How Much Concern is Rookie QB Cam Ward to Jaguars?

Most fans and media are liking the Houston Texans to repeat in the AFC South. If not, the Indianapolis Colts get the nod. But with a new head man in Liam Coen, a healthy Trevor Lawrence, and an emerging superstar in Brian Thomas Jr., the Jaguars deserve a look. But what about the Tennesse Titans?

Despite a dreadful 2024 season, many positives are coming out of Nashville. On a recent episode of the Jacksonville Jaguars Insider Podcast, Jaguars on SI Beat Writer John Shipley spoke of the main reason why the Jaguars and the NFL should be concerned about last season's AFC South bottom-feeder.

"Some things I think the Jaguars have to be concerned about when it comes to Tennessee. In the division and probably in the NFL, in my opinion, they have the biggest quarterback upgrade compared to what they had last year. And I'm saying that without Cam Ward even taking a snap. Simply put, I think Will Levis was the worst starting quarterback in the NFL last year, probably one of the worst I've seen live in a game in my time covering the NFL."

"Levis was just preposterously bad, people. I don't know if there are any positives about him as an NFL quarterback. So moving on from Levis to Cam Ward is a pretty significant upgrade, I think, and I say that as somebody who thinks that Cam Ward went number one based on positional value. Like I think if you're looking at just pure talent, what you're giving them, grade-wise, I think he's probably a late first-round pick talent-wise, but the Titans were starving for a quarterback," said Shipley.

"It wasn't going to be Levis, and Ward was the only one that any team could justify taking high. If I were the Titans and you desperately needed a quarterback, I don't think I would have taken him over Travis Hunter, but maybe I'm old school that way. I know the analytical thinking now is take 20 quarterbacks in the first round because it's an important position, and just completely disregard the evaluations, etc."

"So I think Cam Ward was a good quarterback prospect, not a great quarterback prospect, but they went from an awful quarterback prospect and an awful NFL quarterback in Will Levis, to now Cam Ward, who at the very least, should have more playmaking ability and less, I'd say, you know, ability to land on pardon my take because of one of his plays the next week. So I think right off the bat, the Titans have improved at the quarterback position.

The Texans and Colts may be "the now", but the future of the AFC South lies 9 1/2 hours away from each other, and the past will figure into this two franchises' clash for a lot more than their place on the line.

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