Talk about an extreme makeover. Last year, the Green Bay Packers signed Xavier McKinney and drafted three more safeties. This year, they signed cornerback Nate Hobbs and are certain to draft another one or two in a sweeping revamp of the secondary.
In Nick Baumgardner’s three-round mock draft for The Athletic, the Packers used their first-round pick on Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron.
“A tough, smart, dependable competitor, Barron reminds me of a bigger version of Washington’s Mike Sainristil,” Baumgardner wrote. “He can play anywhere in the defensive backfield, and you’re going to get everything he has on every snap. He’d be perfect for the physical and talented NFC North.”
Barron is a heck of a player. And a versatile one. After playing in the slot at Texas in 2022 and 2023 – he had an absurd 12 tackles for losses in 2022 – he moved to cornerback in 2024. He won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back.
Barron:
- Led the SEC with five interceptions and broke up 11 more passes for a total of 16 passes defensed.
- Allowed just 4.2 yards per target, according to Pro Football Focus.
- Allowed a 39 percent completion rate, according to Sports Info Solutions.
- Missed 9.5 percent of his tackle attempts, according to Pro Football Focus, which is one of the best marks in the draft class.
For his career, Barron played 1,112 snaps at corner, 900 in the slot, 495 in the box and 51 at free safety.
“I think for myself, I’m more versatile than anybody in this draft class. I know it will help a defense. I like watching (the Chiefs’ Trent) McDuffie, how he gets moved around, from corner to nickel. A team won’t anticipate where I’m at in the next week or the next drive.”
However, Barron is a bit short at 5-foot-10 3/4. His 29 5/8-inch arms might take him off their board entirely. With the size profile of a slot defender, would he be redundant with Javon Bullard, last year’s second-round pick, and free-agent addition Nate Hobbs, who spent three years in the slot with the Raiders?
What about receiver? In the first round, Arizona’s Tet McMillan and Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka were off the board but Texas’ Matthew Golden was available. In the second round, the Packers might be thrilled to grab Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins, who has elite size at 6-foot-4 1/8 and excellent athleticism with a 4.47 in the 40 and a 39-inch vertical.
He’s got outstanding production, too, with an 18.5-yard average in 2023 and 87 receptions for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024. In two years at Iowa State, he caught 140 passes with only three drops.
“The biggest thing is, when the ball’s in the air, go and make plays,” he said at the Combine. “That’s the biggest thing, being big, just using your size, using your strength, and just going out there and dominating.”
Baumgardner addressed the defensive line in the third round with defensive tackle Jordan Phillips of Maryland. After starting his career at Tennessee, Phillips had zero sacks and three tackles for losses in two seasons with the Terps. He’s 6-foot-1 5/8 and 312 pounds.
Before the Combine, he was the No. 73 prospect for The Athletic’s Dane Brugler.
“Young, explosive and powerful is a great place to start for a defensive tackle prospect, and that is exactly what Phillips has to offer,” Brugler wrote. “He often negates those traits by being late off the snap and losing leverage, but NFL teams will gladly bet on the talent.”
A member of Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List,” the explosive part comes with a wrestling background.
“When you do wrestling, it really does make you become a better football player, especially if you’re a lineman because it helps with leverage,” he said at the Combine. “It also helps with grit. You have to be able to go out and compete.
“If you get beat, it’s on you. There’s no pointing fingers. It really helps with the accountability aspect of you taking ownership of mistakes you’ve made. If you transfer that to football it helps you to become more accountable with your actions on the field.”
Edge rusher went unaddressed. Ole Miss’ Princely Umanmielen and Michigan’s Josaiah Stewart went at the end of the third round. Also on the board was William & Mary offensive tackle Charles Grant.
