Ex-Buckeye Ward, needing a big year, radiates unique confidence
Cornerback downplays ‘soreness,’ says he’ll be ready for Chiefs.
Certain past leaders of BEREA—
Cleveland Browns deep patrols were a boisterous bunch.
Cornerbacks Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield started all the woofing as founders of the Dawg Pound.
While the expansion Browns beat defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore twice in 2001, cornerback Corey Fuller never stopped yapping.
The soul of the 2014 defense that led the Browns to a 7-4 start was safety Donte Whitner, who talked as if he would punch the next Steeler he could find in the kisser.
Soft-spoken Denzel Ward isn’t
like that. Would you settle for him becoming one of the better defensive backs in Browns history?
Ward, who has lost time to injuries in three previous Browns seasons and this summer has been managed through “soreness,” has come back out to play.
On Wednesday, he came out to talk, soft spoken as always, but different somehow. He radiated a quiet confidence befitting one of the few key veterans who MUST deliver if Cleveland is to make serious 2021 noise.
“I’m very confident I can do my job at a high level,” Ward said as the Sept. 12 opener at Kansas City nears. “I feel as though I stack up
with other top corners in the league. I feel I’ve showed that on the field. I feel my play speaks for itself.”
Among top-drafted DBs in last decade
Ward is one of the high draft picks who came of the misery of the Browns’ 4-44 record from 2015-17.
In the last 10 NFL drafts, the only defensive backs drafted in the top five were Patrick Peterson (No. 5, 2011), Jalen Ramsey (No. 5, 2016), Ward (No. 4, 2018) and Jeff Okudah (No. 3, 2020).
The former Ohio State teammates, Ward and
Okudah, are the highest-drafted DBs since 1999, the year Cleveland returned as an expansion team.
Since playing 38 games for the Buckeyes, Ward has started 36 games for Cleveland. He has missed enough time to raise important concerns.
He made the Pro Bowl as a 2018 rookie but sat out three games. He has missed four regular-season games each of the last two years.
What was up with his spending three weeks this summer limited by “soreness?”
Ward said it was “definitely just a matter of being fresh for the season.”
Good luck getting specific information about NFL injuries. “It was just general soreness or whatever,” Ward said before Wednesday’s practice. “You guys saw that I was still working. I was doing things you may not have seen. The main focus is Week 1.”
The 5-foot-11 Ward weighed about 170 pounds when he starred on offense and defense for the 2014 Nordonia High School team that finished as a Division II state runner-up. He was in the 180190 weight range across three seasons at Ohio State, when the Buckeyes went 36-5.
For a fourth straight year, the Browns’ roster lists him at 190, but he hints he is heavier than that.
“I feel good playing at the weight I was last year or the weight I’m at now,” he said with a coy smile. “I’m going to see how it goes over the course of the season. It’s a good weight going into the season.”
He is eager to have a career year without missing time.
“I’ve tried to learn something new every single year,” he said. “I definitely feel that where I am compared to when I first came in is night and day ... just what I do for my body and the knowledge I have now.”
Whitner, another Ohio State guy, was the leader of the Browns’ defense when Ward was a Nordonia senior. The Browns’ sad 4-44 stretch coincided with Ward’s three years at Ohio State. The records have been 7-8-1, 6-10 and 12-6 in Ward’s three pro seasons.
Ready for Chiefs
He talks as if it’s a given he will be ready for the opener. He laughed when someone asked if the prospect of covering speedster Tyreek Hill is scary.
“I have a lot of confidence in my game and the rest of our team,” he said.
Ward’s third season ended strangely. He missed the regular-season finale against the Steelers and the playoff game at Pittsburgh due to COVID19. He returned to play most of the playoff game at Kansas City, a 22-17 loss.
“I wasn’t as sharp as I wanted to be,” he said. “I was out there playing.”
And now the Browns open against the Chiefs. Ward lights up when he talks about an attack as potent as Kansas City’s.
“We have top running backs, a great quarterback, great receiving corps, great O-line,” he said. “We’ve got to show it every day, but I definitely believe we’re a top offense.”
Ward plays defense. His unit, the secondary, is expected to be much improved, but certain things must break right.
One is getting elite cornerback play from Ward.
“I’m definitely looking forward to this opportunity,” said the soft-spoken man, in a way that made one think he has loud plans.