Film room: Could Barron solve nickel & outside CB problem?

Breaking down what the Texas cornerback can bring to Las Vegas

After letting Nate Hobbs walk in free agency and moving on from Jack Jones, the Las Vegas Raiders are looking for two new starters at cornerback; one on the boundary and another at nickelback. That should put Texas’ Jahdae Barron on the Raiders’ radar heading into the 2025 NFL Draft.

Barron was known for his versatility in college, taking 1,112 snaps as an outside corner and 900 on the inside during his career, per Pro Football Focus. And if his position versatility isn’t enough to grab John Spytek’s attention, the former Longhorn’s performance this past season should.

The 2024 Jim Thorpe Award winner put together an excellent campaign where he earned the second-highest PFF coverage grade (91.1) among all FBS corners. A big reason for that is he had excellent ball production with five interceptions — tied for the fifth-most in the country at the position — and nine more PBUs — tied for 12th.

Between his ball skills and position flexibility, there are plenty of reasons to flip on Barron’s tape and see what he could bring to Las Vegas.

We’ll get things going with a rep where Barron is covering the slot.

Texas is in man coverage here where he’s lined up across from a tight end. Georgia has a good play call with a bunch set at the bottom of the screen and a man-beating route concept. The tight end releases outside off the line of scrimmage which keeps Barron wide while the outside receiver releases inside and runs a clear-out route, creating a natural pick.

That forces Barron to avoid contact while playing off-coverage, resulting in some separation. However, he managed to recover and be in a position to come down with the interception off the tipped ball from an inaccurate pass.

More than anything, this is a good example of his impressive hands to come down with picks, making it easy to see how he hauled in eight over the last three seasons.

In the clip above, the former Longhorn plays man coverage again but lines up on the outside this time.

Since it’s third and long, he parks himself at the sticks while playing off coverage against a deep curl route. Meanwhile, he buzzes his feet which helps him to stay on balance when the receiver tries to get physical at the top of the route.

So, when the quarterback and receiver aren’t on the same page as the quarterback makes a back-shoulder throw, Barron is in a perfect position to capitalize with another interception. This is also a good example of his instincts and ball tracking as he got his eyes on the quarterback and read the throw to make the play.

While the rep above is against a wideout, Barron’s ability to stay in phase against physical route runners stands out on tape, even when lined up across from tight ends.

Not only does the Texas product have the versatility to line up inside or outside, but he also has some scheme versatility to play man or zone coverage. We’ve seen a couple of examples of him making plays in man and the clip above is a quality rep in zone.

Texas is running Cover 3 where Barron is responsible for the deep third on the short side of the field. He has excellent zone eyes to stare at the quarterback while using his peripheral vision to keep an eye on the receiver. When the wideout breaks on the curl route, a typical Cover 3 beater, the corner immediately sinks his hips and runs the route for the wideout.

Barron has his man smothered but the ball comes anyway, and he does an excellent job of playing through the receiver’s back and ripping hands at the catch point to come up with the PBU.

Here, we’ll see an almost identical rep with Texas playing Cover 3 and Barron doing a great job of ripping hands at the catch point while playing through the receiver’s back. The biggest difference is the wideout runs a dig route instead of a curl.

Granted, Barron does benefit from an inaccurate throw that was behind the receiver. But his eye discipline in zone coverage, route recognition and ball are apparent to capitalize on mistakes.

In case anyone hasn’t caught on by now, let’s take a look at one more quality rep in zone coverage where Barron plays through the receiver’s back to get a PBU.

The Longhorns are in Cover 2 this time, which means Barron is responsible for the flat area on the wide side of the field. Since he has safety help over the top, he can squat at about the 40-yard line and sit on any short routes.

Again, we get another example of him using good zone eyes to eye the quarterback and use his peripheral vision to see the receiver’s route. Once the wideout breaks inside, Barron jumps the route to make a play on the ball at the catch point and comes up with another PBU.

Finally, Barron’s ability to click and close when playing zone coverage also allows him to make quality tackles and limit yards after the catch. PFF credited him with 11 ‘defensive stops’ in coverage, which tied for third among SEC corners last season. That’s impressive considering plays like the previous clip would go down as a ‘stop’ if he didn’t get the PBU.

This time, Texas is in Cover 4 as Georgia runs a quick out against our subject. This is a great example of his ‘play speed’, meaning his mental processing combined with his athletic ability. Barron quickly recognizes the route and puts his 1.55-second 10-yard split (4.39-second 40) to good use by closing on the receiver for a four-yard gain.

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According to NFL Mock Draft Database, Barron ranks as the 14th player overall and the third cornerback in this year’s class as of April 9. In my opinion, he’d be a bit of a reach at No. 6 but if the Raiders can trade back into the 10th to 15th pick range, he’d be a great selection.

That would give the defense another starting outside corner who can slide inside and replace Hobbs on third downs while simultaneously adding a ballhawk to the secondary.