Cam Ward was one of the most obvious No. 1 overall picks in recent NFL drafts, but he hasn’t been getting the top-pick treatment from the NFL media so far this offseason. And that’s fine by him.
Advertisement
The first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans is more of a low-key guy anyway. He’s driven, determined, and aggressive when it comes to the game, but he’s generally pretty soft-spoken in the media. Ward basically does and says everything right, which makes it hard for the media to create any narratives about him to bait clicks. But even without the national spotlight, his followers still get their fill of the QB.
His latest workout video has pulled in just under 70k views on his YouTube channel. The video is classic Ward: walking around his old Miami U stomping grounds, working hard, being personable, and of course, gassing up his new teammates. Especially his new WR1, Calvin Ridley.
“That boy there [Calvin Ridley], different. How he moves, everything. Now that I, like, see what a receiver’s supposed to be like? That’s why I’m glad [Titans wideouts] Elic [Ayomanor], Chim [Chimere Dike], Strep [Xavier Restrepo], Bryce [Oliver], all the guys in our room, I’m glad they got him,” Ward said.
For those not familiar with Tennessee’s 12-deep wide receiver depth, Ward is talking about the youngsters in the receiver room. Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike were both fourth-round picks this year, out of Stanford and Florida, respectively. Xavier Restrepo is an undrafted rookie who signed on after the draft, and Bryce Oliver is heading into his second year after latching on with the Titans as a UDFA last season.
None of those guys is higher than fifth on the depth chart, which goes to show Ward’s depth of knowledge about his many teammates. Ward continued to gush about Ridley, praising his football skills but again focusing on the intangibles.
“Because, like, I ain’t never thrown to no receiver like him. Can move like him, can cut like him. And that boy, he ain’t selfish either. He wants the rookies, he wants us to do better than him because he’ll end up getting his one-on-ones.”
It’s an interesting sign that Ward is talking up Ridley’s leadership abilities, as the wideout was never really known for that in previous stops. Ridley was an exciting weapon for the Atlanta Falcons early in his career, with his pinnacle coming during a Second-Team All-Pro campaign in 2020 that saw him catch 90 balls for 1,374 yards and nine TDs.
Unfortunately, his ensuing season was cut short when he took himself away from the team to deal with mental health issues. During that time, Ridley bet on the NFL, which resulted in a long-term suspension that kept him out for the entire 2022 season.
But Ridley, now 30, had a renaissance 1,000-yard season in 2023. That allowed him to sign a big-time four-year, $92 million deal with Tennessee in March 2024. He responded with another solid showing despite playing for the worst team in football: he had 1,017 yards and four scores on just 64 receptions. His 15.9 yards per reception number ranked fifth in the NFL.
It certainly seems Ridley has turned a corner in his personal life. And now, he’s got the quarterback in Cam Ward to help him climb back up the NFL ladder of success in his professional life.
