Jimmie Ward Progress with 49ers Shows Need for Patience with Cornerbacks

Jimmie Ward’s play improved significantly in 2015, with the strides he has made providing reason to be patient with the young cornerbacks on the San Francisco 49ers roster.

As the San Francisco 49ers faltered in the final season under Jim Harbaugh in 2014, one of the decisions that attracted criticism was the one general manager Trent Baalke made to select defensive back Jimmie Ward with the No. 30 overall pick.

Ward — like many rookie cornerbacks — struggled in his first year, which was cut short by a foot injury 10 weeks into the season, leaving many to question whether Baalke had made a misstep by drafting a player who appeared a more natural fit at safety to hold down the nickel role.

Fast forward to the present day and Ward is considered one of the more dependable players in a very young Niners secondary, having excelled at both corner and safety in 2015 and serving as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise forgettable season.

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The former Northern Illinois defender still has improvements to make going into his third year but the strides he made in 2015 are a lesson in perspective and patience to those who will be in a hurry to judge the newest additions to the 49er secondary this coming term.

Ward’s predominant issue in his rookie year was a lack of awareness in coverage, which consistently showed up on film in 2014 and proved costly on a number of occasions.

He regularly allowed receivers to get inside position, giving up touchdowns in the process as in the examples below where he is matched up against Brandon Marshall and Brandin Cooks.

Marshall, in particular, took advantage of Ward’s inexperience in the Week 2 clash between the 49ers and Chicago Bears in 2014, which the now-New York Jet ended with three touchdowns, using his size advantage and clever route-running — leaning heavily on double-moves — to win the matchup time after time.

Ward’s susceptibility to well-executed double-moves became a pattern of his rookie year, with the Arizona Cardinals’ Michael Floyd also able to capitalise on that deficiency in his game, though the corner did recover well to prevent a touchdown catch on the play below.

That Cardinals game was a continuation of Ward’s baptism of fire, with his lack of experience and inability to react quickly at the line of scrimmage exposed by John Brown on this touchdown pass.

Ward does not have the speed to match receivers such as Cooks and Brown stride for stride but, the time he spent on the sidelines in 2014 clearly had a positive impact, as he took his play in coverage to the next level and grew into arguably the 49ers’ best all-round defensive back.

Indeed, Ward played extremely well down the stretch in 2015, earning positive grades from analytics site Pro Football Focus in four of the last five games.

Having excelled at nickel and safety last term, the 49ers have tested Ward’s abilities as an outside corner in the early stages of preparations for the 2016 campaign. Defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil labelled Ward as one of the best 11 players on the defense and it is not difficult to understand why he feels that way.

“I know he’s one of our best 11. That I do know.” – Jim O’Neil on Jimmie Ward

Ward’s transformation from a defender who had something of a deer-in-the-headlights look about him his rookie year to a confident player against the run and the pass was extremely pleasing to witness.

He demonstrated improvements in man coverage and overall awareness and had no fear when facing the likes of A.J. Green and Larry Fitzgerald.

In the play below in the home encounter with the Cardinals, Ward does a good job of getting his hands up early and is able to maintain good coverage to take away any thought of Carson Palmer trying to force the ball into Fitzgerald.

But it is this play against Green that is more impressive, with Ward reading the play perfectly and dropping the hammer on one of the best receivers in the NFL to prevent the catch, having done the same to Justin Hardy in the win over the Atlanta Falcons earlier in the year.

Ward’s awareness improved markedly in 2015 and he also displayed an ability to learn from his mistakes in man coverage.

In the following play lined up across from sizable Bengals wideout Mohamed Sanu, Ward is not fooled by the slight fake and refuses to allow the receiver the inside position to make a catch for what potentially would have been a significant gain.

That is not say Ward is perfect in coverage, far from it, the weakness against double moves remains — as shown in the below play in which Golden Tate is able to capitalise on his issues defending them — and is something he will need to work on going into the 2016 season.

Still, Ward’s play in coverage has improved to a point where he can be regularly relied upon to go man on man with high-caliber receivers and, when you look at his extremely strong performances against the run last term, he has the all-round skill set to be considered one of the Niners’ top defensive players.

Ward put on an exhibition on how to defend the run as a defensive back against the Cincinnati Bengals, with two tackles standing out in particular.

He is an extremely versatile player who can line up in the slot or at safety and also play down near the line of scrimmage as a pass-rusher and run defender. If the 49ers find he can succeed on the outside, then look for Ward to become a jack-of-all-trades defensive back Tyrann Mathieu serves as for the Cardinals.

His turnaround is a case study in why it is best to remain patient with young cornerbacks, and the 49ers and San Francisco fans would be wise to look at Ward before jumping to conclusions about the latest arrivals in the secondary.

The back-to-back picks of cornerbacks Will Redmond and Rashard Robinson in the third and fourth round this year raised eyebrows among many and history says both will have periods of struggle in the early stages of their careers with the Niners.

For Niners fans, the jury may also be out on Kenneth Acker and Keith Reaser. Acker had an up-and-down year in 2015 after injury wiped out his 2014 campaign, and Reaser struggled to see consistent action. The same can be said for Dontae Johnson, though he has length to his advantage and has shown more distinct flashes of promise in his two years than Acker and Reaser.

Ward is now flourishing following difficulties of his own, his revival post-rookie year lends credence to the argument that Johnson, Acker and Reaser could establish themselves as key players in 2016 and should be used as a reminder to those who will rush to judge Redmond and Robinson in their maiden year on the field.

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All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless otherwise indicated.