Pick #4 Denzel Ward | Page 5 |

Pick #4 Denzel Ward

My first reaction was "Huh, I guess they wanted to fill the need, I get it" though I didn't love it.

But after reading up and watching clips, I can see why tripling up at DE -- despite my usual "biggest, fastest, strongest man" draft philosophy -- to pass on Denzel may not have been the best choice.

So, yeah, it's a little risky but much like Baker at 1, there's a good chance that the 2018 Browns draft could mark the beginning of a new era for the NFL, not just the Browns, in that smaller, more talented ballers may have broken into the elite top 10 level.

We'll see but after Lattimore's impact last year, it's at the very least a reasonable risk to take Ward and hope he'll have the impact here.
 
I've seen a lot of D Ward and he is a very sticky mother fucker. He should be a damn fine cover corner.

I suspect teams will run RB's to his side of the field and get physical with him. They're going to test him at the POA. At least that's what I'd do to soften him up and slow him down.
 
damajuki said:
My first reaction was "Huh, I guess they wanted to fill the need, I get it" though I didn't love it.

But after reading up and watching clips, I can see why tripling up at DE -- despite my usual "biggest, fastest, strongest man" draft philosophy -- to pass on Denzel may not have been the best choice.

So, yeah, it's a little risky but much like Baker at 1, there's a good chance that the 2018 Browns draft could mark the beginning of a new era for the NFL, not just the Browns, in that smaller, more talented ballers may have broken into the elite top 10 level.

We'll see but after Lattimore's impact last year, it's at the very least a reasonable risk to take Ward and hope he'll have the impact here.
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Not to mention, I think we are going to see more of a college oriented offenses throughout the league in this new era. That is if we are too tailor to a qb's strengths. See Nick Foles Superbowl run for an example ;)
 
I totally agree that we're gonna see more spread/RPO/etc. elements... and more WRs who actually play, like 5 deep, and in a spread they don't have to be hulky mofos. Hence teams will carry more cover guys with speed and quicks.

Feels a bit like how the NBA has evolved.

Also, Ward can hit like a sonofabitch.
 
Can't see why Denzel can't be an elite corner in the mould of Brent Grimes, who 's a bit smaller.
Or Revis, who 's a bit bigger.

Needs to work on his craft but he will definitely be a starter in this league at the least.
 
He's just a natural, a legit top five or ten pick at CB, one of the premium positions in a passing league. I always thought it made the most sense and we were fortunate to be picking when there WAS a clear #1 corner to select.

We had a pretty clear issue with slow corners last year, forced us into a lot of zone, which along with Peppers playing the "angel," created those quick completions to wide open backs and TEs, often in the middle of the field.

Take that away, and Garrett is gonna get there... and Ogbah inside Avery will cause matchup issues on the other side too. Peppers will play forward a lot more, was a terrific blitzer at Michigan.
 
Shep you've really got to quit coming across so reasonably lmao. New posters are not going to understand why you have a reputation at all :P. Of course I agree, it makes complete sense when there is a clear #1 corner to select. The only thing that confused fans is that maybe we didn't see at the time how clear that was? The choice seems kind of obvious in hindsight but when it's a marriage of need and BPA how do you not?

After doing my own diligence and seeing how closely he compares to Joe Haden coming out, I really feel like he was the right choice. His skill set is the kind of corner you want to take top five, the kind of kid who can grow in to a complete corner is rare to find. With the depth chart the way it is, I really don't feel it is unreasonable at all to anticipate he will establish himself as a starter and one of our best cornerbacks.
 
I really like the Todd Haley explanation of the Ward over Chubb pick. Garrett was within two steps of the QB umpteen times. Have Chubb on the other side won’t close that gap. Having Ward cover the target longer will
 
Um, QBs weren't throwing Ward's direction because the receiver he was covering wasn't open....

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Frank Minnifield was the best CB we've seen play for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Browns?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Browns</a> and he finished with just 20 interceptions in 122 career games. The idea that interceptions is an indicator of success is about as dopey as "QB wins" <a href="https://t.co/KRpJ2Diyr9">pic.twitter.com/KRpJ2Diyr9</a></p>— Tom Moore (@Tom_RedRight88) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tom_RedRight88/status/994197026224201728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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https://dawgpounddaily.com/2018/05/31/cleveland-browns-denzel-ward-impressive-otas/

Cleveland Browns: Denzel Ward impressive during OTA’s
by Dan Justik3 hours ago

With many calling him a surprise pick at fourth overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, Denzel Ward is beginning to show why the Cleveland Browns were comfortable selecting him.

The Cleveland Browns were confident in themselves when they surprisingly drafted Denzel Ward fourth overall in April’s draft. Although he was the top-rated cornerback in the draft, draft experts did not seeing him landing in the top five selections of the draft.

But during the fifth day of Browns OTA’s, Ward is showing to everybody why he was selected so high in the draft. The biggest highlight of the day from Ward was a pass breakup he made against Browns receiver Josh Gordon in the corner of the endzone.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Browns?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Browns</a> OTA matchup: rookie CB Denzel Ward keeps fighting, breaks up back-shoulder fade to Josh Gordon in red zone drill.</p>— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottPetrak/status/1001864069169762309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

One of the biggest concerns about Ward was his lack of size. Ward has a slight build at 5-foot-11 and 183 pounds, which raised concerns that he will not be able to defend the top wide receivers in the league that have good size.

But Gordon fits the criteria of the type of receiver described above. Ward continuing to practice against Gordon and winning in coverage like he did Wednesday should prepare him to face the other top receivers in the league.

Ward being able to practice against receivers like Gordon and Jarvis Landry should help his development tremendously. They are two of the best receivers in the NFL, but they are very different in how they play. Ward being exposed to both their play-styles will prepare him for just about anything he sees the rest of the season.

Fellow Browns cornerback T.J. Carrie had nothing but good things to say about the rookie, via Akron Beacon Journal’s Nate Ulrich.

“Very savvy rookie, very savvy, very confident,” veteran cornerback TJ Carrie said of Ward after the fifth practice of organized team activities. “I think that when you come into this league, confidence is probably one of your best friends in the sense that you are playing with grown men. If you are not confident with who you are as yourself, you lose that ability to play instinctively and very fast. As you can see, he played exceptionally well today, had a number of pass breakups, a number of great plays out there.”

What made Ward such a high draft pick besides his coverage abilities was his elite athleticism. If Ward can use that athleticism to break up jump balls like he did against Gordon, his transition to the NFL should go very well.

If Ward does continue to play well, it would not be a surprise to see him starting Week 1 against the Steelers, and perhaps even shadowing Antonio Brown.

END
 
Brownsfan said:
Not a chance! That young man is going to be a star--this year. If he can have success against the likes of Gordon and Landry, he can handle any WR in the league.
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Easy Cliffy boy! That was a feeble attempt at a joke. ;) Admittedly I knew nothing about him til I read one of '56 posts way back in January or February I think it was. After seeing a few highlights, he quickly arose to the top of my board ;)
 
Ward was 2nd in the vertical jump at the combine. The play he made to break up that ball for Gordon was spectacular according to many who saw it.

I doubt anyone will regret getting Ward at 4 in the near future.
 
I always come back to how favourably he compares to Joe Haden. I do truly believe he has the skill set to be better. Joe had to adjust to the NFL changing rules to make his job much more difficult that, combined with injuries, limited him over time. I bet Ward has better potential longevity.
 
Loved Joe when he was a Brown ( still like him, just not when when he's wearing squealer colours )
I think Denzel will offer just as much Joe did for us back a few years with the added bonus of speed. Ward plays fassssssssst. Watching hi-lights you'd see what appears to be an open receiver , the QB throwing to that window ony to find that Ward slammed it shut. Was fun watching his hi-lights and looking forward to seeing him play on our team :)
 
Marcus Peters is probably my favorite cb so if Dorsey has that eye for talent for the position i'm incredibly excited.

Also taking him as high as #4 we should resonably hope for a Jaylen Ramsey/Patrick Peterson type of talent when all is said and done. Sounds fucking good to me.
 
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