Very Sneakily, Minnesota’s 4th-Round Rookie Eyes a Vital Job in Vikings Defense

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Jay Ward joined the Vikings in the 4th round of the 2023 NFL Draft. An LSU alumnus, Ward has an opportunity to not just make the team but also to obtain a vital job within Brian Flores’ defense.

Yes, Minnesota’s 4th-round rookie is flirting with a major role.

Currently, the slot corner position belongs to Byron Murphy. Vikings fans far and wide are pinning their CB hopes on the former Cardinal. At this stage, he’s literally the only Vikings corner to have extensive starting experience in the NFL. Everyone else is either a recent draft pick, a recent UDFA signing, or a journeyman. There are no carryovers from the Spielman/Zimmer era.

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Sep 18, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Arizona Cardinals cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. (7) celebrates after scoring on a 59-yard fumble recovery in overtime against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Part of the issue is that Minnesota would likely welcome Murphy being able to play along the outside. Quite often, teams keep their WR1 toward the sideline, so leaving the CB in a similar spot makes an awful lot of sense. Who will hold down the slot if it isn’t Murphy?

Right now, the frontrunner may be Ward. If you hop over to his college football stats page, you’ll see that he’s listed as a corner in 2020, a safety in 2021, and a defensive back in 2022. The categorization diversity underscores an important truth: the young defender has some versatility to offer.

On the NFL’s website, the draft profile write-up highlights how Jay Ward can do multiple things well:

Versatile defensive back with a fearless playing mentality. Ward has good size and length for a nickel cornerback, but he lacks a little thickness as a safety who likes to hit. He can be counted on to do his job in run support from the slot and has adequate coverage talent from off-man and zone. He will make plays when he’s in position to do so but doesn’t have the route anticipation needed for strong on-ball production just yet. Ward takes good angles to the football in coverage and run support as a safety. His versatility improves his chances of becoming an NFL starter in the future.

The brief blurb gets at the intrigue present in Ward. As a college football player, he proved capable of doing multiple things well. Last season, he had 13 snaps at DL, 230 in the slot, 178 at CB, 108 in the box, and 104 in the deep portion of the field. He quite literally lined up at each level of the defense in 2022.

The Vikings are unlikely to ask him to step into the Swiss-Army knife role from the outset. Harrison Smith is still in town, so the rookie can learn a thing or two observing The Hitman move all over the field (“chess piece” Brian Asamoah, as well). Seeing if Ward can provide some early help at slot, though, isn’t out of the question.

Coming out of the draft, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spoke about how Jay Ward can do multiple things well: “People wrote [Ward] as best position at three different positions and they all thought he had starter potential […] If this guy can be a starter at three different positions, it’s pretty likely that he figures out one of them, as long as we have a plan for him.”

Is the plan at slot?

Allowing the rookie to hone-in on a single spot is likely what’s best for his development. The main need within the secondary is at slot, so it stands to reason that the Vikings would at least consider giving him a shot at the position.

Jan 2, 2023; Orlando, FL, USA; LSU Tigers safety Jay Ward (5) breaks up a pass to Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver Mershawn Rice (9) during the first half at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports

Chandon Sullivan was the slot solution last season, but he struggled with the job. The former Packer (and current Steeler) allowed nearly 71% of passes into his coverage to be completed. Despite playing in the slot, Sullivan allowed an average of 12.5 yards per reception and QBs had a collective 102.7 passer rating when targeting him.

In other words, Ward won’t need to be a world beater to represent an improvement.

With roughly $9.5 million in cap space, Adofo-Mensah has the potential to bring in more help at corner. Veteran talent remains even though most of the impact players have been scooped up. As things currently stand, though, Jay Ward may be part of the plan at slot.

Getting productive snaps at slot from Minnesota’s 4th-rounder will go a long way in assuaging concerns about continued defensive futility in Minnesota.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.

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