With just below a month till the 2025 NFL Draft we now have a reasonably good thought of who the Titans are going to take with the No. 1 total choose. All indicators are pointing to Miami QB Cam Ward having his identify known as first, with the Titans spending ample time with Ward at his professional day on Monday, paired with the compulsory dinner with the prospect — all issues that occur when a group is zeroing in on a participant.
Because of this Ward is now the runaway favourite to be the No. 1 choose, being given -750 odds on Fanduel, with Abdul Carter being the next-closest choose at +500.
Choosing Ward is the apparent choose. The clear choice. It’s additionally completely the flawed transfer, and the Titans are going to screw this up. What is going to ensue is a spin marketing campaign to speak up Ward, and the Titans desperately attempt to transfer away from their now-infamous remark that the group wouldn’t move on a “generational expertise” with the No. 1 choose. Truly they’ll move on two in Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, as an alternative reaching for arguably the worst quarterback prospect taken with a No. 1 total choose — perhaps ever.
None of that is to say that Ward might be a nasty NFL quarterback. Actually, there’s each likelihood he might be fairly good. The issue is that you simply don’t draft “fairly good” with the No. 1 choose. It’s a must to discover a transformative expertise that may flip a franchise round, and Cam Ward merely isn’t it — however that is patently on model for a Titans group adept at whiffing on talent place gamers with their early picks.
Regardless of having 4 normal managers within the final 20 years, the Titans can solely boast early spherical success with three talent place gamers since 2005: RB Chris Johnson in 2008, RB Derrick Henry in 2016, and WR A.J. Brown in 2019. The remainder is a veritable who’s-who of mediocrity.
- QB Will Levis
- WR Treylon Burks
- WR Corey Davis
- QB Marcus Mariota
- WR Dorial Inexperienced-Beckham
- RB Bishop Sankey
- WR Justin Hunter
- WR Kendall Wright
- QB Jake Locker
- WR Kenny Britt
- RB Chris Henry
- QB Vince Younger
- RB LenDale White
Unhealthy groups aren’t created just by making unhealthy draft picks, but additionally constantly discovering mediocrity. Whereas the Titans have been fairly good at drafting linemen and linebackers to bolster their system, one thing has been constantly rotten with this group’s talent place scouting, which leads the group to taking large bets on gamers that haven’t any enterprise being taken as excessive as they do.
The most important concern with the Marcus Mariota choose a decade in the past was that Mariota was a scheme-dependent quarterback who had the bodily instruments, however we actually had no thought if he had the power to translate into the NFL after taking part in in an QB-friendly Oregon offense. That by no means materialized, so he struggled.
That is precisely the problem with Cam Ward as nicely. A participant who was functionally positive, however spent his total school profession operating an Air Raid in Washington State and Miami. It’s an offensive system that routinely places up large school numbers and lets a QB showcase — however gamers routinely fail who come out of Air Raids into the professionals. Now one goes to go together with the No. 1 total choose.
This quote from Ward can be setting off some main alarm bells.
“I simply assume the playbooks match up not just for there, however Cleveland and New York. Loads of these three groups did the identical issues that we did in Miami. So I believe it’ll be plug and play.”
Whereas it’s clear Ward himself is making an attempt to speak about his play in a means that he can solidify his draft spot, I additionally actually, actually hope he doesn’t consider this to be true. There aren’t any similarities between the West Coast offenses these three NFL groups run, and the Air Raid he led in Miami. It gained’t be “plug and play,” however take a big quantity of labor to be taught an NFL system. If a younger QB is downplaying how troublesome it’s going to be, nicely, that issues me.
There’s additionally merely a uncooked expertise concern right here too. Ward can be the worst quarterback prospect taken within the Prime 3 primarily based on the NFL’s scouting reviews for the reason that league posted its personal expertise grades in 2011.
- Andrew Luck: 7.90
- Cam Newton: 7.50
- Robert Griffin III: 7.50
- Trevor Lawrence: 7.40
- Sam Darnold: 7.10
- Joe Burrow: 7.07
- Jameis Winston: 7.00
- Jared Goff: 7.00
- Mitchell Trubisky: 7.00
- Bryce Younger: 6.82
- Blake Bortles: 6.80
- Marcus Mariota: 6.80
- Kyler Murray: 6.80
- Caleb Williams: 6.74
- Jayden Daniels: 6.73
- C.J. Stroud: 6.70
- Carson Wentz: 6.70
- Baker Mayfield: 6.70
- Zach Wilson: 6.50
- Drake Maye: 6.50
- Trey Lance: 6.47
- Cam Ward: 6.39
Granted this is only one expertise evaluator’s rubric — but it surely’s merely astonishing to see what an outlier Ward is amongst his friends who had been taken with high picks within the final 15 years. There’s actually nothing to point that he’s a “generational expertise,” just like the Titans assured everybody they had been going to be taking with the No. 1 total choose.
That is the place this all will get tough. Clearly quarterback is the one most-impactful improve the Titans could make. Hell, final 12 months they benched Will Levis and performed Mason Rudolph for god’s sake. The problem is that whereas Ward would possibly make Tennessee a greater group instantly, they’re as soon as once more shedding sight of the forest for the bushes. A really generational expertise, somebody like Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter may not result in extra wins instantly — however they’re indubitably the very best gamers. Guys who might help construct a basis for achievement. From there the group can look to strike in a a lot better QB draft as we’ll see in 2026, when Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, and Drew Allar will enter the NFL.
As a substitute the Titans are going to make the identical mistake as they did a decade in the past in taking Marcus Mariota. Ready for his to blossom, then realizing it wasn’t going to occur. It wasn’t simply that Mariota wasn’t good, but it surely led to the Titans making an attempt to place expertise round him in 2017, hoping he might nonetheless be nice. In that draft Tennessee took WR Corey Davis with the No. 5 total choose. The subsequent QB off the board that would have been theirs? Patrick Mahomes.
That is going to be a multitude, regardless of how the Titans attempt to spin this choose.