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Why Charvarius Ward Will Be the 49ers' Defensive MVP in 2024

What a weapon to have in the secondary.

Grant Cohn

Oct 23, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward (7) reacts after a turnover against the Minnesota Vikings during the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; San Francisco 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward (7) reacts after a turnover against the Minnesota Vikings during the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
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Last season, the 49ers' defensive MVP was Fred Warner, and the season before it was Nick Bosa.

This season, the 49ers defensive MVP will be someone new. Because even though Warner still is a great player, he benefits tremendously from Dre Greenlaw who will miss part of the season with a torn Achilles. Greenlaw covers up Warner's weaknesses against the run -- he's more of a coverage specialist playing linebacker. And those weaknesses could get exposed.

In addition, Bosa still is a great player, but he's not the player he was before he signed his gigantic contract extension that made him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. He doesn't seem like he has as much to prove anymore. His motor isn't as good and neither is his pass-rush technique.

Meanwhile, Charvarius Ward improves every year.

Halfway through last season, Ward established himself as a shutdown cornerback who can shadow no. 1 wide receivers around the field and make plays. Ward is one of the five best cornerbacks in the NFL and he's only 28. He's in his prime.

Now he gets to play for assistant head coach Brandon Staley, who used to be the Rams defensive coordinator in 2020. That season, All Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey had one of his best seasons in the NFL as Staley lined him all over the field. Expect the 49ers to use Ward in similar ways this season considering he's at least as good as Ramsey at this stage of their careers.

What a weapon to have in the secondary.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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