Only a FS Jimmie Ward-Houston Texans

3) Ward was the last player on the 49ers' board with a first-round grade. The rest of the league had taken all the team's potential first rounders.

http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2014/05/08/why-the-49ers-picked-another-safety-with-jimmy-ward/

Prisco likes him? s**t...

Somewhere i read that the only thing that seperates him from fellow first rounder deone buchannon is size. So considering buchannon was just 2 or 3 picks before ward, so i seriously doubt he was a reach.

Originally posted by pahlerbj:

same here

Agree, co-signed.

Originally posted by thl408:

Originally posted by awol36:
hes gonna gain 8 to 10 lbs. So relax...

He smile for the camera on the way to a pick 6?

LOL, not smiling, just seizing mouthpiece with teeth. Also he's watching something other than camera. Probably a cheerleader.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by susweel:
I don't know if he's good or not but it does seem like a reach we probably could have had him in second or third round.

Don't make me go and bump the 2011 draft thread again. Most mock drafts out there had Ward as going from the mid 1st round to the early 2nd, by drafting him at #30 the 49ers get a 5th year option on him as well. He wouldn't have last past the first few picks of the 2nd.

Exactly. Not a reach at all.

He was widely seen as a 1st - 2nd round prospect. Take into consideration that he can play nickel, safety, special teams + the 5th year option and Jimmy Ward brings tremendous value as the 30th overall pick.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

The value of the rangy safety in the NFL has gone up like a good tech stock on Wall Street in recent years.And now with the Seahawks winning a Super Bowl because of their defense, which is keyed by free safety Earl Thomas, the league of copycats is now putting even more of a premium on cover safeties.

For years, I've thought the free safety would be the bigger corner moving inside and the strong safety would be the free safety moving over, which is what we are seeing in some situations. Teams are also interchanging their safeties more than in the past.

Seattle still plays the old strong safety and free safety looks, with strong safety Kam Chancellor playing more like a linebacker and Thomas taking on the role of center fielder with the responsibility of covering a ton of ground.

Now comes the hard part for teams looking to replicate that style, which is finding a player who can cover that type of ground.

I think I found one.

It's Northern Illinois safety Jimmie Ward, who is this year's captain of my annual Better-Than team, which is a group of players I think are better than the scouts think they are right now -- and moving forward.

Northern Illinois safety Jimmie Ward plays much bigger than he's listed. (USATSI) Ward is a 5-10, 193-pound safety who plays much bigger than he's listed. He is a willing tackler in the run game, and played up near the line a lot at NIU. But he's more than capable of playing deep.

He is a smooth player in coverage, who turns and runs like a corner when he's asked to do so. I watched several of Ward's games, and really thought he competed on every play, which is something I like to see.

While he didn't spend a ton of time playing deep, when he did, he made the most of it with his instincts and his range. He might not be a burner, but he plays fast enough.

Half the battle of playing the single-high safety is reading and then reacting to the ball. You can have all the speed in the world, but if you lack recognition skills, you'll still struggle in the deep middle.

I think Ward will be able to play up near the line and in the deep middle on the next level. In fact, even though he throws his body around when up near the line of scrimmage, I think his best football will come playing deep.

Ward did have some foot issues that could be a concern for teams, and they limited him at the combine, but if healthy he's worth a late first-round pick, which is where I think he will go.

That's why he's the headliner of my annual Better-Than Team, which is a spot that has featured players like Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David and New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul in the past.

And to balance it out, it's also a spot that featured Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder and former Cowboys quarterback Stephen McGee, who is now in Canada. Oops.

Last year's captain was LSU defensive tackle Bennie Logan, who went on to start in the middle of the Eagles defense as a rookie last season.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/pete-prisco/24552469/the-better-than-team-nius-ward-is-cover-safety-modern-defenses-need

Love it. I knew nothing about him and I turned on his highlights and it reminded me exactly of Earl Thomas' college highlight reel. I thought Berry and Thomas were the best two safeties in that draft, and I was hoping the niners would take him with their pick. The rest is history.

Originally posted by kronik:

Originally posted by QBguru:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by QBguru:
I am disapointed with this pick. Not so much the player, but where we drafted him at in the first. I think we coulda traded back and still got him and got additional picks. I do not know anything about Ward but he seems like a good football player. I will trust Harbaalke because their track record of drafting of defensive players is solid. I hope we can snag either Matthews or Moncrief in Round 2.

Yea key word in the first underlined sentence is "think." I don't see denver or seattle or houston nabbing him.

What kind of logic is that? No player is good unless those 3 teams "nab" him??

Wow, really?

Yea it was just an assumption dude. calm down Mel Kiper the 3rd. Those teams were the next three teams to pick and I didn't see any of them drafting Ward. I think we coulda moved back and aquired an extra pick. Whether or not that would of happened is just speculation. Maybe someone would have drafted him, maybe not.

Originally posted by 4ML:

Originally posted by susweel:
I don't know if he's good or not but it does seem like a reach we probably could have had him in second or third round.

lol 3rd round?

you have to operate your draft differently depending on what stage your franchise is in. When you are a cellar team and you need high value, then yes I think Ward could have fell to the 3rd round. As your franchise becomes more complete it becomes more imperative that you get your guy as opposed to gambling on value.

The Niners no longer need to get really high value. I mean really how many guys in this draft will we end up actually keeping around on the final roster? 2...3..?

So because of the state of the team right now, it was fine for the Niners to reach, Ward in the 3rd is not laughable, but that would have been a long shot. They will pay more for not gambling, but they also get that 5th year option.

Because we are coming off of 3 straight championship caliber seasons this pick is ok, but for the record.....when teams become too reliant on this strategy that is the surest way to find yourself in the cellar again.

Sooner or later Baalke will have to concern himself with high value again. Apparently that time is just not now

we just drafted a backup to a position that we are very solid... how bout a WR? or DT? or DE? id like to think they know what they are doing but i am still pissed that we didn't trade.. we don't need 11 new players.. we need 4 that can come in and make an impact!

Originally posted by est1985:

Originally posted by QBguru:
I am disapointed with this pick. Not so much the player, but where we drafted him at in the first. I think we coulda traded back and still got him and got additional picks. I do not know anything about Ward but he seems like a good football player. I will trust Harbaalke because their track record of drafting of defensive players is solid. I hope we can snag either Matthews or Moncrief in Round 2.

5th year option, people. Why is no one bringing this up!? If you like the player, take him late in the 1st to guarantee you that option. Jesus.

Very good point. I stand corrected.

Originally posted by kazak13:
we just drafted a backup to a position that we are very solid... how bout a WR? or DT? or DE? id like to think they know what they are doing but i am still pissed that we didn't trade.. we don't need 11 new players.. we need 4 that can come in and make an impact!

Really? We're more solid at CB than we are at WR with Boldin, Crabtree, and Patton?

Originally posted by kazak13:

we just drafted a backup to a position that we are very solid... how bout a WR? or DT? or DE? id like to think they know what they are doing but i am still pissed that we didn't trade.. we don't need 11 new players.. we need 4 that can come in and make an impact!

We were solid at safety and nickle back? Well thats news. In your opinion what are those 4 positions that are a must for having a rookie who can make an immediate impact?

Originally posted by danimal:
you have to operate your draft differently depending on what stage your franchise is in. When you are a cellar team and you need high value, then yes I think Ward could have fell to the 3rd round. As your franchise becomes more complete it becomes more imperative that you get your guy as opposed to gambling on value.

The Niners no longer need to get really high value. I mean really how many guys in this draft will we end up actually keeping around on the final roster? 2...3..?

So because of the state of the team right now, it was fine for the Niners to reach, Ward in the 3rd is not laughable, but that would have been a long shot. They will pay more for not gambling, but they also get that 5th year option.

Because we are coming off of 3 straight championship caliber seasons this pick is ok, but for the record.....when teams become too reliant on this strategy that is the surest way to find yourself in the cellar again.

Sooner or later Baalke will have to concern himself with high value again. Apparently that time is just not now

No, 3rd round is entirely laughable. He would have never made it there. People need to stop letting their own biases get in the way and acting like small school guy=He must be crap or I haven't heard of this guy=he must be crap.


In 3 of 4 CBS Mock draft's he was a 1st round pick............so tell me how he falls to the 3rd round? SI gave the 49ers an A+ for the pick for going after a guy who represents the NFL safety of the future. Leaning more to coverage and being able to move all over the field as needed.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by danimal:
you have to operate your draft differently depending on what stage your franchise is in. When you are a cellar team and you need high value, then yes I think Ward could have fell to the 3rd round. As your franchise becomes more complete it becomes more imperative that you get your guy as opposed to gambling on value.

The Niners no longer need to get really high value. I mean really how many guys in this draft will we end up actually keeping around on the final roster? 2...3..?

So because of the state of the team right now, it was fine for the Niners to reach, Ward in the 3rd is not laughable, but that would have been a long shot. They will pay more for not gambling, but they also get that 5th year option.

Because we are coming off of 3 straight championship caliber seasons this pick is ok, but for the record.....when teams become too reliant on this strategy that is the surest way to find yourself in the cellar again.

Sooner or later Baalke will have to concern himself with high value again. Apparently that time is just not now

No, 3rd round is entirely laughable. He would have never made it there. People need to stop letting their own biases get in the way.


Small school guy=He must be crap. in 3 of 4 CBS Mock draft's he was a 1st round pick............so tell me how he falls to the 3rd round?

congratulations you win.

Because you are man enough to take the absolute position on something that can no longer ever be proven...whereas all I am stating is it is not laughable.

Never mind that I have been watching the NFL for many moons now and I have seen hundreds of Jimmie Wards go in the 3rd round....but let me guess,,,he is different right.

oh and by the way, I have seen thousands of mocks over the years where the average pick for a guy could be off by YES A COUPLE OF ROUNDS,

but again, I defer