Cam Ward was probably one of the least talked-about No. 1 overall picks in recent NFL memory this past offseason. But what was said about him was that he was a consummate pro, mature, and, of course, talented. Yet through seven weeks of his rookie season, the Miami alumnus has struggled to live up to any of those expectations.
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Ward was the consensus top pick in this past draft. And while there aren’t many other rookie QBs impressing (Jaxson Dart has been quite a ride), Ward has not just failed to impress … his play has been downright worrisome. All that talk about him being a consummate pro, mature, and talented before his first NFL game? We haven’t seen much of that on the field.
His rushing ability has been completely non-existent, but the more pressing issue has been his penchant to turn the ball over. What makes it worse is that at least twice this season he has fumbled the ball without being touched by a defender. That’s either small hands or anxiety or both. Either way, not good. And, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson says that Ward’s performance so far has been comparable to the laughingstock that is Will Levis.
“I love brother Cam Ward. But the same issues we had, and the same conversations we had with Will Levis, and turning the ball over and not giving his team a chance, Cam Ward is (shakes head)… You got to give your team a chance,” said the former wideout on Nightcap.
After throwing another pick and fumbling again (this one was returned for a TD) in the Tennessee Titans‘ 31-13 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday, Ward now has five picks and five fumbles lost. That’s 10 turnovers, which ranks second in the league behind only the much-maligned Tua Tagovailoa.
Johnson’s co-host, Shannon Sharpe, even went so far as to say that Ward is having a worse start to his NFL career than even Levis did.
“Actually Cam Ward is worse. If you go look at the numbers through the same starts, he’s worse than Will Levis… You can’t keep turning the ball over. You can’t keep giving up these pick sixes, you can’t keep putting the ball in harm’s way. Because I don’t care how good your defense is. They can’t consistently overcome bad play from you,” said the Hall of Fame tight end.
Levis—who is still with the Titans on IR after having surgery on his throwing shoulder—played nine games in his rookie year in 2023 and was actually pretty good. That was when Mike Vrabel and his competent staff were still in Nashville, however. We saw how that went once Brian Callahan came into the fold.
But in that rookie season, Levis was clearly better than Ward has been so far. At least on paper, he had a higher completion percentage, threw for more yards per game, threw TDs at a higher rate and INTs at a lower rate, was sacked at a lower rate, had more yards per pass attempt, and had a higher passer rating.
Heck, Levis’ 25 rushing attempts for 57 yards and a score even dwarfed Ward’s numbers, and Ward’s the one that’s supposed to be the dual threat here.
Ward was considered an elite running QB coming out of college. But through seven games he’s only got 14 rushing attempts for 36 yards. That includes zero rushing attempts whatsoever over the last two weeks. We can surely criticize the rookie for not being more aggressive with his legs, but those numbers are so low you have to think that Tennessee simply hasn’t schemed him up any running plays.
Hopefully interim HC Mike McCoy will be better for Ward’s development than Callahan was. We’ll see how the 23-year-old continues to progress (or regress?) next week when his 1-6 Titans go on the road against the red hot 6-1 Indianapolis Colts.
