Few players have made contributions as consistently as Charvarius Ward on the Kansas City Chiefs defense. A former undrafted free agent acquired in a trade ahead of the 2018 NFL season, Ward’s steady play has been a key factor in the unit’s turnaround from abysmal to unbeatable in the team’s recent five-game winning streak. Combined with Juan Thornhill, Tyrann Mathieu, and L’Jarius Sneed, Ward has been able to make the Chiefs’ secondary one of the most impenetrable components of arguably the hardest team in the league to beat.
Recent performances by the fourth-year cornerback have started turning heads, drawing attention from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats Twitter account after a stellar showing against Denver on Sunday. According to the official account, Ward allowed just two receptions for 19 yards in Kansas City’s win over the Broncos, allowing the lowest completion percentage of any defensive back in 2021 that has seen a minimum of 40 targets.
Check out the tweet here, which was published just after the team’s most recent win:
Charvarius Ward allowed just 2 receptions for 19 yards on 7 targets as the nearest defender in the #Chiefs 22-9 victory over the Broncos.
Ward has allowed the lowest completion percentage (40.0%) this season among DB (min. 40 targets).#DENvsKC | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/yfsOgkVfye
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 6, 2021
By the estimation of Next Gen Stats, Ward is also among the top defensive backs in opposing passer rating, yards per target, and expected completion percent in the seven games he’s started this season. These factors are crucial to keeping quarterbacks from exploiting weaknesses in Kansas City’s defense and imply that the field is effectively cut in half when Ward is in coverage on a given down.
Trending up and with a full head of steam guiding him into the most important stretch of the Chiefs’ 2021 campaign, Ward is in a position to become one of the brightest stars on one of the most exciting teams in football. If he had come down with one or both of the near-interceptions that came his way against the Broncos, he might have gotten player of the game honors for his effort in the win.
The 25-year-old corner has plenty of room left to improve, but these positive strides are encouraging. As excited as fans should be for the way he’s played this season, the more compelling aspect of his breakout this year is what it could mean moving forward. Ward is only under contract through the remainder of the 2021 NFL season and if he continues to perform like one of the NFL’s best, he might price himself out of an extension with Kansas City. As far as the immediate future is concerned, expect Ward to continue to cause problems for opposing receivers.
