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What Steve Sarkisian said about Jahdae Barron going to the Denver Broncos

On3 imageby:Justin Wells•04/24/25
Jahdae Barron
Jahdae Barron (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

After Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron was picked by the Denver Broncos with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 draft, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian supplied a significant amount of praise for the Jim Thorpe Award winner in a statement released by the school.

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“You see the Thorpe Award and all the honors and recognition that Jahdae earned, and it truly exemplifies sticking with the process, putting in the work and doing all the little things to make big things happen,” said Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. “When I think of the growth and development he made during his time with us, it’s been pretty amazing. When we first got here, he was playing nickel for us in our star position, and he did that for about two years. Then we started to transition him into playing corner in our base defense while still playing nickel in our nickel packages. That evolved into him at times playing nickel, some safety and dime linebacker in those packages. This year, we really made him our starting corner, and he has become a lockdown guy at that spot. So, you just think about the multitude of things that you have to be able to do to play nickel, safety, corner, dime linebacker, and that should tell you about his football IQ, his versatility, his preparation and study habits, his playmaking and instincts. Jahdae’s got a knack for the ball, he’s a very savvy football player, yet he has a very good skill set. He’s physical, he can blitz, he can tackle, he can cover, he’s a very good zone defender, he can identify route combinations, and he makes plays.”

“As a DB what more do you want than a guy who can make plays on the ball. On top of that, he’s a great leader, a great teammate, will be active in the community and be a guy that the Broncos are thrilled they selected in the first round.”

Barron was the third Longhorn to win the Jim Thorpe Award with safety Michael Huff (2005) and cornerback Aaron Ross (2006) taking it home in back-to-back years. Barron was the program’s sixth finalist for the award. Barron was also a finalist for the 2024 Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

Along with winning the Thorpe Award, the Austin, Texas product was tabbed a consensus All-American last season, becoming the 50th Longhorn (65 total consensus All-America honors) to claim consensus All-American status, which ties for the ninth-most in NCAA history. He hauled in first-team All-America honors from the Associated Press, FWAA and The Sporting News while claiming second-team praise from the AFCA and Walter Camp.

During his five-year career on the Forty Acres, Barron played in 57 games with 39 starts. Following Texas’ 20-10 road win at Arkansas on Nov. 16, Barron was recognized as the Thorpe Award’s National Player of the Week, the SEC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week and the Reese’s Senior Bowl’s Defensive Player of the Week. Barron was one of the most versatile defensive backs in the nation, consistently playing multiple positions in the Texas defensive backfield, while providing leadership as a fifth-year veteran. He led the Longhorns in interceptions (5) and pass break-ups (11) to go along with 67 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.

Proving to be one of the nation’s most outstanding defensive playmakers this season, Barron played an integral role in a dominant Texas defense that led the FBS in total interceptions (22) while ranking No. 2 in turnovers gained (31) and team passing efficiency defense (104.56). UT also ranked third in the FBS in total defense (283.4 ypg), scoring defense (15.3 ppg) and red zone defense (0.692) while also sitting seventh in the nation in passing yards allowed (173.8 ypg).

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