When the Tennessee Titans drafted Cam Ward with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the team undoubtedly thought that he would be the team’s franchise quarterback. Unfortunately, that’s not how it looked during his preseason debut on Thursday night.
Ward started the preseason showdown against the San Francisco 49ers, and even though it was against the team’s backups, he had a very poor performance, leading to some mounting criticism from media and analysts.
Cam Ward Struggles
During his rookie season, Ward had an up-and-down season where he completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 3,169 yards with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The team is understandably looking for him to take a big step this season, but what he showed on Thursday was totally uninspiring.
Ward played three series in the preseason showdown where he went just 5-of-12 for 57 yards through the air with a 56.6 passer rating. He also accounted for an egregious intentional grounding penalty and a near-interception.
Cam Ward still doing Cam Ward stuff pic.twitter.com/7S5a880DWk
— FantasyNerdBoi (@NerdBoiTakes) August 14, 2026
Needless to say, it was not the showing that the team would have hoped for their young quarterback in his second season.
Criticism Mounts
After an uninspiring rookie season, criticism is now mounting for Ward after that disappointing showing against the Niners.
“I tried to tell you at OTAs that Cam Ward couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn and everyone cried about how I was a hater… Welp, everything you saw tonight, I TRIED to tell you I was worried about,” wrote Jared Stillman of Mad Dog Sports Radio on SiriusXM in a post on X.
“The Cam Ward experience.. and this is with Daboll skewing the playcalling to the run game (for obvious reasons). Titans will not win many games this year if they’re reliant on Ward to make plays and win on 3rd down. He’s incapable of doing that consistently,” wrote BWill of TFTV Sports in a post.
“Tough start to Titans QB Cam Ward’s sophomore season yesterday. The bones of good mental persist, but the accuracy issues will continue to cripple him,” wrote noted Titans film analyst Drew Beatty in a post.
“Just watched the Cam Ward film. This guy isn’t going to make it through the season with a job,” wrote noted NFL film analyst Money Where Film Is. “Cam Ward is a bust. If you’re totally out of your depth in the preseason, you’re never going to figure it out,” he added in a follow-up post.
Needless to say, people are not exactly optimistic about the performance.
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