A 25-Year-Old Viking Earned His First-Ever Start on Sunday
Prior to the Bears game, I wrote about the possibility of seeing Jay Ward getting into the starting lineup (albeit at the expense of Harrison Smith).
Not only did the 25-year-old Viking start for Minnesota’s defense, but he did some damage out there. Very likely, Mr. Ward wants at least one play back — a missed tackle when he had a free shot on Caleb Williams — but he demonstrated tremendous timing on his blitzes. Seeing his workload increase appears likely moving forward.
A 25-Year-Old Viking and The Vikings’ Starting Defense
Only a pair of players remain from Minnesota’s six-person draft class from 2023: wide receiver Jordan Addison and safety Jay Ward.
The backup defender has struggled to carve out a meaningful role on defense despite working alongside Brian Flores since 2023. He has been a special teams menace, a phase of football that has put Ward’s speed, length, and physicality to good use. The time may now be here, though, for Jay Ward to get a larger portion of the defensive pie.
Journey back in time to before the 2023 NFL Draft. Consider the scouting report that emerged for Ward.
A previous piece on PurplePTSD relayed the analysis: “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.”
Some ideas to unpack within that block of text, so let’s pick it apart somewhat.
For starters, there’s the back-and-forth between whether Ward is a corner or safety. In Minnesota, that’s a good thing since the safeties often get tasked with playing corner. Later on, there’s a mention of versatility, the buzziest of buzzwords in the Twin Cities.
Consider, as well, the discussion of Ward’s build and affinity for hitting. True, the defensive back could likely benefit from being a bit thicker, but he does have a long build that lends itself well to roaming the skies in the deeper area of the field. And then as a tackler, Ward can lean into his aggression while deploying his long arms to wrap up a ball carrier.
Go ahead and watch the clip of Ward nearly dropping Caleb Williams for a large loss:
Before the snap, Ward appears to be in one-on-one coverage with the receiver to the top of the screen. The Bears sensibly focus their attention on blocking the big boys, failing to allocate a player for a defensive back who appears certain to move backward instead of forward.
But then once the ball is snapped, Jay Ward explodes. Blitzing effectively is impossible without good timing. The quickness with which Ward fires off the snap makes it impossible for Chicago to protect Williams given that the defensive back is an unexpected extra pass rusher.
The issues arrive once the defender arrives at the quarterback. Getting onto Williams’ up field shoulder rather toward the back is an issue. Forcing Williams to move up in the pocket — the place where Jonathan Allen is taking the guard for a ride — would have been far better than allowing him to escape outside.
And after the less-than-perfect angle is a failure to use those long arms to wrap up the Bears’ passer. In fairness, Williams is ultra elusive and quite strong, so taking him down isn’t easy. Still, that was a wide open net and Ward put the puck onto the post rather than light the lamp.
Now, the good thing is that he has proven capable of getting into the backfield fast. In 6 defensive snaps and 21 special teams snaps on Sunday, Ward had 1 tackle for loss alongside the near sack. Not a bad way to push for more opportunities.
Standing at 6’1″ and weighing 190 pounds, Jay Ward appears to be nearing the point where he deserves more playing time to show if he’s capable of being a starter.
