NFL coaches compare Cam Ward to quarterbacks drafted in 2024

Barring what would be a shocking development, the Tennessee Titans are expected to officially make Miami quarterback Cam Ward the first overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night. 

For a piece published Tuesday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated spoke with unnamed coaches about how Ward compares to the six signal-callers drafted in the first round of the player-selection process last spring. 

"I don’t think the class is very good," an AFC assistant coach told Breer. "I think it’s a lot like the 2022 class, with maybe the exception of Cam Ward. But he’s gonna go first overall. And if you put him in last year’s class, he’s sixth or seventh [overall] for me."

Quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye went off the board with the first three picks of the 2024 draft. The Atlanta Falcons shocked many within the football community when they grabbed Michael Penix Jr. at choice No. 8. J.J. McCarthy then went to the Minnesota Vikings at No. 10 before the Denver Broncos made Bo Nix the draft's 12th pick. 

Daniels won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award after he guided his Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. Nix also participated in the postseason tournament this past January. 

While Ward is seen as the consensus top quarterback in this year's class, some have him ranked as low as seventh among the signal-callers who were drafted last year. Back on April 4, ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller wrote that zero passers in the 2025 class have "a true first-round grade" based on "this past season's tape or the predraft circuit." 

Nevertheless, Breer thinks the Titans will take Ward at No. 1 and then make him "the guy from the day he’s drafted, for better or worse." It seems unlikely Tennessee would start 2023 second-round draft pick Will Levis over Ward this coming September. 

"He’s behind the top guys last year," an NFC coordinator told Breer about Ward. "Where he’d fit, for me, would be after Penix, in that J.J. [McCarthy]/Bo [Nix] range. There’s a lot to like. I don’t know the character as much, but he likes football. His teammates like him. I can see where you’d have a vision for him."

One wonders if those currently running the Titans will ultimately regret taking Ward at No. 1 over Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter and Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter, the advertised blue-chip prospects in this year's class.