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Welcome to Houston Jimmie Ward.

The Titans have been busy releasing left tackle Taylor Lewan, center Ben Jones, receiver Robert Woods, linebacker Zach Cunningham, and kicker Randy Bullock since the end of the regular season..........and now Bud Dupree.
 
The Titans have been busy releasing left tackle Taylor Lewan, center Ben Jones, receiver Robert Woods, linebacker Zach Cunningham, and kicker Randy Bullock since the end of the regular season..........and now Bud Dupree.
Really not sure what the Titans plan is moving forward. They need a QB honestly
 
Maybe I looked at the wrong film, but Pitre appeared to get better later in the season. And he is also very self-aware that he needs to clean it up, so I would expect it to be a non-issue next season.

I hope so… maybe getting less opportunities will help decrease the missed tackles as well. LBs need to improve!
 
DR has discussed how they do tackling practice etc at 49'ers, I expect the whole team to be better in that area. I think it was in his intro, and he said he mentioned it during his interviews
Our tackling has been subpar with a few exceptions.
Force a few more three and outs and fumbles per game and it will definitely increase our chances of winning.
 
Ward not will not be our best cornerback................he will have to settle for being one of our best safeties, if not our best safety.

DeMeco said he's going to play Ward at safety.


“Jimmie has been very fun to work with because he’s jumped into that nickel role, and he thrived in the role, made probably more plays than he’s made playing safety, so Jimmie can play anywhere, but I’m going to play him at safety.”


 
DeMeco Ryans’ vision for Texans’ Jimmie Ward: ‘I’m going to play him at safety’

PHOENIX – When the San Francisco 49ers needed reinforcements in their secondary, they shifted safety Jimmie Ward to nickel cornerback.

It wasn’t a secret that Ward didn’t love the move, preferring to play his natural safety position. He wound up battling injuries, playing a dozen games after starting the season on injured reserve with a hamstring problem and missed another game due to a broken left hand and finished the season with 50 tackles, three interceptions and a forced fumble.

Now that Ward, 31, has joined the Texans on a two-year, $13 million contract that reunites him with coach DeMeco Ryans, his defensive coordinator in San Francisco, he won’t have to worry about playing nickel again. Ryans plans to deploy Ward strictly at safety.

“Of course, everyone knows Jimmie wants to play safety,” Ryans said at the NFL owners meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. But in talking to Jimmie last year, I always told him, when you play the nickel position and you can play the safety position, it just opens up a lot more avenues for you, and that’s what it’s done for Jimmie.

“Jimmie has been very fun to work with because he’s jumped into that nickel role, and he thrived in the role, made probably more plays than he’s made playing safety, so Jimmie can play anywhere, but I’m going to play him at safety.”

Ward has 451 career tackles, seven interceptions, three sacks and seven forced fumbles in 106 games.

A former first-round draft pick from Northern Illinois, Ward is an experienced player who can help teach Ryans’ defense to younger players.

“Initially you want to bring guys in who know exactly how I want things done, how our culture will be set,” Ryans said. “You want to bring those guys in but also knowing it doesn’t just work that day. To be able to get a guy like Jimmie Ward is very vital for our defense. Jimmie is a guy, he plays safety in our scheme. He’s played nickel. Jimmie is a veteran guy who’s played a lot of football. With the younger guys that we have, we have a very young group, young nucleus of players who are talented.

“I feel like Jimmie can come in and just help those guys, aside from the football aspect but also just off the field, just how to be a true pro. That’s what Jimmie provides and brings to those guys, and excited to get a guy who can do it and the leadership role he can provide off the field, and on the field Jimmie is still playing football at a high level. So, to add a safety who can make dynamic plays for us was very vital.”
 
DeMeco Ryans’ vision for Texans’ Jimmie Ward: ‘I’m going to play him at safety’

PHOENIX – When the San Francisco 49ers needed reinforcements in their secondary, they shifted safety Jimmie Ward to nickel cornerback.

It wasn’t a secret that Ward didn’t love the move, preferring to play his natural safety position. He wound up battling injuries, playing a dozen games after starting the season on injured reserve with a hamstring problem and missed another game due to a broken left hand and finished the season with 50 tackles, three interceptions and a forced fumble.

Now that Ward, 31, has joined the Texans on a two-year, $13 million contract that reunites him with coach DeMeco Ryans, his defensive coordinator in San Francisco, he won’t have to worry about playing nickel again. Ryans plans to deploy Ward strictly at safety.

“Of course, everyone knows Jimmie wants to play safety,” Ryans said at the NFL owners meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. But in talking to Jimmie last year, I always told him, when you play the nickel position and you can play the safety position, it just opens up a lot more avenues for you, and that’s what it’s done for Jimmie.

“Jimmie has been very fun to work with because he’s jumped into that nickel role, and he thrived in the role, made probably more plays than he’s made playing safety, so Jimmie can play anywhere, but I’m going to play him at safety.”

Ward has 451 career tackles, seven interceptions, three sacks and seven forced fumbles in 106 games.

A former first-round draft pick from Northern Illinois, Ward is an experienced player who can help teach Ryans’ defense to younger players.

“Initially you want to bring guys in who know exactly how I want things done, how our culture will be set,” Ryans said. “You want to bring those guys in but also knowing it doesn’t just work that day. To be able to get a guy like Jimmie Ward is very vital for our defense. Jimmie is a guy, he plays safety in our scheme. He’s played nickel. Jimmie is a veteran guy who’s played a lot of football. With the younger guys that we have, we have a very young group, young nucleus of players who are talented.

“I feel like Jimmie can come in and just help those guys, aside from the football aspect but also just off the field, just how to be a true pro. That’s what Jimmie provides and brings to those guys, and excited to get a guy who can do it and the leadership role he can provide off the field, and on the field Jimmie is still playing football at a high level. So, to add a safety who can make dynamic plays for us was very vital.”
Whoa... took awhile but finally got a "culture" quote.
 
Curious as to how Ward and Pitre will be used. Just based on what I know about Ward I imagine they’ll have Pitre more as the FS and Ward down in the box. I’m not sure if that’s right what do y’all think
 
Curious as to how Ward and Pitre will be used. Just based on what I know about Ward I imagine they’ll have Pitre more as the FS and Ward down in the box. I’m not sure if that’s right what do y’all think

I hope Demeco will figure out some way to creatively make use of both of their talents to maximize them. What that is... that's beyond my pay grade.
 
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I hope Demeco will figure out some way to creatively make use of both of their talents to maximize them. What that is... that's beyond my pay grade.
Texans seem to be showing some interest in safeties and Corners in this draft - perhaps not in the high rounds so may be looking for depth or may be envisioning playing with nickels a lot of the time.
A strong pair of Safties like Pitre and Ward should give them some flexibility subbing in for the corners on some plays so adding another talented DB would be ideal.
 
Texans seem to be showing some interest in safeties and Corners in this draft - perhaps not in the high rounds so may be looking for depth or may be envisioning playing with nickels a lot of the time.
A strong pair of Safties like Pitre and Ward should give them some flexibility subbing in for the corners on some plays so adding another talented DB would be ideal.
Oh they’ll definitely play a lot of nickel. Nickel is basically the base defense in the NFL nowadays. I like our DB room with Tavierre, Pitre, Ward, Stingley, King, and Nelson but we definitely should be injecting some more youth there ASAP.
 
Oh they’ll definitely play a lot of nickel. Nickel is basically the base defense in the NFL nowadays. I like our DB room with Tavierre, Pitre, Ward, Stingley, King, and Nelson but we definitely should be injecting some more youth there ASAP.

Agreed. Pitre and Stingley are the only two under contract longer than two years. Need to have replacements ready, especially next season when Nelson’s contract expires. It would be much less expensive to fill that position with a 3rd/4th round rookie contract instead of CB2 FA money.

I really like seeing their interest in Julius Brents. He would be a great compliment to Stingley.
 
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