2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Cam Ward

Last Updated: 3/14/2025

Career Stats 

Summary  

Cam Ward’s path to the NFL draft has been a long and turbulent one, going from Southland Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year to Heisman finalist. Within this path, we saw him set a plethora of records, including single-season passing records of 47 passing touchdowns at Incarnate Word in 2021. He concluded his career at Miami via Washington State, and in his lone season at Miami, he set three single-season records in yards (4,313), touchdowns (39) and completion percentage (67.2). He finished his college career with 178 touchdowns. 

Ward is not the tallest quarterback, standing only 6-foot-2, but he excels at scanning and processing the entire field. His powerful, thick frame allows him to stand tall in the pocket and absorb contact while still delivering the ball. Within the pocket, he can alter his arm angles and base to deliver the ball quickly on RPO play concepts, but this disconnection of his base and upper body results in errant throws at times. His pocket awareness is solid, displaying the mobility to step up or bail out of the pocket to extend plays, sometimes to a fault. Even though he extends plays with his legs, he is not looking to run first and is always keeping his eyes downfield. He also shows the wherewithal to limit negative plays by throwing the ball away if nothing is there. Although Ward is mobile, he is not a scrambler, he can evade pressure and stress a defense on short-yardage downs but is not winning a rushing crown anytime soon. 

In the short-to-intermediate areas of the field, Ward is surgical at times. He is a quick decision-maker who can process defenses prior to the snap, allowing him to know exactly where to go with the ball. His compact and quick throwing motion is paired with plenty of strength, which generates plenty of velocity. This allows him to put the ball into tight windows in the middle of the field. He also displays the touch to layer in throws over linebackers and in front of safeties. One area he could improve is ball placement. A good amount of his throws are on target, but we also see plenty of balls a little behind or high, limiting the run-after-catch aspect. Despite all of his natural traits, his inconsistent mechanics cause his accuracy to slip, especially in the deeper areas of the field. We see him overthrow and even underthrow players at times, especially on the run. This is an area he can improve since the natural arm strength is there, but he will need to clean up his base and mechanics to unlock it. 

Overall, Ward is a natural playmaker who can distribute the ball to most of the field accurately, but consistency is the issue. The ability to make every throw has been displayed, but he has plenty of poor throws on tape to raise concerns. He will need to refine his synchronization of his upper body and base to resolve this and become a long-time starter at the next level. He is a gamer, though. There are some doubting this after him leaving the Pop Tarts Bowl at halftime, but I don’t doubt Ward’s competitiveness.

Strengths 

• Natural playmaker 
• Intermediate accuracy 
• Arm strength 
• Mobility 

Weakness 

• Consistency 
• Mechanics 
• Pushing the ball down field 

Honors and Awards 

• Davey O’Brien Award winner (2024)
• Manning Award (2024)
• Consensus First-Team All-American (2024)
• ACC Player of the Year (2024)
• ACC Offensive Player of the Year (2024)
• First-Team All-ACC (2024)
• All-Pac-12 Conference Honorable Mention (2023)
• Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Semifinalist (2023)
• All-Pac-12 Conference Honorable Mention (2022)
• Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Semifinalist (2022)
• Second-Team All-American, STATS Perform (2021)
• Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year (2021)
• Hero Sports FCS Sophomore All-American (2021)

 Athletic Testing 

• 40-yard dash: TBD
• Vertical: TBD
• Broad Jump: TBD
• Three-cone: TBD
• Shuttle: TBD
• Bench: TBD

NFL Role Prediction

• Winning Starter 

Fantasy Outlook 

Ward lacks the rushing upside that we covet in fantasy, but it feels like he will become a consistent QB2 – think Kirk Cousins or Tua Tagovailoa. He is more than capable of getting the ball into his playmakers’ hands, allowing them to aid him in creating yardage. His surgical nature in tight areas of the field will allow him to throw plenty of touchdowns, which will buoy his fantasy value. This will allow you to plug and play him in most superflex formats, but he is more of a question mark in 1QB formats. 

Player Comparisons 

• Geno Smith 
• Baker Mayfield 
• Jordan Love