Vikings Select DB Jay Ward with the 134th Overall Pick
Josh Frey
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Following a trade down from the 119th overall pick with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Vikings have selected a versatile defensive back in LSU DB Jay Ward with the 134th overall pick. Ward played four years with the LSU Tigers, lining up all over the defense.
In all, Ward recorded 162 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 17 pass defenses, 6 INTs, 2 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery over his time at LSU.
Taking a look at Pro Football Focus, the most intriguing thing about Ward is that he truly lined up all over the place with the LSU defense. While the slot cornerback role took up the largest portion of his 633 defensive snaps (230), he truly can play anywhere on the defense, also taking 178 snaps at the outside cornerback spot, 108 snaps in the box, and 104 snaps at free safety.
For a Vikings defense that needs depth all over their defense, this selection makes a ton of sense at this point in the draft. Minnesota has Byron Murphy at corner, who can also play either on the boundary or in the slot, but outside of that, it is a lot of unknowns for them. The selection of Ward adds an extra security blanket all over the secondary.
This is the third selection for the Vikings in this draft after picking WR Jordan Addison with the 23rd overall pick and CB Mekhi Blackmon with the 102nd overall pick. The Blackmon pick was made via another trade down from No. 87 with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Vikings still have picks 158, 164, 211, and 222 remaining this afternoon.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.