Pro Football Focus (PFF) announced its top 32 cornerbacks heading into the 2024 season, with the 49ers' Charvarius Ward ranked third in the league behind Pro Bowlers Sauce Gardner of the Jets and the Chiefs' Trent McDuffie.
Ward, who prefers the nickname Mooney, owned the third-best pass coverage grade (86.5) among cornerbacks last season, behind the Bears' Jaylon Johnson (91.0) and Gardner (90.8), even though he was targeted on more than 100 pass plays. Ward had passes thrown his way more than twice as often as Johnson and Gardner.
PFF's coverage grades, primarily influenced by plays where the defender was targeted, took into account the ability to prevent separation and the difficulty in assignment.
Ward led the NFL in pass breakups with 19 en route to his first-ever Pro Bowl selection.
Mooney allowed a 63.7 NFL passer rating, better than former Chiefs cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, Browns standout Denzel Ward, and Gardner, who has twice been selected to the NFL All-Pro team.
The Jets, who visit Levi's Stadium on September 9 for the Monday night season opener, had three of their cornerbacks make PFF's top-15 cornerbacks: Gardner, Michael Carter II, and D.J. Reed, who was drafted in 2018 by the 49ers.
Pro Football Focus' 2024 top-ten-ranked cornerbacks are:
- Sauce Gardner, New York Jets
- Trent McDuffie, Kansas City Chiefs
- Charvarius Ward, San Francisco 49ers
- Pat Surtain II, Denver Broncos
- Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears
- Jalen Ramsey, Miami Dolphins
- Jaire Alexander, Green Bay Packers
- Kendall Fuller, Miami Dolphins
- Michael Carter II, New York Jets
- Taron Johnson, Buffalo Bills
Mooney Ward's NFL journey began when he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys in 2018. He was then traded to Kansas City before the season began, where he won a Super Bowl ring in 2019. Currently, he is in the third and final year of a contract he signed with San Francisco in 2022.
Ward said he left Kansas City because they didn't have enough money to compensate him. Now, we will see if the Niners have enough money to re-up Mooney.