Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunerdr
I think a narrative got going early on, when Ward struggled with zone responsibility and Breeland came out hot for a few games. At one point Breeland followed number 1s for a game or two. After that i think it became the consensus that Breeland was the guy and ward was the number two, when in reality Breeland is what he is and Ward settled in and has continued to ascend for the most part. If memory serves Ward did have some lapses in the playoffs.
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Ward did give up a bad TD in the Houston game and then got beat by Sanders when Grapes overthrew him (at least it was probably Ward; he looked like he may have expected help, IIRC).
But I know that in the Houston and Titans games, I saw Breeland's guy open a TON. Early on in the game, it looked to me like Corey Davis was going to have a field day because he was eviscerating Breeland. And then he just got lost for some weird reason.
Going into the SB I was far more confident in Ward than I was in Breeland and it was largely based on sitting in the stands and watching Breeland let his guy have space seemingly every snap.
Breeland just doesn't stay in his guys pocket as well as Ward. He has better ball skills and his instincts seem a little sharper due to experience (and not being legally blind), but Ward was just a better cover guy overall, IMO.
I'd take Ward over Breeland every time, contract considerations or no.