Cam Ward is no stranger to being doubted and having to overcome the odds. Although the Tennessee Titans recently made him the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, he still carries the mindset of the zero-star recruit that had to attend three different colleges to finally get on NFL teams’ radar. Now, Ward’s talent is finally being recognized. However, even some of his praise is still laced with doubt.
That was the case in a recent piece on NFL.com by Gennaro Filice, where Filice named bandwagons for fans to hop on in 2025. Ward was named as one of the bandwagons fans should jump on, but Filice started his explanation of why with some subtle doubt. Before praising the rookie quarterback, he wanted to make one thing clear: Ward isn’t going to have a Jayden Daniels-like season.
"Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Cam Ward isn’t going to replicate the transcendent debut we just saw from Jayden Daniels. That’s not what this is about. Tennessee’s roster remains underwhelming, and frankly, Ward just isn’t as polished a prospect as Daniels was entering the NFL. But that last part is kind of the draw here."Gennaro Filice
NFL analyst praises Cam Ward but says he won’t produce like rookie Jayden Daniels
That was a bit unnecessary to say, especially when the point was to build Ward up. Regardless, analysts have no idea if Ward will be able to have a season similar to Daniels, because they couldn’t predict Daniels special season. Filice points to Tennessee’s roster as an excuse, but everyone criticized the Washington Commanders a year ago, and the Houston Texans a year prior to that. Still, both teams dramatically exceeded expectations, making the postseason behind special rookie quarterbacks. Ward and the Titans could be next.
In fairness to Filice, though, he did go on to praise Ward, calling the rookie quarterback’s arm talent jaw-dropping. However, Filice believes that jaw-dropping arm talent is paired with questionable decision making, and that’s why he believes Ward is a bumpy bandwagon worth jumping on.
It’ll be on Cam Ward and the Titans to show that the ride in year one can be just as smooth as the two quarterbacks’ ride who won Rookie of the Year in the two seasons before him.