Davis, stating that one of the goals of his football career is to make enough money for her to retire. He has two older brothers and three younger sisters.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bioTexas Longhorns profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barron, Jahdae 2001 births Living people Players of American football from Austin, Texas American football cornerbacks Texas Longhorns football players Denver Broncos players