5 Cleveland Browns whose stocks are down as Steelers get revenge

3. Denzel Ward

Even former first-round pick Denzel Ward had you wondering what the heck was going on out there.

In the third quarter, James Washington and Duck Hodges went after Ward on a deep pass that netted 44 yards. Three plays later, he was flagged for pass interference.

Pro Football Focus gave Ward a grade of 71.6 to enter Week 13, which is considered good. That said, he’s ranked 30th among all corners. He was hurt earlier in the year, but none-the-less, he was supposed to be among the top 10 corners in the league.

Instead, he gets beat too often or is flagged for pass interference. Hopefully he can chalk up 2019 to being a season that never got on track because of those aforementioned hamstring issues.

He hasn’t fallen off the cliff like some Twitter fear mongers want you to believe, but he’s definitely not as impactful as he was as a rookie.

With a new defensive coordinator in the mix, it’s fair to ask why Ward’s gotten worse under Steve Wilks.