Broncos select Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron with pick No. 20 in NFL Draft

DENVER — The Denver Broncos selected University of Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron with the 20th overall pick in Thursday's first round of the NFL Draft.

Barron had a decorated 2024 campaign, winning the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back, First Team All-America honors and All-SEC accolades.

• Hear instant reaction to the Barron pick from Denver7 Sports' Lionel Bienvenu and Nick Rothschild in the video player below:

Barron joins a cornerback room that already included last year's AP Defensive Player of the Year in Patrick Surtain – a first-round pick in 2021 – and Riley Moss. Denver boasted the NFL's third-best scoring defense last year but was middle of the pack in passing yards allowed.

Many projected the Broncos to address an offensive team need with their top pick. The glaring team need is at running back, where the team lacked explosiveness last year and lost Javonte Williams to free agency. Even with North Carolina's Omarion Hampton and Ohio State's TreVeyon Henderson – widely considered the favorites to be Denver's pick – still on the board at No. 20, the Broncos went defense.

"We were all thinking running back or offensive weapon or trading up to get a tight end," Denver7 Sports' Lionel Bienvenu said right after the pick. "None of that happened."

• Hear from Broncos general manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton about their thought process in the video player below

Some projected Denver to be in the market for a bona fide No. 2 wideout behind Courtland Sutton. Emeka Egbuka, the highly regarded former Buckeye, went off the board at No. 19 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"My best guess is that they believe that the depth is so good at the positions of need for the Broncos – running back, defensive line – that they can wait, that they don't have to make that pick early," said Denver7's Nick Rothschild. "They like a bunch of guys, and so they'll just let whoever fall to them."

"I do wonder how hard they tried to trade out of that pick. I know that it was a discussion."