Vikings reinforce secondary with Texas CB Jahdae Barron in new 2025 mock

The Vikings would be over the moon to land an impact cornerback like Texas’ Jahdae Barron in this year’s draft.

The Vikings need help at outside cornerback in a bad way.

With the team seemingly moving on from both Shaq Griffin and Stephon Gilmore — both of whom combined for over 1,300 snaps played in 2024 — the Vikings don’t have any names in the room to feel super confident in outside of Byron Murphy. The team did just sign former Lions first-rounder Jeff Okudah to a one-year deal, but that’s seemingly just a low-cost pick to help raise the competitiveness of the room.

With such an important position group looking awfully shallow, ESPN’s Mel Kiper has the Vikings selecting Jahdae Barron out of Texas, a productive and physically-gifted defender, with the 24th-overall pick.

“Minnesota made some big splashes in free agency as it tries to take the NFC North from the Lions. Among them were deals to re-sign Byron Murphy Jr. and bring in Isaiah Rodgers, but I’m not sure the Vikings should — or will — be done adding to the cornerback room.”

“Barron, meanwhile, picked off five passes last season, showing his ball skills. He ran a 4.39 at the combine, showing his speed. And he played more than 600 snaps at both slot corner and outside corner over the past two seasons, showing his versatility. I really like this fit.”

To emphasize just how inexperienced this cornerback group is, Murphy is the only returning cornerback from the 2024 team that recorded more than 12(!) coverage snaps. Yes, that is correct. This group is as green as it gets. Even the additions of Isaiah Rodgers (209 coverage snaps in 2024) and Okudah (52) do very little to help elevate this group.

A popular name for the Vikings in recent mock drafts has been Georgia safety Malaki Starks. In fact, I wrote about one of those mocks here just a day ago. However, the more I’ve dove into this cornerback group, the more I’d say it’s the Vikings’ biggest need entering this year’s draft. So much so to the point that I believe that Minnesota would be mistaken not to double-dip at the position.

Getting a player like Barron would be an excellent start to that double-dip.

The 5’11, 194-pounder has a wealth of experience as a five-year contributor for the Longhorns. After two years of providing depth for the secondary, Barron broke out during the 2022 season where he recorded 78 tackles, a whopping 12 tackles for loss, two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), three pass breakups, and a fumble recovery which he also returned for a score.

As a fifth-year senior in 2024, Barron set new career high marks with 67 total tackles, 11 pass breakups, and five interceptions to go with three tackles for loss, a sack, and another fumble recovery. For his efforts, he was named a First-Team All-American and the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award nation’s top defensive back).

Barron’s best position on the field is in the slot as a “big nickel,” which complements Byron Murphy’s game as a impactful outside corner who also has the chops to flex into the slot if needed. Barron’s at his best in the middle of the field where he’s able to smother underneath routes and hold pass-catchers to minimal gains with his excellent awareness and click-close speed.

Oh, and he’s also a heck of a run support player.

With his lengthy resume, Barron should be at or near the top of the list for ideal prospects to land in the first round for the Vikings, aside from maybe Will Johnson of Michigan, the other top corner in the draft outside of Colorado’s Travis Hunter who is dang-near a top-3 lock.

But what do you all think? Would you like to see the Vikings land a player like Barron? Yay or nay? Let us know in the comments below!