Jimmie Ward - Pro Football Rumors

49ers Place DB Jimmie Ward On IR

December 20th, 2016 at 6:10pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The 49ers announced today that they’ve placed defensive back Jimmie Ward on injured reserve and promoted rookie cornerback Prince Charles Iworah from the practice squad to the active roster. Additionally, San Francisco will promote wide receiver DeAndre Smelter to the 53-man roster, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.

Although he played safety in college, Ward, a first-round pick in 2014, was the 49ers’ nickel corner, and had started a career-high 10 games in 2016. The 25-year-old had posted two interceptions, 12 passes defensed, one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery while grading as the league’s No. 53 cornerback, according to Pro Football Focus. Ward is signed through the 2017 campaign, and San Francisco can add an extra year to his deal by exercising his 2018 fifth-year option.

Iworah, meanwhile, was selected in the sixth round out of Western Kentucky earlier this year. After being waived at final cutdowns, Iworah was quickly signed to the Niners’ taxi squad, and has spent the entire season on the PS. San Francisco will take a look at him over the final two games of the year, as he’ll play behind Tramaine Brock, Rashard Robinson, Dontae Johnson, Keith Reaser, and JaCorey Shepherd in the secondary.

Smelter, 25, was expected to contribute to the 49ers’ offense after being drafted in the fourth round in 2015, but he’s yet to appear in an NFL game thus far in his career. Smelter spent his entire rookie campaign on NFI, and after being waived earlier this year, re-signed to San Francisco’s practice squad in October.

49ers Place Three Players On IR

December 19th, 2016 at 3:29pm CST by Zachary Links

As the 49ers seek their second win of the year, they’ll have to do it without the services of three of their players. Wide receiver Quinton Patton, linebacker Nick Bellore, and tight end Blake Bell will all be shut down for the year, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes.

Patton (foot) and Bellore (elbow) both went down early on in Sunday’s embarrassing 41-13 loss to the Falcons. Bell, meanwhile, suffered a shoulder injury after being tackled on a 45-yard pass play in the second quarter. In addition to those three, Maiocco notes that cornerback Jimmie Ward (shoulder), center Marcus Martin (ankle), and nose tackle Glenn Dorsey (undisclosed) also sustained injuries yesterday and their status for Weeks 16 and 17 are not yet known.

The 49ers could fill some of these roster spots from within, if they choose. Wide receiver DeAndre Smelter and linebacker Wynton McManis could be candidates for promotion from the practice squad, Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee tweets.

NFC West Notes: Rams, Keenum, Cards

August 23rd, 2016 at 12:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Case Keenum has performed well enough during the preseason to earn the Rams‘ starting quarterback job over No. 1 pick Jared Goff, argues Vincent Bosnignore of the Los Angeles Daily News. The duo’s stats aren’t all the different — Keenum has 10 of 13 attempts for 111 yards and a touchdown, while Goff is 12 of 21 for 121 yards, one score, and one interception — but Goff has struggled with snaps and penalties while Keenum has shown a command of the Los Angeles offense. Additionally, says Bonsignore in a few follow-up tweets, the Rams could be competitive in 2016 thanks to their defense and running game, so Keenum makes more sense for the club right now rather than Goff, who will need some time to develop.

Let’s check out a few more notes from the NFC West:

Cardinals linebacker Shaq Riddick has a torn oblique and is facing an uncertain timetable, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets. Riddick didn’t play a single snap after being selected in the fifth-round of the 2015 draft, and wasn’t even on the gameday active roster until December. However, Arizona has expressed faith in Riddick (and the club’s other young edge rushers), and had refrained from re-signing Dwight Freeney in the hopes of handing more snaps to its more youthful players. Riddick isn’t the only Cards defender dealing with an injury, as fellow linebacker Alex Okafor is set to play through a biceps tear.
Once roster cutdowns begin over the course of the next few weeks, the Cardinals could be looking for help at cornerback, offensive tackle, and linebacker, according to Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 (Twitter link). Linebacker is an obvious area of need given the injuries to Riddick and Okafor, and Arizona’s depth at corner is depleted, even when counting its recent signings of Mike Jenkins (who is hurt) and Alan Ball. Swing tackle is another area of concern, and the Cards have been linked to free agent Will Beatty.
Former first-round pick Jimmie Ward, who spent his first two seasons with the 49ers as a reserve safety and nickel corner, is likely to be San Francisco’s starting outside corner opposite Tramaine Brock, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “It’s looking that way right now,” said 49ers defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil. “He hasn’t really been tested in a game, yet. But he’s done a great job in the three practices we’ve had with other teams and the two preseason games.” Ward played on roughly 65% of San Francisco’s defensive snaps a year ago, and should see that percentage rise as he takes on a larger role.
In case you missed it, PFR spoke with Will Leitch about the Cardinals‘ offseason and the season ahead.

Latest On 49ers’ Kaepernick, Ward, Hyde

August 17th, 2016 at 7:29pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

49ers general manager Trent Baalke denied Wednesday that he’ll have a hand in choosing the team’s starting quarterback, telling reporters (including Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com), “The head coach is going to decide who the starting quarterback is for the San Francisco 49ers.”

While Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert are supposed to be in competition for the job, the former hasn’t practiced in a week because of right shoulder soreness.

Responding to the notion that Kaepernick has a “dead arm” Baalke said, “His arm is tired. To say it’s dead, I wouldn’t make that assumption.”

The GM added that Kaepernick could begin ramping up his activities Thursday. The dual threat has dealt with several injuries since last year, including a left shoulder issue that required season-ending surgery in November. Kaepernick then experienced a turbulent offseason, one which featured him and his representatives pursuing a trade out of San Francisco. The 28-year-old nearly ended up in Denver, but a potential deal fell through after the 28-year-old refused a pay cut to join the reigning Super Bowl champions. With Kaepernick staying a 49er, he and Baalke finally ended their months-long silent treatment toward each other and spoke earlier this summer.Read more

“We sat down a couple of weeks ago,” Baalke stated. “We had a good conversation. Colin is here to compete. All this stuff from the offseason, that’s behind us.”

As new head coach Chip Kelly decides which quarterback will start this year, a significant part of Baalke’s job includes looking ahead. With that in mind, he’s already focusing on locking up young players like cornerback Jimmie Ward and running back Carlos Hyde to contract extensions, reports Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). As members of the 2014 draft class, the pair will be eligible for new deals after this season.

Ward, the 30th pick, has logged 24 appearances and eight starts during his two-year career. All eight of those starts came last season for Ward, who partook in each of the 49ers’ 16 games, totaled 57 tackles, and picked up his first career interception and sack. In terms of overall 2016 performance, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Ward an impressive 35th among 111 qualified corners. He edged out teammate Tramaine Brock, who finished 36th.

Hyde, meanwhile, has obviously shown enough to the 49ers for them to believe he’s Frank Gore‘s long-term successor. Since going in the second round two years ago, the 6-foot, 235-pounder from Ohio State has averaged 4.1 yards per carry on 198 attempts. He accrued 115 carries, 470 yards and three touchdowns in seven games last year before his season ended in October thanks to a stress fracture in his left foot.

Because he wasn’t a first-rounder, the 49ers can only control Hyde through 2017. Ward’s deal, on the other hand, comes with a fifth-year option for 2018, which the 49ers will choose to exercise or decline next spring (if there’s no long-term deal by then). Thus, the 49ers will have the opportunity to retain him for three more years even without a new contract. For the time being, Hyde and Ward are scheduled to count for only small portions of San Francisco’s cap space over the next two years.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Rumors: Chargers, Miller, Bailey, Ward

June 11th, 2016 at 2:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chargers received the necessary 110,000+ votes to place their citizens’ initiative measure on the November ballot for the purposes of unlocking funds for a downtown stadium, Dan McSwain of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

“Most signature gathering efforts of this kind take six full months. We had just six weeks to complete our work,” Chargers chairman Dean Spanos said. “The fact that we were able to collect more than 110,000 signatures in that short period of time demonstrates tremendous support in our community for a new, combined stadium-convention center expansion downtown.”

The initiative calls for $650MM in funds from unspecified sources, which likely means money from the Chargers, fans, personal seat licenses and the NFL, per McSwain. But opponents of the initiative are formulating plans. Some are taking the stance of last year’s stadium task force that preferred to keep the Chargers at nearby Mission Valley as opposed to downtown.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer endorsed that site last year prior to the Chargers’ Carson bid being rejected. But he hasn’t come out in favor of either site recently and distanced himself from the activist group that’s attempting to prevent the Chargers-supported downtown stadium from coming to fruition.

The next step in this process is the San Diego registrar’s office determining if 66,447 of those aforementioned signatures are valid.

Here’s the latest from teams whose statuses in their current cities are a bit more entrenched.

Although Von Miller‘s proposed six-year, $114.5MM deal would bring $58.5MM by Year 3 should the Broncos pick up his third-season option a few days after the 2018 league year begins, the All-Pro pass-rusher’s stance remains firm: he wants $60MM fully guaranteed at signing, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. This protects Miller in the same way Ndamukong Suh‘s $59.5MM in full guarantees did. Denver offered $38.5MM, with an additional $1.3MM in workout bonuses, to its franchise-tagged performer at signing. That falls well short of Suh’s total, although every NFL contract has done so, with Aaron Rodgers‘ failing to exceed $45MM in at-signing guarantees. The Broncos’ offer seems to follow the blueprint the Chiefs laid out with Justin Houston last summer, with the tagged edge defender receiving $32.5MM guaranteed up front, with the carrot of $52.5MM in the first three seasons if the Chiefs trigger his Year 3 option on the third day of the 2017 league year.
Some of these developments — like the Broncos leaking his turning down the offer — have been viewed as personal affronts for 27-year-old reigning Super Bowl MVP, Renck writes. Look no further than Miller cropping GM John Elway out of an Instagram photo (via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, on Twitter) that previously featured Miller, Elway DeMarcus Ware, Peyton Manning and Gary Kubiak at the White House. Renck suggests Miller remove himself from the proceedings to avoid further embitterment toward the franchise he will almost certainly still play for in 2016. The sides have until July 15 to negotiate a long-term deal before Miller is forced to play for $14.26MM this season.
Clearing waivers on Wednesday, Stedman Bailey has returned to the Rams in a non-playing role for now, being placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. The would-be fourth-year wideout appreciates the organization keeping him around despite not being medically cleared to play after being shot twice in November. “I still get a chance to work out with the team and just pretty much sit around with all the meetings and learn what it’s like to be a coach. So, it’s kind of just looking at the game from a different angle, but I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” Bailey said, via Andie Hagemann of NFL.com.
Jimmie Ward has transformed from strong safety to slot cornerback to someone with a strong chance of starting at corner to begin 2016. The former first-round safety earned the bulk of the first-team reps for the 49ers at corner opposite Tramaine Brock at minicamp, Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com reports. Ward rated as a top-40 Pro Football Focus corner last season for his work in the slot. He of the infamous Iron Bowl field goal return in 2013, Chris Davis took most of the reps at slot corner at San Francisco’s minicamp.

49ers Put Jimmie Ward On IR, Activate Smith

November 15th, 2014 at 2:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The 49ers have made a pair of roster moves involving defensive players today, placing rookie defensive back Jimmie Ward on injured reserve and activating linebacker Aldon Smith, per Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. Smith had been reinstated from his nine-game suspension earlier this week, but the team had to remove a player from the 53-man roster in order for him to be active for tomorrow’s game against the Giants.

Ward, San Francisco’s first-round pick back in May, will be sidelined for the rest of the season with a foot injury. While it’s not clear if the injury is related to the Jones fracture Ward was diagnosed with earlier in the year, it’s the same foot giving him problems this time around. Despite entering the league as a safety, Ward saw most of his time at the nickel back position for the 49ers this season.

As for Smith, the Niners had a roster exemption for the returning linebacker, and could have waited until Monday to make a move to officially accommodate him. However, that corresponding move needed to be made by today if the club hoped to get him on the field in tomorrow’s game. It’s not clear how much action he’ll see, but we can expect Smith to make his 2014 debut against the Giants.

For now, Niners defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who is eligible to be activated from the injured reserve list, remains on IR.

49ers Notes: Crabtree, Ward, Gore, Harbaugh

July 26th, 2014 at 4:02pm CST by Rob DiRe

Michael Crabtree is one of the top receivers set to be a free agent at the end of the 2014 season, ranking as the third best of that group according to Mike Sando of ESPN.com. Jordy Nelson, who just received a four year, $39MM extension was fourth on the same list.

That being said, Nelson has officially set the market for Crabtree, writes Bill Williamson of ESPN.com. Crabtree’s negotiations with the 49ers should start at that figure, and eclipse Nelson’s numbers in total dollars and guaranteed money by at least a few dollars.

Here are some other notes from around the team’s camp:

49ers’ first-round draft pick Jimmie Ward has been impressive, quickly acclimating to playing slot corner, writes Eric Branch of SFGate.com. Despite being sidelined during the spring, Ward has caught up rather quickly, and has competed strongly on the defense.
With Kendall Hunter lost for the season, pressure has mounted on starting running back Frank Gore, without a viable backup with experience on the roster. Though there are questions with how much longer Gore can carry the load for the team, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk asserts that Gore could remain effective for a few more seasons.
One of the biggest questions concerning the 49ers’ future, is how long will head coach Jim Harbaugh be at the helm. Harbaugh’s contract brings him through 2015, but if no extension is agreed to next offseason, the feeling is that the team will either trade him or let his contract expire, writes Florio.

NFC West Notes: 49ers, Finley, Rams

June 1st, 2014 at 6:06pm CST by Ben Levine

The 49ers have had some wildly successful draft classes in recent years, and Sports On Earth’s Dan Pompei has a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at the team’s 2014 draft. The author explains the strategy and thinking that went into each selection.

The team’s first-round pick, safety Jimmie Ward, wasn’t necessarily expected to be an early pick. While some teams focused on his injury and size, the 49ers focused on a strategy used by former Jets’ duo Bill Parcels and Dick Haley. General manager Trent Baalke said he learned that there are “few players who can perform at a high level regardless of system.” As a result, a coach should draft a player who fits nicely into their scheme.

“I learned that a long time ago,” said Baalke. “Coach Parcells was the guy I looked at and learned the most from, he and Dick Haley. That was always the question with them, how do they fit what we are going to ask him to do? For us, it’s critical.”

The author has other interesting insight, including the team’s selection of basketball player Bruce Ellington and trade for Steve Johnson.

Let’s take a look at some more notes from the NFC West…

The Seahawks are out of the Jermichael Finley sweepstakes, sources tell Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com added that Seattle was the player’s only free agent visit (via Twitter), but agent Blake Baratz said the tight end had a visit scheduled this past Friday with an unknown team.
The Seahawks handling of Doug Baldwin‘s extension shows that the organization will reward a performing player regardless of how they were acquired, writes Larry Stone of The Seattle Times. The writer says that the receiver is “emblematic of their incredible knack for not only unearthing talent, but for manifesting the Darwinian forces that allow smart, tough, motivated players to thrive.”
The Rams will likely make an effort to extend Pro Bowl punter Johnny Hekker, writes ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner.
When looking at adding veterans, a linebacker may be the most likely addition for the Rams, Wagoner says in his chat. He adds that Will Witherspoon could be that guy.
While evaluating the Rams‘ depth on the offensive line, Wagoner concludes that there are eight players competing for four or five spots. He says the team could also carry fewer lineman due to the versatility of Rodger Saffold, Greg Robinson and Barrett Jones.
Following the announcement of Daryl Washington‘s season-long suspension, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com opines that the Cardinals need to cut ties with the linebacker. The writer believes that Washington’s priorities are “not in line with those of an elite player” and that he shouldn’t be given a third chance following his other suspension in 2013.

Jimmie Ward Out Until Training Camp

May 25th, 2014 at 4:15pm CST by Peter Sowards

Jimmie Ward went to the NFL Scouting Combine in February unaware of a fracture in his right foot. Doctors alerted him of the issue and did not allow him to work out.

His pre-draft medical recheck in Indianapolis on March 25 brought good news — doctors reported that the foot was healing on schedule.

But, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com, Ward is likely out until training camp in late-July due to the injury, specifically referred to as a Jones fracture, which deals with the fifth metatarsal bone in the midfoot area.

The 49ers selected Ward No. 30 overall with knowledge of the player’s medical history, so this isn’t exactly a shocker for them. Ward was in attendance Friday at the team’s opening day of rookie camp, but was only cleared for mental reps.

49ers Sign Jimmie Ward

May 22nd, 2014 at 7:05pm CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers announced that they have signed first-round pick Jimmie Ward, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). The cornerback/safety was taken with the 30th overall pick.

Ward, a 5’11”, 193 pound athlete out of Northern Illinois, finished his collegiate career with 320 tackles, 26 passes defensed, 11 interceptions, four forced fumbles, two sacks, one fumble recovery and four blocked kicks. He was also a three-time All-Mid-American Conference selection and two-time All-American. As a senior, Ward started all 14 games at safety, and recorded a team-high 95 tackles, while adding one sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, a conference-best 10 passes defensed and seven interceptions.

Ward may be undersized, but the 49ers aren’t concerned about how he’ll make the transition to the NFL. “Don’t mistake lack of size for lack of toughness, because it’s not the case,” 49ers GM Trent Baalke said on draft night, according to Daniel Brown of the Mercury News. “He’s a highly competitive young man that’s beat the odds his whole career.”