2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Miami Quarterback Cam Ward
In a quarterback class that is viewed as lacking top end talent, I came away wildly impressed with Miami quarterback Cam Ward. Ward bounced around a lot in his journey to the NFL, starting off at Incarnate Word before a stop at Washington State and ultimately finishing his career at Miami, where he had a heisman-caliber 2024 season.
Cam Ward doesn’t have the rocket arm that we are prone to seeing out of top end prospects, but it’s more than enough to play at a high level. He is very capable of planting his feet and delivering the ball downfield with good velocity when he has the time, he just doesn’t have the power to make the same kind of throws while off-platform, and it shows when he attempts throws over 50 yards downfield.
A pretty big knock in Cam Ward’s game is his lack of consistent accuracy. In the short game, he throws passes that are often catchable, just not on the money, whether it’s a little high, low, or behind his target. He’s generally accurate, he just lacks sharpness. Where he makes his money is targeting the intermediate levels of the defense. Ward has a very strong understanding of depth and it shows when attacking vertically. He isn’t flawless in this area and is still prone to some misses, but it’s a strength of Ward’s. As I briefly touched on, he takes a hit in his downfield accuracy by not having the elite arm to rip throws into tight windows, but he has nice touch and throws with good anticipation in this area. I think his accuracy concerns are valid, but a bit overblown. He doesn’t always set his receivers up for the most success, but he does enough to succeed at the next level.
A big part of Ward’s game is being able to throw on the move and from different arm angles. He is often prone to playing a good amount of hero ball, but he demonstrates some very high highs when playing out of structure. He is a very advanced processor and is a very anticipatory thrower. You can tell he has played in a variety of college systems, he’s very comfortable reading out pass concepts and working through his reads with a sharp and quick release. He is not free of poor decisions, but you take the bad as they come, as there will be far higher highs.
Ward’s footwork gets labeled as a mess, it’s not great, but I think it’s far better than he gets credit for. A lot of his sloppiness comes in the short game. We all saw the clip of him standing still during a pass in the bowl game, it’s not always like that, but things of that nature. It’s much cleaner when he needs to push the ball downfield.
Cam Ward’s best overall trait is his pocket presence and improvisational skills. Over the years, I’ve valued mobility and pocket presence increasingly more, and I think both are non-negotiables for elite NFL quarterbacks. Cam Ward is elite at sensing and managing pressure. He has a very deep understanding of his blockers leverage and knows exactly when to step up or escape the pocket. He doesn’t often bail out of clean pockets, and he is able to hang in and deliver throws downfield.
His athleticism and mobility are also very strong. He’s not an elite athlete, but very good for the position. He’s not as dynamic as recent prospects Jayden Daniels or Anthony Richardson, or even Drake Maye, he’s a very effective runner when given the opportunity.
I came away wildly impressed with Cam Ward. I have yet to watch any other quarterbacks, or players in general, in this years class so I can’t yet compare him to the likes of consensus top quarterback Shedeur Sanders, but in comparison to last year’s quarterbacks, I have him graded well ahead of JJ McCarthy, Bo Nix, Michael Penix, and even Jayden Daniels. Cam Ward has legitimate star potential, and considering the modern quarterback market, I’d be comfortable taking him with a top-10 pick. While he isn’t a perfect prospect, his mobility and pocket presence give him a floor to be a solid starting quarterback while he continues to develop as a passer.