New Hampshire · W 66-3 · FCS
No tackles.
Pittsburgh · L 13-27
No tackles.
Virginia · L 25-28
No tackles.
Ward has tackles in 5 of Syracuse’s 8 games: none against New Hampshire, Pittsburgh and Virginia.
Nazir Ward
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Played for two head coaches across four seasons and two programs. A game that shows it: 5 tackles against North Carolina — Week 8, 2026.
16 tackles · 1 sack
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Syracuse | 16 | 12 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 4 | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Western Kentucky | 35 | 20 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024 | Western Kentucky | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 62 | 40 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 9): 1 pass breakup, 3 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 5 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | L 18-21vs California | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | W 42-41@ UConn | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | L 26-34vs Louisville | 5 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 31-30@ North Carolina | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | W 30-27vs No. 19 SMU | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 16 | 12 | 2.5 | 1.0 | — | 4 |
Oct. 31 · W 30-27 vs SMU, play by play
3 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 2 of his 3, sacks included.
His game this year: coverage — 4 passes defended in the 5 games with play by play.
How Syracuse’s defense played that day
SMU’s 11 drives: 7 stopped (2 takeaways) · 4 scored. While the game was within a score they held 7 of 10. His pbu came with Syracuse up 3.
5 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
5 tackles, including 1 sack.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Sacked the quarterback for a 3-yard loss on 3rd and 13. Third quarter, down 28-23.
2 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle, including 1 more for loss, 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Ratings of the games shown run from -8 to +13 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
25%4 pass breakupsTackle volume
16tackles this seasonTFL rate
16%2 TFL16 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 1 sack · 4 pass breakups.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| Road2g | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 2.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Fran Brown
Pass share
47.4%
300 pass / 333 run
Plays / game
79.1
8 games
Team sack rate
5.3%
339 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 23 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Tyson Helton and Fran Brown.
Next stop · Transfer
Transferred to Syracuse
