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WATCH: Jahdae Barron cements his first-round status with a 4.39 40-yard dash

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•about 9 hours•

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Jahdae Barron
Jahdae Barron (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron, a consensus All-American and the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award winner, arrived in Indianapolis as the No. 9 overall draft prospect according to NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah. After his performance in testing and drills on Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine, he further entrenched himself as a first-rounder thanks to a great day at Lucas Oil Stadium.

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Barron posted quality testing numbers like a 35-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot 3-inch broad jump, but he reenforced his standing as a top prospect with his time in the 40-yard dash. Barron posted a time of 4.39 at 5-foot-11, 194 pounds. He elected not to participate in further testing after his 40.

During an interview with NFL Network after his runs, Barron had not yet learned of his official 4.39 time and thought he still was sitting at his unofficial 4.40. He mentioned to NFL Network he was disappointed he didn’t break through into the elite of the elite, but once he was informed he had the 6th best time among corners he reportedly knelt to the ground in prayer.

NFL Networked asked Barron about his habit of writing his goals on his mirror every day. Barron’s answer was revelatory about his character.

“My mom tells me to do it so I can be committed to something,” Barron said. “So I can hold myself to a standard. You have to be exact with your goals. You can’t be off. You can’t be a word off. You can’t be anything off. Exactly what you want, you have to put it on there. You have to look in the mirror every single day and tell yourself that’s what you want. Every single day before the season and while I was training, I read out my goals to myself and I looked myself in the mirror. When I do complete those goals, I can look in the mirror and say I did it.”

When it was still a 4.40 unofficially, Jeremiah doted on Barron and his ability.

“That’s a fantastic time,” Jeremiah said on the NFL Network telecast. “For example, I talked about (Brian) Branch. Branch relied more on those instincts and ran 4.58. He just ran 4.4 flat. For those wondering can he can hold up outside at corner, we know at nickel what he can do. Now you’re looking and saying that he’s got a shot to hold up outside if we play him out there.”

Branch has been a player Barron has drawn comparisons to thanks to his incredible instincts and versatility. During the 2024 NFL season, Branch logged 235 snaps in the box as a safety, 316 snaps over the slot, and 329 snaps as the free safety according to Pro Football Focus.

Barron, who was PFF College’s third highest-graded corner, spent most of his time at cornerback with 679 snaps at that spot. But he also mixed things up, playing as a slot corner 122 times and lining up in the box 142 times. The move to corner came two years after playing mostly at Star, or nickel, in Texas’ defense. Branch did something similar at Alabama, playing Star for most of his All-America senior season before he was picked in the second round.

But Branch ran a 4.58 in his 40 at a similar size to Barron. Barron beat Branch by almost 0.2 seconds in the 40, emphasizing how special the 2024 Thorpe Award winner is.

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Barron stood pat and elected to participate in no further drills on Friday. His 4.39 speed was all he needed to cement his chances of going in the first round of the upcoming draft.

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