2025 NFL Draft: QB Cam Ward taken 1st overall by Titans, who are striving to be relevant again

When Cam Ward became the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, people watching might have realized it has been weeks since he got any attention.

When a quarterback is the no-doubt No. 1 pick, as Ward has been for practically the entire offseason, it’s usually a big story. Not with Ward, who received maybe 1 percent of the headlines generated by Shedeur Sanders, and even Jaxson Dart. Maybe that’s because of Ward’s anonymous start to his college career at Incarnate Word, or the general consensus that this quarterback class isn’t very good as a whole.

The Tennessee Titans are to blame too, and that’s a reason they drafted Ward to start the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

The Titans aren’t one of the NFL’s marquee teams, and they really fall off the radar when they’re bad. The Titans have lost double-digit games in each of the past three seasons and bottomed out at 3-14 last season. There might be excitement in Nashville about a fresh start with Ward, but it won’t generate much buzz across the NFL landscape. For the Titans to be relevant again they need to be good, and now that pressure is on Ward’s shoulders.

And funny enough, the spotlight wasn’t on Ward for even a minute when he was picked first overall. Everyone’s attention shifted to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ mega-trade with the Cleveland Browns for the second pick to select cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter, which was reported as Ward was being announced as the top pick.

It’s OK. Ward is used to being overlooked, going all the way back to high school.

Incarnate Word has produced two NFL players, according to Pro Football Reference. Running back Jacob Kibodi played one game for the Cleveland Browns last season. He had five carries for 24 yards in the season finale. Tight end Cole Wick got 11 games for the 2016 Detroit Lions and 2018 San Francisco 49ers. He caught two passes for 18 yards.

That’s it. Not even a full season combined among all of its football alumni. Incarnate Word is a solid FCS program, having won four conference championships since the 2018 season. It started playing football in 2009 so we shouldn’t expect many more than two NFL players from there. But it’s still a surprising origin story for the No. 1 pick of the NFL Draft.

The reason Ward started at a smaller college was that he didn’t get many chances to show off his passing talents in high school. He ran the Wing-T offense during high school in the small town of West Columbia, Texas. He didn’t have one FBS scholarship offer coming out of high school.

Cam Ward was taken No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft, the seventh time in the past eight years a QB has gone first overall. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)

(Todd Rosenberg via Getty Images)

For Ward, it doesn’t matter where he started. Ward finished his career with an NCAA Division I record 158 touchdown passes at Incarnate Word, Washington State and a final season at Miami, and is third all-time with 18,189 passing yards. It’s true that this QB class isn’t as good as last year’s or even close, but Ward clearly separated himself. The Titans were strangely secretive about a pick that everyone knew was coming for months, but actions speak. Tennessee’s entire offseason was built around drafting Ward with the first pick; there was no indication that the Titans were considering any other option.

Ward is deserving of being the first pick and the start of Tennessee’s way back from being the worst team in the NFL last season. He is a natural playmaker with a good arm and plus athleticism. His college production was off the charts. He has valuable experience coming in, after playing at three different colleges. There’s a lot to like about him as a prospect.

Many other players got way more attention leading up to this draft, but Ward has the ability to make everyone take notice of him and the Titans once the season starts.

“What I can bring to a franchise, no other player can bring that,” Ward said at the NFL scouting combine.

There has been criticism of the Titans in recent seasons, from their disjointed decisions at general manager and coach, to the roster building that left them with a team that won three games.

But the same things were said about the Houston Texans two years ago, and the Washington Commanders last year. Then they each made a franchise changing pick at quarterback. Those two teams were afterthoughts before C.J. Stroud and Jayden Daniels came aboard. When the NFL releases its schedule this offseason, both of those teams will be all over the prime-time slate. Washington will probably get the maximum amount of appearances. You don’t hear much about those franchises being dysfunctional anymore.

Ward isn’t guaranteed to be Stroud, Daniels or even Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr., but that’s the Titans’ dream. They passed on the two players seen as generational prospects, Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter, to take Ward. It’s a leap of faith. But the right quarterback can turn around a franchise in a way a defensive end or even a unique receiver/cornerback can not.

The Titans’ rebuild is now relying heavily on Ward. If they’re right, they’ll have no problem generating conversation for the next few years to come.

showbizshadows

2025 NFL Draft: QB Cam Ward taken 1st overall by Titans, who are striving to be relevant again

Leave a Reply Cancel reply