ClutchPoints
Not everyone is high on Cam Ward entering the 2025 NFL season. Despite the hype surrounding the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, some are hesitant to go all-in on the Tennessee Titans’ rookie quarterback, given Caleb Williams’ struggles in 2024.
Williams was touted as the league’s next quarterback super prospect, but struggled, averaging just 6.3 yards per pass and taking a league-high 68 sacks. An anonymous NFL executive sees much of the same issues with Ward, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Turron Davenport.
“Rival teams see work to be done,” Fowler and Davenport wrote about Ward. “One executive with an NFL team who has scouted Ward this preseason said he’s a ‘very gifted thrower’ but ‘has a tough time reading defenses vs. pressure’ and ‘likes to hold the ball’ — similar criticisms that Williams faced in Chicago this past year. The difference is that Williams is widely considered the better passer.”
Ward’s criticism of holding the ball too long is often attributed to quarterbacks who develop reputations as highlight-reel playmakers in college. Similar prospects develop a penchant for trying to scramble and make the big play instead of throwing the ball away, a tactic that can create a viral social media clip, but more often leads to a punishing sack in the NFL.
The Titans seem aware that Ward will have his share of struggles, but they are willing to ride them out. Fowler and Davenport added that head coach Brian Callahan wants to be “consistent” with his quarterback “through triumph and turbulence.”
As the two most recent No. 1 picks, comparisons between Ward and Williams were inevitable. Both players take over struggling organizations with the expectation that they will immediately improve their respective teams.
In Williams’ case, he led the Bears to a strong 4-2 start before fizzling out. Chicago came out of its Week 7 bye with a 10-game losing streak that functionally ended its 2024 campaign. Six games into the skid, the team fired head coach Matt Eberflus to make room for the hiring of Ben Johnson two months later. Fans believe that Johnson, a renowned offensive-minded coach, will be the key to unlocking Williams’ potential.
Unlike Williams, Ward will begin his career under the tutelage of the offensive-minded Callahan. The second-year head coach secured his current position after serving as the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator for five successful years.
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