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ESPN NFL Reporter Says Cam Ward Reminds Him of Breakout Star QB

Jeff Darlington sees a little Jayden Daniels in Cam Ward.

Kyle Koster

Cam Ward is making a good impression in Tennessee.
Cam Ward is making a good impression in Tennessee. / Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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We're just days away from August and that means football chatter is growing louder on the daily sports shows. Identifying which rookie quarterback is going to come out of the gates and immediately excel at the NFL level is one of those classic summer TV segments along the road to meaningful football, and ESPN's Get Up was there to supply a variation on that Monday morning.

On those airwaves, NFL reporter Jeff Darlington said something he knew he probably shouldn't say.

"I hate the idea of what I'm about to say in some ways because C.J. Stroud and Jayden Daniels set a standard for rookie quarterbacks that I don't think we should have," he said. "But Cam Ward reminds me in a lot of ways of Jayden Daniels. I know I shouldn't say that."

Darlington spoke of his time visiting the Tennessee Titans facility and the first impression the No. 1 pick in this year's draft made on him.

"This dude is going to get the respect of the veteran in the way Jayden Daniels does. He's got all of the intangibles and the pieces ... I just think Cam Ward's got it."

This, of course, would be great news for Titans fans who have long waited on a true franchise quarterback and are fresh off a rocky Will Levis experience. Daniels's first-year success is obviously not the norm and expectations may be too high to remain realistic.

But if he plays well, people like Darlington won't hate to make the comparison. It'll be self-evident.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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