Grades updated Rechecked every few hours on game days
The read
Denzel grades about average among cornerbacks so far, with no number far from the middle.
Lately he is playing better. Passer rating allowed is 57 over the last 2 games (17 targets), against 113 before that. A few plays could easily explain this. Worth watching, not worth believing yet.
Written from his numbers, not from film. 5 games are behind the season figures.
How he stacks up
Every graded stat at a glance, against all the cornerbacks in the league.
Completion rate allowed9638%5th of 96small sample
Yards allowed per target825.518th of 96small sample
Passer rating allowed687631st of 96
Missed tackles3811%56th of 90small sample
Passes defended per target318%67th of 96small sample
Left is the worst at his job, right is the best, and the line down the middle is average. The bubble is his percentile: 90 means better than nine in ten qualifying cornerbacks. Faded bars are still small samples.
How he has progressed
Where he has ranked among cornerbacks after each week, and every game behind it.
Season rank climbed: 65th to 83rd percentile since Wk 2.
The line is his season-to-date rank among players at his position after each week, from 100 (the best) to 0 (the worst). It rises when he passes other players, not when he has one big game. Early weeks are noisier because fewer plays are behind them. The shaded weeks are the recent stretch.
Yards allowed per target game by game
Week
Opponent
That game
targets
Season rank after
1
vs JAX
8.0
4
–
2
vs TB
4.2
5
65th pct
3
vs CAR
4.2
9
85th pct
4
vs PIT
6.4
8
83rd pct
Lower is better for this stat. One game is a small sample: a single stat over 7 targets can swing on a handful of plays. Shaded rows are the recent stretch.
The numbers, in context
Each one against every cornerback with at least 10 targets. Right on the strip is better.
Yards allowed per target
▲Well above typical
5.5lower is better
18th of 96 cornerbacks · top 19%
11.2worse to better4.2
The yards the receiver he is covering gets each time he is targeted. Fewer is better.
The box score: Interceptions are rare and say little about the hundred plays where he is just covering.
Does it show up in winning? Across 143 games league-wide, teams won 72% of the time when their cornerback was in the best third on yards allowed per target, and 55% when he was in the worst third.
Passer rating allowed
▲Above typical
76lower is better
31st of 96 cornerbacks · top 33%
115worse to better62
The passer rating of quarterbacks throwing at him. 158.3 is perfect for the passer, so lower is better for the defender.
The box score: Not in the box score.
Does it show up in winning? Across 143 games league-wide, teams won 72% of the time when their cornerback was in the best third on passer rating allowed, and 53% when he was in the worst third.
Completion rate allowed
▲Elite
38%lower is better
5th of 96 cornerbacks · top 6%
74%worse to better45%
The share of passes thrown at him that are completed. Fewer is better.
The box score: Not in the box score.
Does it show up in winning? Across 143 games league-wide, a good or bad game on completion rate allowed from a cornerback has not lined up much with his team winning (64% wins in the best third, 53% in the worst).
Passes defended per target
▼Below typical
8%
67th of 96 cornerbacks · bottom 32%
0%worse to better24%
How often a pass thrown at him ends with him breaking it up. A cornerback does this far more often than he intercepts.
The box score: Passes defended are counted, but never against how often he was tested.
Does it show up in winning? Across 143 games league-wide, a good or bad game on passes defended per target from a cornerback has not lined up much with his team winning (60% wins in the best third, 68% in the worst).
Missed tackles
▼Below typical
11%lower is better
56th of 90 cornerbacks · bottom 39%
20%worse to better0%
The share of his tackle chances he missed. Fewer is better.
The box score: Tackle totals reward the player who gets the most chances, not the one who finishes them.
Does it show up in winning? Across 168 games league-wide, teams won 55% of the time when their cornerback was in the best third on missed tackles, and 43% when he was in the worst third.
How he plays
Tendencies: how his game differs from the cornerbacks around him. These are not better or worse, only different, and often say as much about the offense or defense he plays in as about him.
Depth of passes at him
Style
12.6 yds
Is tested deep, more than most cornerbacks. A typical one is 10.6 yds.
5.4 ydslow to high14.2 yds
How far downfield the passes thrown at him travel on average. It shows whether he is tested deep or underneath, which is a role, not a grade.
Playing time
He has played in 4 of his team's 4 games with snap counts, on the field for about 100% of the team's defensive plays when he plays.
100%
JAX
100%
TB
99%
CAR
100%
PIT
?
NYJ
Each column is a game: the share of his team's defensive snaps he played. 80% means about 8 of every 10 plays. “Out” means he did not play; a question mark means snap counts are not posted yet. Shaded games are the recent stretch.
Game by game
Every game this season: how it ended for his team, how much he played, his box score, and the advanced numbers from that one game. One game is a small sample, so read the right-hand columns as a snapshot, not his level.
Denzel Ward game by game
Game
Result
Snaps
Tkl
Solo
Ast
TFL
Sacks
Press
PBU
Int
Missed
Yds/target
Rating against
Comp % against
PBU/target
Wk 1vs JAX
L 10–34
100%
5
1
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
8.0
117
50%
0%
Wk 2vs TB
W 23–19
100%
5
4
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
4.2
109
60%
0%
Wk 3vs CAR
W 21–18
99%
2
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
4.2
45
11%
11%
Wk 4vs PIT
W 27–24
100%
3
2
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
6.4
70
50%
13%
Wk 5vs NYJ
L 12–17
–
7
4
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
–
–
–
–
The box score
The traditional totals, with where each ranks among cornerbacks. A total rewards volume, which is why the advanced numbers above matter.
Ranks are among players at the same job who have enough plays to be graded. Grades and rankings come from play-by-play, charting and snap-count data, so they cannot see blocking, route running or assignments. See how the grades work.
Data: nflverse play-by-play, CC BY 4.0. Also FTN charting, Pro Football Reference advanced stats, snap counts and injury reports, all through nflverse. Calculations and charts by Raiders Rundown.
