The Titans are bad. They have one win, a miracle comeback against the Arizona Cardinals, a fellow team going through its own circle of hell this season. They’re currently the lead horse in the race (plummet?) for the No. 1 draft pick in 2026. They’ve fired their head coach. Their offense ranks at or near the bottom of essentially every conceivable metric.
They may have had more fights during games recently than points. It’s bad. It’s really bad. They’re bad. It hasn’t been fun.
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Cam Ward, this year’s No. 1 overall selection (yes, that happened, although the broadcasts may have been distracted) has been out of sight, out of mind for the general NFL consciousness and media ferocity that we generally see with the top picks of the draft. With the Titans not having a single island game this season, not even a Thursday night slopfest to bore Al Michaels, the Titans losing game after game, and Ward not putting up stellar statistics to excite fantasy football managers or move the needle highlight-wise, Ward and the rest of the Titans have been an afterthought for this particular season.
But, even amid the weekly blowouts and embarrassing lapses and weekly fights and coaching firings, there is a quarterback showing glimpses of sprouting. And that growth can continue to blossom if given just a little bit of light to help him out.
Any quick glance at the statistics involving Ward and the Titans this season could be harmful to your retinas (the goggles do nothing). He’s last in classic quarterback rating, last in touchdown rate (and has thrown nearly as many interceptions, 6, as touchdowns, 7), and ranks 30th in QBR. Advanced stats point to the same thing for this season or even when comparing Ward to other rookie quarterbacks over the past decade-plus.
Among 37 rookie quarterbacks with 250 or more pass attempts since 2013 (which is as far back as TruMedia’s data reliably goes for some metrics and nearly aligns with the 2011 collective bargaining agreement that drastically changed rookie pay structure, team practice times and work hours), the company that Ward keeps with his underlying metrics are, quite frankly, pretty bad! Ward ranks 34th among that group in sack rate at 10.4%, about the same as Bryce Young, Blake Bortles, Zach Wilson, and most notably considering what has happened this season, Caleb Williams. He also ranks 34th in dropback success rate, sandwiched in between DeShone Kizer and Young, and topping only Zach Wilson and Josh Rosen. I could keep listing off more stats, but you get the gist. It’s a who’s who of “oh, no.”
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Alas, this wouldn’t be a very engrossing article if I just pointed at Ward’s numbers, dusted off my hands, and said “welp, that’s that, he’s done” with Ward and his career. That’s what makes football players, especially quarterbacks, so entertaining to study, analyze and discuss. Who is making their situation better? Who is being propped up by their surroundings? Is it a little bit of both?
How bad is Ward’s supporting cast?
Rookie quarterbacks who have to play early are generally joining teams that picked highly in the draft. That broadly means they’re joining situations that range from surprisingly OK to bad to more bad to absolutely abysmal. It’s a sliding scale of impact on situation and being impacted by situation for players, especially at quarterback. Especially rookie quarterbacks. This is why, when discussing Ward, there has to be a kilogram of salt taken regarding his numbers. I’m not saying completely ignore the numbers, but context is so, so important for the hardest position in sports. ESPECIALLY when they were playing at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome (or “JMA Wireless Dome”) just a year ago.
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Before getting into Ward, let’s talk about his situation. His head coach/play-caller, Brian Callahan, was fired after a 1-5 start to the season. The Titans’ offense has faced the hardest-ranked schedule, according to FTN’s DVOA statistic (which isn’t going to get any easier going against Myles Garrett and the Browns in Week 14. The over/under total for that game has been set for 33.5, in case you were curious). His offensive line is filled with highly drafted young players and highly paid veterans. The Titans’ offensive line has been, by my estimation, disappointing this season. The Titans rank 31st in rushing success rate and 29th in yards before contact per rush. They’ve had stretches of doing more than enough in protection but I would consider them in the below-average tier of o-lines despite the highly priced unit and encouraging play of left guard Peter Skoronski. (And the Titans’ defense isn’t much better, outside the heroics of Jeffery Simmons, who is having an absolutely dominant year but might not even get a Pro Bowl nod out of it).
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Offensive line and protection, although extremely important, is only one variable to consider when talking “situation.” A fired head coach, who also happened to be the play-caller (and son of the offensive line coach, too) doesn’t really need much further illustration of a situation being less than ideal for a rookie quarterback. But, let’s get to the players catching the football for the Titans this season.
Rookies drafted on Day 3 are generally not asked to take on a large role in their first seasons. Special teams and depth players, with perhaps more of a role in future seasons, are generally the path of most late-round draft picks to start their careers. With exceptions, of course. Why am I bringing up players drafted in Rounds 4-7 in an article about the No. 1 overall pick? Well, who Ward is throwing the football to is a key variable in this whole mess of an equation. So far this season, three of the players who have received the most targets on the Titans are rookies. Elic Ayomanor (who leads the team in targets) was drafted in the fourth round, Chimere Dike (third in targets with 47) was a fellow fourth-round selection, tight end Gunnar Helm (fourth in targets with 44) was another fourth-round selection. (Chig Okonkwo is second in targets. He was drafted in 2022 in, you guessed it, the fourth round).
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That is not to say these players are outright bad and will never become something (all have actually had some moments, with Helm and Ward showing some real chemistry). But, all three rookies are being tasked to perform in outsized roles for the round that they were selected, especially on a team that lacks so much talent to begin with. There are nine rookie wide receivers or tight ends who were either undrafted or drafted in Rounds 4-7 in the 2025 NFL Draft and have run 190 or more routes this season. Three of those players are Titans, with Dike, Ayomanor, and Helm ranking 1-2-3 in touches (targets and designed rushes) per snap among those nine Day 3/undrafted rookies. This is not a normal situation for any quarterback, much less a rookie quarterback! The only other time three Day 3/undrafted rookies received this much playing time since 2013 was the 2017 49ers with Trent Taylor, George Kittle and Kendrick Bourne during Kyle Shanahan’s first season as 49ers head coach. And it was pretty apparent why Kittle and Bourne deserved that playing time (on top of the obvious situation of a rebuilding 49ers team).
Van Jefferson, a player who can safely be called a journeyman at this point, is the veteran stalwart on this team. Jefferson was a player that even the wide receiver-needy Steelers were OK letting go. The 31-year-old Calvin Ridley made only six starts as he’s battled injuries. And he was inconsistent when he was on the field this season anyway (Ridley’s $28 million salary cap hit this season is $5 million more than the rest of the Titans’ skill players — wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs — combined).
Ward shows flashes of brilliance
The Titans show off their youth and pedigree on a constant basis. There are times when Ward is letting a throw go with anticipation, but the ball falls aimlessly to the ground because a wide receiver is stuck to a defender on his route.
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Or even times when a receiver collides so hard with a defender he not only gets knocked off of his route, but ends up disrupting another Titans wide receiver, too.
This is why the situation has to be so heavily weighed when discussing Ward. He is overcoming a lot just to complete the football because he honestly can’t trust any of his pass-catchers to win a route consistently or even get to the right spot. Or just come down with the football at all.
When Ward is kept clean, and his teammates actually get to the right spots, there is some really good stuff in regard to Ward’s processing and ball placement. Just like in college, Ward is willing to be aggressive and has the arm talent and understanding of timing to rip off chunk plays.
Ward can work over the middle, both immediately and while progressing. He also has the arm strength to push balls to the outside. With his fast sidearm throwing style opening up just a few more yards for his pass catchers on RPOs and to the outside because of how quickly, and how early, he can get the ball out.
I think Ward’s unorthodox throwing style makes his understanding of progression and timing get underrated to a degree. His eyes are constantly getting to the right spot on throws, and he even shortcuts reads and manipulates defenders to open up windows.
That throwing creativity, especially when working from the pocket, is Ward’s needle-moving ability. He maximizes underneath throws but also is able to push the football from unconventional throwing angles. An ability to consistently change arm angles, even with less-than-ideal throwing platforms, keeps more routes and the possibility of successful and explosive plays possible.
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Whether it’s to get to a backside dig that he progressed to.
Or to avoid a sack and get the ball to a running back on a checkdown, turning a negative play into an explosive one for an offense that is so parched for yards and first downs.
These creative types of throws have been why I’ve jokingly compared Ward to skateboarder Rodney Mullen rather than another quarterback. Mullen, one of the greatest skateboarders ever and inventor of the kickflip and countless other skateboarding tricks, was technically sound but also pushed the boundaries for what was possible with a skateboard. One of those tricks he invented was the darkslide, which involves flipping the skateboard to grind on the grip part of the board. Ward’s throws feature a whole lot of darkslides. Mullen used every inch of the skateboard to find a new trick and push boundaries, Ward does the same with how he gets rid of the football. Lowering the arm this way, looping the throw that way. It’s an unorthodox way to do the orthodox.
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Ward is like a jazz player who knows how to read sheet music. He has also shown glimpses of real advanced quarterback play in the pre-snap operation on top of his post-snap progressing and execution. He can hold onto the ball too long at times, but he also understands where his potential threats are in protection and tries to find quick answers to mitigate immediate pressures or potential “hot” situations.
This fourth-down drop by Ayomanor against the Jaguars sums up the Ward situation nicely. It’s in the middle of another Titans blowout and Ward is faced with a heavy blitz look from the Jaguars. I kept the entire clip with both angles for this play because I wanted to point out one thing that Ward does leading into the throw and drop.
See that point Ward gives before the play?
Cam Ward is seeing the full picture before the snap. (X screen grab)
He’s telling Ayomanor that if No. 42 blitzes for the Jaguars, then Ayomanor has to adjust his route to a slant. This is because the Jaguars are showing a “four weak” pressure toward the running back’s side, which creates an overload for the three blockers (left guard, left tackle, running back) for that side of the Titans’ six-man protection.
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This is advanced quarterback play! Not every offense gives their quarterbacks the power to point out an adjustment like this (it was good awareness by the Stanford alum Ayomanor as well). It’s a positive sign that not only was Ward given that right, but he recognized the potential protection issue for the Titans, found a pre-snap answer for it, and then executed the throw.
But, of course, it ends in a drop and a turnover on downs. The 2025 Titans in a nutshell.
Ward hasn’t been faultless. He has, at times, eaten sacks as he attempts to work from the pocket rather than attempting to create or get rid of the football. He can try a bit too much, testing the limits of what he can and can’t get away with. He can have an issue with fumbling when he is hit (his nine fumbles is tied with Daniel Jones for most among quarterbacks this season), something that has continued since college and an issue he might always have considering his knack for improv and 9-inch hand size.
Cam Ward’s team is bad. Cam Ward’s offense is bad. Cam Ward’s stats are bad. Cam Ward’s receivers are green as grass. But, there really is something here for a Titans franchise desperately needing anything to give it a spark of life and hope for a future of winning football. Ward shows the intelligence, aggressiveness, competitiveness, arm talent and even downright toughness (and he’s morbidly hilarious as a quote to the media, too) to be the guy for a franchise that needs something.
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As the Titans warm their seat for the coaching carousel, one that features an incumbent general manager and an owner who has yet to show any vision of a plan, much less execution of anything resembling competent, Ward should still be a huge selling point for whoever ends up taking the position in Nashville. And I think a proper coach pairing should pay dividends quickly.
The statistics aren’t there yet and the situation still needs time, perhaps a long time, to improve to something resembling average, but Ward is still worth believing in for a Titans fan base and whoever ends up heading this team. And he’s worth noticing for a national audience that seems so keen on looking anywhere else, including his opponent this weekend, but at the talented gunslinger playing for the Titans.
