Jimmie Ward, S, San Francisco 49ers
Time with Joe Woods: San Francisco 49ers (2018-19)
2019 Stats: 13 starts, 60 tackles (two for a loss), one sack, eight pass deflections
There’s no way to sugarcoat this: The Browns need safeties.
It’s bad. Emoji Movie-level bad.
With safety Morgan Burnett tearing his Achilles on Thursday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Damarious Randall and Justin Burris heading towards free agency, the folks in Berea need a lot of help defending the middle of the field.
In his lone season with the 49ers, Joe Woods worked with safety Jimmie Ward, and to say that Ward thrived would be an understatement.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ward had his best season as a pro, rated as the tenth best safety in all of football and 17th best in coverage. Ward prided himself on his ability to cover, allowing multiple catches in a game just three times all season including the postseason.
Picking up a safety like Ward would allow Woods to focus more on the front seven, which will be coming up soon…