The Progression of Cam Ward

Mike Patton

The Progression of Cam Ward image

Cam Ward heads into this week coming off one of his best games of the season. The rookie quarterback and number one overall pick was 28/42 for 256 yards with one touchdown running and one passing. Each week, Ward gets more comfortable with the NFL and how it flows. And with how things started to how they are now, Ward continues to feed into the belief of Titans fans and the Titans organization has in Ward being the quarterback to lead them back to success. But how exactly has that transformation happened? 

One thing has definitely been his decisiveness in the pocket. When Ward was preparing for the NFL Draft, many discussed his tendency to hang onto the football, which they said would not be beneficial in the NFL. And for a while, he did so, and it did not help the team. Ward has said in the past that he likes to hold on to the football longer to allow his playmakers to get open. But that did not always serve him well behind a Titans offensive line that was still trying to find its way, leading to sacks and negative plays. But over the last couple of weeks, Ward has seen the play develop and has been more demonstrative, taking the throw, whether it’s there or not, keeping this offense on schedule, which is a big thing. 

Another thing that Ward has been doing is using his legs more. Ward has used his legs less and less over his career, instead focusing on his arm talent to make plays. While that may have served him well in getting to where he is now, it does not always work for him in the NFL. There were lanes for Ward to take off and run earlier on in the season, but instead of taking off, he sat in the pocket and waited for his receivers to get open. The result of that was either a sack or a throwaway majority of the time, as Ward would run out of time to let his wide receivers get open. But as he has gotten more comfortable over the last couple of weeks, he is now trusting what he is or is not seeing and taking off with the football when there are no other options. The result is that he eventually has to be accounted for in the running game, which has led to Cam getting first downs and even a touchdown. Although he does not run often, that part of his game has to be accounted for now and as things go forward because he has shown an ability to make plays with his feet. 

Either making the throw when it is there for him while going through his reads, or pulling the ball down and running it, which was not really a thing in the first ten weeks of the NFL season, Ward looks a little different. The rookie season of Cam Ward was expected to be a rollercoaster ride, and there have been both good and bad parts along the way. But the positive is that there has been tangible growth shown from Ward, and that bodes well for the development of the Titans franchise. We will see on Sunday how much further he has progressed. 

Staff Writer