When it comes to breaking down film at the quarterback position, very few media members do it better than ESPN NFL analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky. And according to Orlovsky, the stats don't truly tell the story when it comes to the NFL debut of Tennessee Titans rookie Cam Ward.
If you are purely watching the box score, you would largely assume that Ward was far from exceptional in Week 1 against the Denver Broncos, completing just 12 of his 28 pass attempts for 112 passing yards with zero touchdowns coming from the Titans offense throughout the game.
Interestingly, Dan Orlovsky came away with an entirely different opinion after watching the film of all of the Titans offensive plays from Week 1. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, Orlovsky explained how Ward
"I was blown away by his tape," said Orlovsky. "I thought his tape looked awesome. Tennessee has got a guy. This guy's talent of throwing the football is off the charts. They win the game if they don't have like eight drops. The ability for him the thread the needle on some of his throws and just to cut the ball loose with what he is looking at, I was wildly impressed with.
"That (Broncos) defense is awesome. And he made some throws that were... I mean, I've got eight drops midway through the fourth quarter. He cuts it loose man, he is crazy talented throwing the football."
While Orlovsky was largely impressed by Ward, he did admit that there were areas he could improve on. In particular, Ward's ability to sense pressure was far from exceptional, taking six sacks in the game.
"Now, I'll give you two things," Orlovsky added. "Yes, there are times where you can't take that sack. He takes back-to-back sacks that take them out of field goal range. He did that in college, he's got to learn from that. That would be my expectation.
"And there are also some times that he fires the ball in there. And I'm like, 'Could you take a little bit off to help him?' He's got the touch, he does. There are some guys that throw everything as a fastball. That's not the case here."
It's unfair to expect a rookie quarterback to come in and look polished in their first ever start. And Ward was certainly far from polished in Week 1.
But the splash throws were there from Ward, even if the splash plays for the Titans were not due to some costly drops from his receivers. So it will be interesting to track his development as Ward and the Titans head into a Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.
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