Pitt Legend Shares Major Praise for Miami QB Cam Ward

PITTSBURGH -- Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward has received nationwide praise for his play in the 2024 season and a Pitt Panthers legend has high hopes for him as he enters the 2025 NFL Draft.

Ward completed 305-of-454 throws, 67.2%, for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns to seven interceptions in 13 games with Miami this year. He led the FBS in passing touchdowns and ranked second in passing yards, while also ranking sixth in passing efficiency, 172.14, and ninth with 14.14 yards per completion.

Louis Riddick, who played for Pitt from 1987-90, spent 14 years in NFL front offices, working as a pro scout and director of pro personnel with the Washington Redskins from 2001-07 and as a pro scout, assistant director of pro personnel and director of pro personnel with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2008-13.

He also interviewed recently with the New York Jets for their vacant general manager position and previously interviewed with the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans in 2020 and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022 about their vacant general manager positions at the time.

Riddick spoke to Kevin Clark and praised Ward for his mentality and his desire to lead a team, changing the culture at Miami when he transferred in from Washington State.

"I've gotten to talk to him three times," Riddick said. "I did a game of his at Washington State two years ago, then we got to do two Miami games this year. This dude, he's a stone cold killer man, no question.

"When you talk about alphas, you talk about in your face alphas, quarterbacks that tip the sphere that want to hold everyone else accountable, some of the stories of what he did with that football team last spring before Miami played in the fall of 2024.

"The way in which he challenged people that were already there, the way in which he talked to them, the way in which he said, 'I don't know what you're used to, but it ain't gonna be that way now. This was a guy that hadn't taken a snap yet for the team!, are legendary, are legendary."

I asked @LRiddickESPN the best player he saw this college season. He had two: Cam Ward and Ashton Jeanty.

On Cam: "This dude is a stone cold killer. When you talk about alphas, in your face alphas..."

On Jeanty: "Ashton is Emmitt Smith with 4.3, 4.4 speed." pic.twitter.com/Gy70EHe4dj
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) January 16, 2025

Riddick also said that his confidence is something that will aid him headed into the NFL Draft, where many expect him to go as high as No. 1 overall, and that he'll have to work on a few things when he starts playing at the highest level.

"He know he won't be able to get away with some of that nonchalant-ness that he showed, but he's not doing it to rub people's faces in it," Riddick said. "That's just him. He knows that some of that is going to have to go by the wayside and be more secure when he's in the pocket, like when he got it knocked out late against Georgia Tech, those kinds of things."

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