Like all sports, the NFL has become an increasingly year-round affair. The Super Bowl took place just two months ago, the free agency period opened a month ago, and in just two weeks, the best collegiate football players in the country will hear their names called in the first round of the NFL Draft.
The Tennessee Titans have the most leverage, picking first after a disastrous 3-14 season. They’ll be looking for an answer at the game’s most important position — the Will Levis experiment has been, to put it mildly, a failure — and they appear to have zeroed in on their man. University of Miami signal-caller Cameron Ward is an overwhelming -20000 favorite to be the first quarterback selected.
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Who will be the first quarterback selected?
It’s still possible that Tennessee opts not to select Ward, but if it did, it’d be more likely to pick edge rusher Abdul Carter than anyone else. It was conceivable that the Titans could’ve chosen a different quarterback, such as Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, but that looks increasingly unlikely after they canceled a private workout with Sanders and his Buffaloes teammate, cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter, that had been scheduled for yesterday. Tennessee general manager Mike Borgonzi did note that he was impressed by Sanders’ Pro Day display, but Ward is so far the only player with whom the Titans have conducted a private workout.
Although Ward was one of two quarterbacks named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy this season, the other — Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel — is undersized and operated out of a quarterback-friendly offense with the Ducks, so he’s considered a Day 3 Draft prospect and will likely be a backup to begin his NFL career. Sanders finished four spots behind Ward in Heisman voting, so by senior year production alone, the Hurricanes’ leading man is clearly the better prospect. In fact, Ward threw an NCAA career record 158 touchdowns across his five seasons, 24 more than Sanders, against tougher opposition than Sanders did.
The biggest difference between Ward and Sanders is the upside. While Sanders’ elite accuracy — he completed a Colorado record 74% of his passes during his senior season — gives him a high floor, his athletic limitations hinder his ceiling. Ward is an elite athlete with far better arm strength than Sanders, so while he can get overly aggressive and throw too many interceptions, he’s mobile enough to complete off-script, difficult throws if he’s patient enough to let the play develop. He also has some potential as a runner, while Sanders is mostly considered a pocket passer.
Unlike Jayden Daniels last year, he likely won’t be an above-average starter from day one, but Ward should eventually develop into a capable starter. He should be in good hands with Tennessee head coach Brian Callahan, who was previously the offensive coordinator for a Cincinnati Bengals team that helped Joe Burrow develop into the most accurate quarterback in NFL history. Ward is a different type of signal-caller than Burrow — coming out of LSU, Burrow was a more polished passer with a weaker arm — but Callahan has demonstrated that he is the type of coach capable of harnessing Ward’s immense physical tools.
