Cam Ward Scouting Report

By: Michael Higgins

(Image courtesy of Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

School: Miami

Class: Senior

Position: QB

HT: 6’2

WT: 223 lbs

Background: Cam Ward was unrecruited and unranked in high school. He was an athlete from West Columbia, Texas who played both sides of the ball. Ward is also closely related to Seahawks’ safety, Quandre Diggs and former Chargers’ cornerback, Quintin Jammer. At Columbia High School, Ward helped his team become the 2019 district champions. Ward was first team all-district and honorable mention all-state as a senior. Ward also played basketball in high school. He was a two-time all-district basketball player for Columbia as well. Cam Ward was not recruited by any FBS programs and went to prove himself at Incarnate Word.

College: As a freshman, he was named the most outstanding freshman in FCS football. In just 6 games, he set multiple Incarnate Ward single-season records. He averaged 376.7 passing yards per game. In his second season at Incarnate Ward, he was named FCS All-American second team. His personal success translated to team success as well. UIW advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs with Ward under center. After two productive seasons at UIW, Ward transferred to Washington State. In his first season as a Cougar, Ward was named PAC-12 honorable mention. Ward transferred to Miami for his last collegiate season. His season was nearly flawless for the Hurricanes. He was a Heisman finalist and in many years, would have won the award. Ward won ACC Player of the Year and was a First Team All-American.

Strengths: Cam Ward has been an athletic freak of nature at the quarterback position for his entire career. He is obviously a dual-threat quarterback who has made defenses pay for not being able to contain him, but he also has arm talent that would put him toward the top of the class by itself. He has a quick release that puts a zip and velocity on the football. He is a fantastic improviser and oftentimes makes something out of nothing. Ward works well out of play action and can mislead defenders with his body language and his eyes. He does succeed mostly within RPOs and screens, but he can sling the ball all over the field with relative ease. Ward can make things happen and release the ball from a variety of arm slots. He puts together athleticism and high football IQ to create what is an extremely impressive portfolio as a quarterback. He has a confident demeanor in the pocket and does not get rattled very easily.

Weaknesses: While Ward is not short by any means, he is not the size of a standard pocket passer. His smaller frame will lead to him needing to make plays outside of the pocket, which can lead to high danger plays. He has succeeded throughout his career in making this happen, but he has not played against the highest level of competition on a consistent basis. It would also be nice to see Ward get a larger chunk of his success in the intermediate to deep areas of the field. He makes correct reads and Washington State had an offense that certainly benefited Ward, but it would be nice to have more high difficulty throws on film for Ward.

Conclusion: Cam Ward can be a lethal NFL quarterback as the league has quickly shifted to a dual-threat quarterback league. If he can consistently attack defenses in the 20+ yardage range then he will be a well above average NFL QB.

Scheme Fit: West Coast Offense

Ideal Role: Developmental QB

Best Team Fits: TEN, NYG, LVR

Player Comparison: Malik Willis

Player Grade: Round 2 (86.7)