2025 NFL Draft: Cam Ward’s dominant pro day performance leaves Titans no choice with No. 1 pick

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Cam Ward solidified himself as the No. 1 overall pick on Monday afternoon at the University of Miami Pro Day. Even his toughest critics — and those critics are tougher to find these days — would concede that he put on a show during his throwing session, even by the sometimes-inflated measuring stick of a scripted pro day.

Ward showed off an arm that’s better in person than it is on tape, a quick release that has the ball explode out of his hand with such velocity that it seems like an optical illusion, and the touch on intermediate and deep throws that consistently found their targets, often in spots where only they had a chance to make a play on the ball.

And to be clear: when I say “an arm that’s better in person than it is on tape,” that’s not a backhanded compliment; I thought Ward had a really good arm. But seeing it live was a different experience. In fact, I’d rate it in the same conversation as Will Levis or Anthony Richardson, the two QBs who came out two years ago, and the two QBs who were considered to have cannons affixed to their right shoulders. The difference, especially when compared to Levis, is that Cam makes everything look easy. 

He flicks his wrist and the ball travels 30 yards on a rope. He can play off-platform and out of structure and do it with what feels like a heart rate that never climbs about 50 beats per minute … and then he’ll deliver a seed down the field. 

It’s almost as if Ward is too laid back at times, which is in stark contrast to the scouting report of the quarterback he’s likely to replace in Levis, who had all the physical tools but was consistently frenetic in the pocket, to the point that he was benched last season for Mason Rudolph.

And look, there’s no guarantee that Ward will be better than Levis, or Richardson or any of the other two first-rounders in that class or the six first-rounders in last year’s class. But you certainly feel like he’s going to give you a great chance based on his success at three stops in college — Incarnate Word, Washington State and Miami — and the process he made each season. 

Then, of course, there are the aforementioned physical tools. But perhaps most importantly, it’s his mindset. He’s a supremely confident kid, and in the exact way you want your young franchise quarterback to be confident. He can make a mistake, be both unfazed by it and learn from it, and then come right back on the next series and make a play that only a handful of people on the planet would even consider attempting. 

For an idea of Ward’s demeanor, I can not encourage you enough to watch this interview from his pro day from our newest colleague, former Titans general manager Ran Carthon, who might also be joining me for upcoming episodes on “With the First Pick”:

I know we — fans, the media, even teams — can put way too much stock in a shorts-and-T-shirt throwing session. It happened with Johnny Manziel back in 2014, and it happened with Zach Wilson more recently. But Manziel was dealing with off-field issues and Wilson was an example of a QB-needy team trying to convince itself that Wilson could be that guy even if his college tape didn’t consistently show it. 

Ward’s tape shows exactly that, especially in 2024. And while there are concerns that he sometimes tried to do too much, he got better at playing on time as the season progressed. Those are fair concerns, by the way; it was the knock on Caleb Williams coming out of USC in 2023 — that there was too much hero ball and not enough of running the offense, in part because USC’s offensive line wasn’t very good and in part because Williams was the type of special talent who can lift everyone around him with his out-of-structure playmaking abilities.

And that’s Ward’s game too, but it comes with the caveat that while it works in college, it’s not going to fly at the next level. Then the question becomes, how quickly can you coach that out of him to avoid what Williams went through during his rookie season in Chicago. In Williams’ defense, by the final month of the season, he looked like a different player, one who was much more comfortable, less likely to unnecessarily hold the ball, and not try to hit a home run on every play.

If the Titans draft Ward No. 1 overall (and I don’t know what would have to happen for them not to), they’ve spent free agency fixing their biggest issue: the offensive line. They drafted Peter Skoronski and JC Latham in the first round in back-to-back drafts, then in free agency they signed former Steelers left tackle Dan Moore Jr. and former Lions guard Kevin Zeitler. There are still needs, especially when it comes to finding an explosive wide receiver, but there is no better friend to a young quarterback than a competent offensive line and a solid running game, especially a young QB who has proven that he can win with his athleticism when a play breaks down.

For months we have collectively — and almost robotically — repeated that if Ward was in last year’s draft class, he’d likely be no higher than QB4 or QB5. Two things: 

1) The last two years, the “With the First Pick” RV has hit the pro day trail to see C.J. Stroud, Young, Levis, Richardson, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye all work out. Ward’s was the cleanest and it might not be close. 

2) After what Ward put on tape last fall coupled with Monday’s pro day performance, these are my updated QB rankings for the last two draft cycles (to be clear: these are the rankings based on their pre-draft evaluations):

1.  Caleb Williams
2.  Jayden Daniels
3.  Cam Ward
4.  Drake Maye
5.  Michael Penix Jr.
6.  J.J. McCarthy
7.  Bo Nix

This list might comes back to haunt me, but that’s a risk I’m happy to take.