Titans OC Reveals What They’re Improving in Cam Ward

The Tennessee Titans hope they've found their franchise-changing quarterback in Cam Ward. The 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist threw for over 4,000 yards and 39 touchdowns in his lone season at Miami, and now he's ready to prove himself in the pro ranks.

While Ward may not have been as highly touted as guys like Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence or Joe Burrow were coming out of college, he's still a very polished and experienced player. But as with pretty much all rookies, there's still areas to improve.

On Wednesday, Titans offensive coordinator Nick Holz spoke to the media, and he was asked about Ward's footwork, which like many college quarterbacks, can be a bit sloppy at times.

"You're always looking for consistency in your footwork," Holz said. "If you ever listen to Bill Walsh or any of those guys, it's always the feet tell the story of how the quarterback is playing. There's two parts to that. He's gotten away with it a few times in his career, especially in his college career. Some of those where his feet are off kilter, he can still make those throws. In the NFL, those are normally picks, tips, or overthrows. You can really tell with his feet where it goes, and it's really continuing to build the muscle memory."

Holz expl ained that, at times, Ward has a tendency to fall away from his target when throwing the ball. The goal is to get him to consistently drive his hips towards the target and step into every throw.

"He's somewhat falling away from it, so he's not really stepping into the throw," Holz explained. "You see that front foot not really driving, or his hips not really driving towards the target. You see him kind of rotate sometimes. That's with all quarterbacks. If you're not working towards your target, a lot of times you get those missed throws."

In college, it's easy to get away with sloppy footwork and technique if you're an elite quarterback. But once you reach the NFL, everyone is the best of the best, so dialing in your fundamentals is key.

Watching Ward through the first two preseason games, there have been a few times where he's drifted back on his throws, but for the most part, he's driving his front foot and hips towards his target. He's definitely much more consistent with it than when he was at Miami less than a year ago.

There's always room for every quarterback to improve their footwork, but so far, it seems their work with Ward is yielding positive results.