Much has been made about Cam Ward possibly being the most overlooked No. 1 pick ever. Some of that is because National NFL media already disregards the Tennessee Titans, and some of it is because Tennessee locked on to Ward so early in the pre-draft process. Whatever the case, the top pick of the 2025 Draft class is being treated like an afterthought.
That was the case leading up to the draft, during the draft, and now even after the draft. One way it’s currently showing up is in Rookie of the Year predictions. ESPN draft analysts Matt Miller and Jordain Reid recently released a piece answering several questions about the fall out of the draft. Among the questions were who will win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Of course, neither analyst picked Ward. Reid argued that Carolina Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan would win the honor, and Miller made the case for Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty getting the award. In fairness to Reid and Miller, both McMillan and Jeanty are good predictions. They each laid out how the skillset and fit could lead to their respective picks winning the award.
As far as how Ward will look in year one with the Titans, it’s unclear what everyone thinks because they rarely talk about the new era in Tennessee. People acknowledge that Ward is the No. 1 QB in the class, and that Brian Callahan is a good coach for young quarterbacks. Still, no one knows what year one will look like. That’s kind of the unpredictable nature of rookie quarterbacks; it could go great or horrible, and neither outcome would really be surprising.
A top-overall pick hasn’t won Offensive Rookie of the Year since Kyler Murray did it back in 2019. Typically, prospects who go later in the draft are better set up to dominate early. Cam Ward will try to overcome that trend in 2025, as he works to make the Titans hard to ignore.