New York Giants Draft Prospect: QB Cam Ward, Miami (Fla.)

Cam Ward could end up the first player off the board in April's draft, and with good reason as our film study shows.

Cam Ward, QB

Height: 6’2
Weight: 219 lbs
Class: 5th-Year-Senior
School: Miami
Hand size: 9”
Arm length: 30 ⅝”
STATS

Cam Ward received just ONE scholarship out of Columbia HIgh School in West Columbia, Texas, and he accepted that honor and started his illustrious collegiate career at Incarnate Word. He played two seasons at Incarnate Word before transferring to Washington State for two years.

He then entered the transfer portal for a third time as a four-star recruit, and the fourth graded quarterback in the portal (the 14th ranked player). He took his talents to South Beach and had one fantastic season with the Miami Hurricanes in 2024. Ward’s cousin is Kyron Drones, the current quarterback for Virginia Tech.

Ward thrived early in the Southland Conference, winning the Jerry Rice Award (most outstanding freshman in the FCS), while also being the SLC Freshman of the Year. He was Third-Team All-SLC in 2020 and he earned SLC Offensive Player of the Year in 2021.

Ward was a consensus All-American in 2024 with the Hurricanes; he won the Davey O’Brien and Manning Awards, while being named the ACC Player of the Year.

Ward averaged 9.5 yards per attempt in 2024 with a 9.8 average depth of target and a 2.93 time to throw average.

He ranked in the top-five for big time throw rate (6.3%) in all the FBS with a 3.3% turnover worthy throw rate. His 2024 BTT% was the highest of his career – 2023 was 4.8%. His turnover-worthy throw percentage in 2024 was his lowest, but it was consistent with the rest of his career – an average of 3.4%. He was only sacked 23 times in 2024.

Of the 56 draft eligible quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft, Ward ranked 4th in big time throw percentage. Pro Football Focus had Ward as their highest graded quarterback of the bunch, with the number one clean pocket grade and the tenth best under pressure grade.

The 2024 Heisman Trophy Finalist consistently put his team on his back and gave them a chance to win football games; he did this at THREE different locations, with three different coaching staffs and locker rooms – that’s impressive! Ward did not throw or perform at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. Miami’s pro day is set for March 24th.

Strengths

Well put together athlete with adequate height
Solid frame and thickness throughout his body
Good overall athlete + excellent awareness and instincts in the pocket
Solid speed, change of direction, and acceleration – can pick up yards with his legs
Sufficient evasiveness to force poor tackle attempts that he can withstand
Very good overall strength while running and in the pocket
Stands sturdy with the sudden ability to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and DODGE
Has displayed solid patience and poise in pockets
Navigates and maneuvers the pocket well
Good balance in the pocket – can escape and get skinny through trash when necessary
Excellent job keeping his eyes downfield with the bullets flying
Goes through progressions within the pocket and while extending
Quick release with good overall weight transfer
Good overall discernment on RPOs
Uniquely comfortable rolling left (for a righty)
Fluid & quick ability to reset his base and fire the football
Excellent sense of pressure and escapability
Elite creativity as a thrower – elite at extending plays and keeping his eyes downfield
Success from a wide variety of arm angles – excellent off-balance thrower of the football
Phenomenal out of structure work
Very good overall arm talent with excellent touch over the middle of the field
Understands how to attack voided space in the middle of the field – layers throws!
Excellent zip and velocity on his throws
Generates impressive velocity on off-platform throws
Very good anticipatory thrower over the MOF and outside the numbers
Can effectively attack every area of the field – excellent arm strength
Very good ball placement on back shoulder throws and fades outside the numbers
Excellent drive from the far-hash outside the numbers
Good overall ball placement and accuracy (not perfect)
Good field vision – sees the field well pre to post snap
Understands blitzes and finds quick answers – very comfortable in Miami’s system with just one year under his belt
Excellent pre-snap work – optimizes plays/catches defense in a bind (see CAL game)
Good eye manipulation against zone defenders
Did well to look-off single-high safeties, good timing
Smart quarterback with high football IQ
Intelligent rusher who doesn’t take massive hits
Uses legs well as a rusher – is not run first, but CAN make defenses pay with his legs
Had over 300 yards rushing in the last four seasons of college football
Is currently 22 years old

Cam Ward is in Cleveland today for a visit.

Here are some Ward highlights: pic.twitter.com/pM4RuByRoq
— Grant Puskar (@grant_puskar_) March 6, 2025

Weaknesses

Slightly shorter for the position
Just meets the unofficial threshold for hand size at 9”
Lower than normal launch point on standard passes
Unconventional and varied footwork on drop back
Deep accuracy is NOT bad but there were inconsistent misses on tape
Play style leads to RECKLESS mistakes
Will try to do too much – (not always a good thing)
Drifts in the pocket too much – time will not be as abundant in the NFL
Precarious throws across his body – inconsistent risk/reward assessment
Relied heavily on out of structure success – again, won’t have nearly as much time in the NFL
Ball security issues – had 50 collegiate fumbles
Smaller hands could exacerbate the fumbling issue
Operated mostly a shot-gun offense
Received some criticism from fans and commentators for opting out of the second half of bowl game against Iowa State: the Cyclones won 42-41

Summary

If there is one word to describe Cam Ward, it’s playmaker. Ward has an innate creativity to his game that allows him to calmly process his surroundings, with a penchant for keeping his eyes downfield. Reluctance is not synonymous with Ward; he has no issue challenging tight windows or letting the ball fly downfield.

He possesses very good overall arm talent with an ability to layer throws over the middle of the field with touch and the arm strength to stress defenses vertically.

Ward understands his receivers' catch radius over the middle of the field and does a good job placing the football within that radius while being spatially cognizant of the defender's location/leverage. Ward also exercises anticipation over the middle of the field to protect his receivers and move the chains.

He operated mostly out of the shotgun in his career, which is not ideal. However, his fast release and timing allowed him to operate rhythmically at a solid level in quick game, although Ward would play out of structure often. Ward does have an astute comprehension of processing defenses pre-to-post snap and understands defensive structures and has a high football IQ.

Although Ward’s windup starts low, he still promptly releases the football with solid weight transfer from his lower-half through his hips and into his throw. His standard launch point is slightly lower than average, but Ward possesses excellent range and variance with his launch point – he can find a way to throw through a forest.

He has a sort of slacken drop back that is not necessarily precise and determined, but rather relaxed. Ward is patient behind the line of scrimmage and looks to throw before he runs – his receivers should also be creative!

The unconventional drop back and shot-gun heavy exposure will lead to fair questions on operating certain under-center rhythm-based offenses at the next level; I’m not insinuating that he CAN’T do these things; we just haven’t seen them consistently exercised through his college career.

Overall, Cam Ward can attack every level of the field with anticipation, touch, drive, and a creative nature that could get him in trouble at the next level. He has to hone in his tendency to do too much and understand to live another down. Ward has a tendency to look for the big play instead of taking what is there, which leads to an interesting duality that conceivably can be coached.

There is also a bit of recklessness with his gunslinger mentality. It’s plausible that his reckless plays can be reigned in, albeit he won’t have nearly as much time to extend plays at the next level; if he can control the reckless nature, Ward can marry his cognitive skills with his arm talent and creativity to be one of the more reliable and exciting starting quarterbacks in the league.

GRADE: 6.85

Nick Falato's Draft Grade Chart | Nick Falato

Cam Ward, QB

Strengths

Weaknesses

Summary

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