The Tennessee Titans are looking more and more like a quality professional football team as rookie Cam Ward has started to grow into his role as the leader of the club, which is a sharp change-up from a 2025 first half where things looked very grim.
Even with this increase in productivity, Ward has some naysayers he needs to deal with as he tries to establish himself as a star quarterback. One executive believes that Ward's ability to pull off jaw-dropping throws under pressure isn't going to be enough to mask what he believes is some below-average pocket accuracy.
“The great equalizer is his ability to scramble and make plays,” an executive said, per Jeff Howe of The Athletic. “Who knows if he’ll ever be strong on schedule? It’s hard to know how much it’s sustainable to make plays off schedule outside of the offense.”
Considering that Ward has looked like a completely different quarterback since Brian Callahan was fired and the game seems to have slowed down a bit for him, perhaps all of the hand-wringing and worrying about his ceiling may be a bit unearned at this time.
NFL executive thinks Titans' Cam Ward has mechanical issues
Ward has been a viable Rookie of the Year contender since Mike McCoy was installed as head coach, as he has thrown 12 touchdowns against just three interceptions in the last 10 games. Extrapolated out to a full 17-game pace, Ward is on schedule to throw for 3,400 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Ward was never the picture of perfect mechanics, but the Titans selected him No. 1 overall with the expectation that his arm talent and playmaking ability were going to uplift a largely feckless roster. Over the last few games, he is starting to make good on his overall potential.
The next step for Ward is making sure the accuracy issues that plagued him early in his career don't return. It's tougher to work on fixing that, however, when the offensive line is as shambolic as it has been and rookie Chimere Dike is your No. 1 wide receiver on the roster.
Ward has shown more than enough to give Titans fans hope that he can be the guy who eventually gets things turned around. Once he tightens up the footwork that can lead to him sailing a throw here or there, fans can finally have designs on taking back the AFC South.