Jihad Ward compared to Malik Jackson and Mario Edwards, Jr.
When the Oakland Raiders drafted Jihad Ward in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, you could almost hear a collective sigh from Raider Nation. It wasn’t as loud as when the team drafted Mario Edward, Jr. the year before and was nothing compared to when the team passed on Michael Crabtree for Darius Heyward-Bey, but it was there nonetheless.
A large part of that frustration can be traced to a reliance on unreliable information. Leading into every draft, you can google search and find hundreds of different scouting reviews and pieces written on draft prospects and where they should be drafted. The problem that many fail to recognize is that not a single one of those rankings are done by employees of an NFL team. Rather, they are done by the media and are NOT an accurate reflection of what NFL teams think of players.
Take myself for example. I graded Ward out as a third round talent, but when the Raiders took him in the second I had no problem with it because I recognize that I am not the expert, NFL scouting departments are the experts. Of course, the media reports should not be completely dismissed, but they also should not be treated like the bible.
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Because of that, we should also take this next piece of information with a grain of salt, because once again, it comes from a commentator rather than someone from within a scouting department.
SO, for what it’s worth, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms was on 95.7 The Game on Wednesday morning to talk about the Raiders and 49ers this season. When the topic came to Ward, Simms spoke glowingly of the physical specimen. He compared Ward to both Mario Edwards, Jr. and Malik Jackson due to his ability to play at multiple positions and do multiple things on the defensive line.
Much like the two comparisons, Jihad Ward is exceptionally athletic for his size and can play at both defensive end and defensive tackle. And also much like Jackson and MEJ, Ward is seen as a project. A talented prospect with the potential to be great but who also has a lot of work to do before getting there.
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