He transferred to Middle Tennessee State University for his junior season, appearing in 12 games with 2 starts, while making 26 tackles, 2 interceptions, 5 passes defended, one quarterback hurry and one fumble recovery.

[5] On March 12, 2018, Ward attended Middle Tennessee State's pro day and performed all of the combine and positional drills.

[9] Throughout training camp, Ward competed to be the fifth cornerback on the active roster against Marquez White, Duke Thomas, and Donovan Olumba.

[11] Head coach Andy Reid named Ward the fifth backup cornerback on the active roster to begin the regular season, behind Steven Nelson, Kendall Fuller, Orlando Scandrick, and Tremon Smith.

[12] On October 1, 2018, Ward made his professional regular season debut and recorded three combined tackles during a 27–23 victory at the Denver Broncos in Week 4 .

[13] On December 23, 2018, Ward earned his first career start after Kendall Fuller was ruled inactive due to a thumb injury.

[17] On January 12, 2019, Ward started in his first career playoff game and recorded four combined tackles and deflected four passes during a 31–13 win against the Indianapolis Colts in the American Football Conference (AFC) Divisional Round.

With 54 seconds remaining in the game, Ward caught what would've been the game-ending interception to send the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIII, but the play did not stand due to an offside penalty by defensive end Dee Ford.

Head coach Andy Reid named Ward and Bashaud Breeland the starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season in 2019.

Ward intercepted a pass by Derek Carr, that was originally intended for wide receiver Ryan Grant, and returned it for a ten-yard gain during the third quarter.

[24] Ward helped the Chiefs reach Super Bowl LIV where they defeated the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 31–20.

[36] In Week 11, Ward recorded his third career interception against the Dallas Cowboys off of Dak Prescott in one on one coverage against CeeDee Lamb.

[37] Ward had a great performance in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Chargers, recording a career-high 10 tackles, and only allowing one completion for 27 yards.

[40] Ward got his fourth career interception and second of the year next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers on an overthrown pass by Ben Roethlisberger intended for RayRay McCloud.

[47] In the week 15 rematch against the Seattle Seahawks, Ward recorded his first career fumble recovery, which he took for 40 yards to set up a Christian McCaffrey touchdown in a 21–13 win that secured the NFC West for the 49ers.

[54] He finished the season, having played and started in every game for the second consecutive year, with career highs in interceptions (5) and pass deflections (23),[55] leading the league in the latter stat.