George Paton and Sean Payton watch a lot of tape together in the lead up to the NFL draft.
Like, a whole lot.
So much that last week, Payton joked about how he accidentally drank from Paton’s water bottle.
Sometimes, all they have to do is give each other a look. No reason to let anybody else in on the secret when they find a guy.
Thatap what happened recently when the pair watched Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron.
They looked for missed tackles. They looked for completions allowed, to say nothing of touchdowns. They looked for weaknesses that could poke a hole in all of the positive reviews they’d got from former Longhorns secondary coach Terry Joseph or many others they talked to through the pre-draft process.
Instead, they found themselves watching more and more and more.
“He’s a fun watch,” Paton said Thursday night after Denver selected the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award winner. “I did him during the season and after the season. Then Sean and I watched him last week and we just couldn’t stop watching him.”
The tape spoke for itself.
“One of the things that was apparent when we studied him and one of the things that was attractive about the player was his versatility,” Payton said. “… His football IQ is outstanding.”
They had Barron high on their draft board, but didn’t expect him to be around at No. 20. Then recently, watching in a room with a bunch of other people, Payton and Paton gave each other the look.
“We’d had the watch and we were in a room of eight, maybe, some of the scouts. I can’t recall,” Payton said. “But we just looked at each other and we’re like ‘OK.’ And then letap keep watching more. And the more and more we watched it was like, ‘Alright. Letap be quiet.’”
Don’t let the cat out of the bag.
Then Thursday night they waited and waited and Barron came right to them.
