Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) runs the ball during the second quarter of an NFL pre-season game against the Minnesota Vikings at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Expectations For Cam Ward's Titans Debut

Originally posted on Tennessee Titans on SI
By Luke Hubbard | Last updated Sep 6, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The Tennessee Titans open the 2025 season against the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon. It will be the regular season debut of first overall pick Cam Ward and signal a new era of Titans football.

There are a lot of expectations for Ward. When you're the first overall pick, the expectation is that you'll start and perform right away. NFL teams are quick to give up on their young quarterbacks if they don't provide immediate results, so there's a lot of pressure on Ward to succeed in his first season.

Unfortunately for Ward, he has a very daunting task ahead of him in week one. The Titans will travel to Denver to face the Broncos, who have one of, if not the, best defenses in the NFL. Their front seven is elite at getting after the quarterback, and in the secondary, they have reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II. On top of that, Denver has one of the best defensive coordinators in all of football, Vance Joseph, calling plays.

Needless to say, Ward is going to be tested immediately. So what would a successful opener look like for the rookie?

As Titans head coach Brian Callahan said, Ward doesn't need to be super-human. If he goes out there and tries to make some of the same hero plays he made in college, he's only going to hurt the team. Instead, he just needs to do his job.

Obviously, you want to see what Ward can do with his arm. Can he fit the ball into tight windows? Can he hit the downfield shot? Can he layer his passes between defenders? The answer to those questions is yes. He's done all of that in college and is a large reason he was the first player taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. The real question is, can he handle all the mental duties of a quarterback at the pro level?

80% of a quarterback's job happens before the snap. It's his duty to get his teammates lined up in the right spots, survey the defense, set protections and change plays if needed. It will be intriguing to see just how comfortable he is changing the play and setting his protection in week one. He's talked about how confident he is running the Titans' offense, but there's no way to truly know before he's on the field running the full playbook for 60 minutes.

Cam Ward doesn't have to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns to have a successful debut. He needs to prove to himself and the coaching staff that, mentally, he's ready to play. He needs to know where his guys are supposed to be lined up, communicate with his offensive line about their protection duties and feel comfortable changing the play if he doesn't like what the defense is showing.

Vance Joseph and Denver's defense are going to throw everything at him to try and make his life as difficult as possible, but if he can adjust throughout the game and be confident in everything he's doing, it will be a successful debut, no matter what his stat line is at the end of the game.

This article first appeared on Tennessee Titans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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