ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As the first round of 2025 NFL draft hurtled toward the Denver Broncos' pick at No. 20 Thursday night, the team's decision-makers -- owner/CEO Greg Penner, coach Sean Payton, general manager George Paton and others -- sat in a meeting room watching the gap separating Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron and the rest of their draft board grow bigger and bigger.
"Looking at the grade," Payton said, "there were probably six picks we had to get past as he sat there."
Barron, widely regarded as the No. 2 or No.