From zero-star recruit to No. 1 pick in 2025 NFL Draft? Cam Ward’s rise is nearly complete

When the Tennessee Titans make the first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, it will likely signal the next chapter in the remarkable story of Cam Ward. The Miami quarterback is a massive betting favorite (-20000), per FanDuel Sportsbook, to be the No. 1 overall pick. 

The most likely order of the top five picks (-120) is Ward, followed by Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter, Will Campbell and Ashton Jeanty — meaning that the one-time zero-star recruit is set to outpace a Heisman winner, a Heisman runner-up, one of the most ferocious sackmasters of the last decade and a three-year starter at left tackle for Baton Rouge. 

And yes, we fully expect the term “zero-star recruit” to make the rounds once Ward takes the stage with Roger Goodell. 

It’s true that Ward had no stars when he signed with Incarnate Word, an FCS university in San Antonio, in the 2020 class. He chose UIW over Texas Southern, the only offer he reported. It wasn’t that recruiting services had no respect for Ward’s skill — they simply had no idea who he was. Not many people did. Ward wouldn’t have ended up at Incarnate Word otherwise. 

North Texas head coach Eric Morris was leading the program at Incarnate Word when Ward came to camp there. Morris and Texas Tech offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich — who served in the same role at Incarnate Word at the time — discovered Ward during camp season. When he arrived on campus, Ward wasn’t on the cheat sheet college coaches use to evaluate quarterbacks. He quickly introduced himself to the staff.

“The first time we noticed him was at a camp out at Incarnate Word,” Morris said. “We didn’t know who he was beforehand. Usually at that point, especially at the quarterback position, you have four or five guys you want to evaluate in a camp setting, but he wasn’t on that list. Watching him during warmups, the ball was just popping off his hand, and I pulled coach (Mack) Leftwich aside and asked, ‘Who is this kid?’

“From that moment, we knew we’d watch him throughout the camp. He did such a good job we kept him after and had him do some extra work — throwing some field outs and field comebacks and some other throws that are typically pretty hard for a 17-year-old kid to make. It was phenomenal how well he did in that setting, and we were a little confused at the end of it that we didn’t know who he was. It was one of the best camps we’ve ever seen from a sheer throwing aspect.”

West Columbia, Texas, isn’t an easy place to find. The town of 3,644 people is nestled next to the Brazos River, between Houston and the Texas coastal bend, about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Ward was a star athlete in football and basketball, but his stats didn’t scream top football recruit. Operating out of a Wing-T offense, Ward’s senior year saw him complete 45% of his passes for 948 yards and eight touchdowns.

That made the evaluation process difficult for Morris and Incarnate Word. Morris, who played his college career at Texas Tech under legendary coach Mike Leach, ran an offense that drew a lot of similarities with Leach’s famed “Air Raid.” Morris liked the traits Ward showcased, but he couldn’t see them at work in the framework of Ward’s high school offense. His basketball background might have been the biggest selling point.

“You just couldn’t see him do what we were going to ask him to do,” Morris said. “It’s as simple as seeing him playing in the gun, running some RPOs and going through progressions. In this day and age in the state of Texas, there aren’t many kids with that skill set whose high school coach isn’t going to use it. We just started doing a ton of research on him. We got some tape on some 7-on-7 stuff with him.

“We were really sold on him when we saw him play basketball. He’s the all-time leading scorer in West Columbia history. You could see him communicate at a high level and see space. You could see his competitive nature come out — which is one of his greatest strengths. At the time at Incarnate Word, we had a freshman who was an All-American, so we knew we had time to let him develop. We knew the skill set, the size, the arm talent and the competitive nature were there. It wasn’t until he got on campus that it became pretty evident he was going to be a lot better, a lot faster, than we anticipated.”

Once Ward arrived at Incarnate Word, he spent the fall practicing. The COVID-19 pandemic put FCS games on hold, so Ward was able to focus on learning the offensive system inside and out. An opportunity came late in the year for UIW to play against Arkansas State, who needed a fill-in opponent, and Morris put the starting job up for grabs in a scrimmage. Though the game was ultimately canceled, Morris saw Ward transform into the quarterback who will soon be a multimillionaire.

“We were going to play Arkansas State at the end of November and had three weeks to prepare,” Morris said. “I told him and John Copeland that we were going to scrimmage that week and whoever had the better scrimmage would be our starter. I’ve never seen Cam’s eyes light up like that. For the first time in that scrimmage, he put it all together. He dominated that scrimmage and the rest was history after that.”

In 19 games at UIW, Ward threw for 6,900 yards and 71 touchdowns. He was one of the hottest names in the NCAA transfer portal, but he turned down big offers to follow Morris, who had agreed to become offensive coordinator at Washington State. After two seasons in the Pacific Northwest, Ward transferred to Miami ahead of the 2024 season, where he lit up scoreboards and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy race.

“When I was going to Washington State, he had such a great freshman campaign,” Morris said. “It was tough at that point and tough for a kid like that to turn down the money that was being offered to him. It was tough telling Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss he was going to Washington State because of the comfort of being a starter and staying in the same system. The loyalty he showed is something I think shows Cam’s true character.”

Morris remains close with Ward and will join him in the green room at the draft. After seeing his football journey play out from the beginning, Morris can’t be effusive enough in his praise of his most prized protégé.

“He’s a natural-born leader and a natural-born competitor,” Morris said. “This isn’t a guy you need to fit into a box. You’ll have to take some good with some bad. He’s got a gunslinger mentality, but he’s a blank canvas right now that can continue to be molded. I think his experiences up to this point have allowed him to be more ready than most think to take over a franchise and an NFL roster. He won over locker rooms at Incarnate Word, Washington State and Miami. It’s been a natural progression to allow him to be ready to take this next jump.

“I think people need to utilize his skill set for what it is. Andy Reid’s done such a good job of not trying to change Patrick (Mahomes) into something that he’s not. Kliff Kingsbury did a magical job last year of not trying to change Jayden Daniels into something he’s not. Whoever takes him needs to be ready to build off of Cam’s skill set.”