Cam Ward has been with the Tennessee Titans for nearly a full season now, and it feels like it’s time to analyze how the rookie quarterback, and former Cougar, has performed.
It’s certainly been a season full of downs for Ward, whose only viral moment of the season was his admission that the team was playing like “ass.” That soundbite came in a press conference following a 26-0 loss to the Texans, which dropped the Titans to 0-4 on the season.
Since then, Tennessee has gone 2-8. The two wins have both been nailbiters, a 22-21 win over the Cardinals and a 31-29 win over the Browns. It’s not a surprise that the only two teams Tennessee (2-12) has defeated are the Cardinals (3-11) and Browns (3-11). The Titans have not beaten any team with four or more wins, and even lost to the 2-12 Raiders. They will have an opportunity against the 4-10 Saints, which is probably Ward’s last chance to earn a third win. Their other games are against the Chiefs and Jaguars.
Ward has slowly been improving after a dreadful beginning of the season. In his last game against the 49ers, he threw a pair of touchdowns and put up a passer rating over 101. He still didn’t manage to throw for more than 170 yards, however, and low passing yards have been a theme for Ward this season. He’s only passed 200 passing yards six times in 14 games, and his highest total came against the Cardinals when he threw 265 passing yards. He might not even reach 3,000 total passing yards on the season, which is unheard of for modern-day quarterbacks who start all 17 games.
Ward has also thrown just 11 touchdown passes in 14 games, not a particularly strong ratio. And while he has only thrown seven interceptions, he’s also lost six fumbles. He leads the NFL with nine total fumbles, six of which resulted in turnovers.
Ward has just one touchdown with his legs, meaning his total touchdown to turnover ratio is 12:13. Yes, you read that right. The No. 1 overall pick has more turnovers than touchdowns in his rookie season.
He was expected to be a dual-threat option with his legs, but he has just 129 yards on 31 attempts. It’s unclear why Ward’s legs have not factored more in the Titans’ offense, as it was a key factor towards his No. 1 draft pick status.
Obviously, there are plenty of external reasons for Ward’s struggles. He is playing for a team whose head coach has already been fired, and the Titans’ roster is arguably the worst in the league. After all, they were bad enough to be able to select Ward with the first pick after last season. Even a superstar quarterback would struggle to resurrect a last-place roster.
At the same time, fans must have been expecting more from Ward at this point in the season. He has not looked like the future franchise star that Tennessee expected him to be, at least not yet.
That does not mean he can’t be a future franchise quarterback. Plenty of current franchise QB’s had poor rookie seasons. Daniel Jones, Kyler Murray, Sam Darnold, Caleb Williams, Jared Goff, Matthew Stafford are just some of the notable passers who had awful rookie seasons but have since bounced back. Even Josh Allen, who just won the MVP in 2024, had a bad rookie season.
Ward will get another chance in 2026, but he likely will need to show something next year to prove he deserves to stick around. The Titans gave Marcus Mariota four-and-a-half years, but ultimately moved on from their last top QB draft pick even after he delivered them a playoff win. How long of a leash will they give Ward, who has not even won his third game yet?
