In defense of Jihad Ward

Apparently, the Oakland Raiders’ selection of Illinois DE/DT initiated a firestorm of disapproval and bewilderment. What follows a higher draft pick is scrutiny. Not regular scrutiny, but that seemingly extra novice approach. Before we get to dissect Jihad Ward, let’s clear up a few things.

Statement: His game film is awful.

Answer: This is partially true. Ward does look rather unpolished during times as an Illini. That is a rather fair point. What you may not know is that team was besieged by controversy and scandal for a couple of seasons, which could’ve played a role in his mindset. Outside of being the Big Ten conference’s perennial doormat/laughingstock, Illinois hired Tim Beckman. Beckman, having success at Toledo, was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the job. In three seasons in Champaign, Beckman’s record finished at 12-25. Ward transferred to Illinois to play in the 2015 season. This is where the situation evolves into a mess.

Former Illinois OL Simon Cvijanovic accused Beckman of forcing him to play while injured, never allowing him to have surgery and therefore exacerbating the injury that ultimately led to the end of his playing days. Critics could dismiss this as one player’s sour grapes.

However…

This is the official report from the University of Illinois. It outlines Beckman’s abuse. To save you reading, he basically told his injured players to not tell medical staff of their pain and also interfered with medical professionals while dealing with two potential spinal injuries.

How does this play into Ward’s film? There are times where Ward seemed out of position, struggling to maintain his assignment discipline. That is equal parts his fault and that of the Illini coaching staff, who sat back and let a head coach ruins careers. This could be due of fearing injury. He seemed to relax more when Beckman was fired, but the team hired the offensive coordinator. With the team trust fractured, players began to go into preservation mode. Few had pro aspirations like Ward. This does not excuse his play on film, but may shed light into his mindset. The mental game is underrated in football.

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Statement: Ward’s lack of vertical leap signifies that he is not an explosive player.

This tweet actually happened. There is so much to unpack here. Here is the quick version:

Ward tested with a 25 inch vertical, but a 111 inch broad jump. What does this mean? A year ago, most Raider fans were losing their collective minds over USC DT Leonard Williams. This was their guy, etc. Believe it not, in a side by side comparison; Ward’s explosion and quickness are close to Williams. Granted the vertical is 4.5 inches apart, but the three cone, and broad jump favor Ward. No one is saying that Ward is in Williams’ class athletically, but he isn’t the bum the above tweet portrays him to be. Numbers aside, McKenzie and Del Rio saw enough in Ward to draft him in the second round.

This isn’t a matter of who is right and wrong about Ward’s analysis. The matter at hand is whether Defensive Line coach Jethro Franklin can craft Ward into a talent like he did with Mario Edwards? None of us know that answer. His selection is less than a week old. He shouldn’t be labeled a future bust. Similarly, he should not be fitted for a gold jacket on his way to Canton either. My novel suggestion is researching these selections first, not just parroting numbers from a page. Truthfully, it’s lazy and unimaginative to critique a player in that fashion. Maybe see these picks for what they can develop into, not what they currently are.

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