FRISCO - The NFL Draft is soon approaching and an impressive 2025 class is falling into a pecking order. That order appears to have Cam Ward emerging as the favorite to be selected No. 1 overall.
Now Travis Hunter has a say as the class' top overall prospect, but the need for a quarterback will likely trump all once again. The Tennessee Titans could find their next franchise centerpiece heading into the 2025 season.
Ward possesses an impressive skillset coming out of Miami and has separated himself from a relatively weak quarterback class. Before officially entering the league, the rookie is stirring the pot with one of the NFL's marquee franchises.
When asked about the difficulty of making the transition from the college ranks, Ward made an example of the Dallas Cowboys with a bold call out of their defense.
"I think some teams in the NFL did a lot of two-high stuff. Like Dallas, running a lot of Tampa, a lot of Cover-2," he said to CBS. "They leave way too much space on the sideline down the seams.
"I just think the arm strength and the confidence that I bring in, along with me getting my receivers better, I just think I'm gonna put the ball where I want."
There's no shortage of confidence from Ward here and looking at the evidence, it's hard to disagree with him there. However, there's a little context needed to explore this situation further.
The Cowboys allowed 218.1 passing yards per game last season, a figure that ranked 17th among all teams. Certainly not a great figure by any stretch.
But Dallas' secondary encountered several hurdles to achieving success last season, including the absence of DaRon Bland to begin the season. Trevon Diggs had nagging knee issues throughout the season and the team only had Caelen Carson for six games.
Related: Could the Cowboys Really Trade for Travis Hunter?
Factor those injury woes into a considerable scheme change with Mike Zimmer taking over and that made for growing pains at every level of the formation. Hopefully for Dallas, the Matt Eberflus regime will bring better results and better injury luck as well.
So why use the Cowboys as an example? There are several reasons for Ward to do so, but it's clear to pick on an easy target that many are united against.
Some quarterbacks' confidence translates into immediate success at the pros and the very same could happen for Ward. But all young players hit a bump at some point and NFL defenses besides the Cowboys will have some extra fuel going against this high level prospect.
Related: Dallas Dream Ends as Stefon Diggs Agrees to Shocking New Contract
Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 8:20 AM.