The cause of Cam Ward’s shaky accuracy is a case of good news and bad news for the Titans rookie

Not all inaccuracy is made equal.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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The Tennessee Titans aren’t panicked over their first two months of Cam Ward’s career. They understand the growing pains rookie QBs are liable to go through, especially on a roster as incomplete as this one. In this department, they actually (at least claim to) have patience. But one element of Cam’s game that continues to rear it’s ugly head is moments of inaccuracy.

But is it fair to call Ward an inaccurate quarterback? Does he have a true accuracy problem? This is something I have a pretty strong opinion on, but I asked for insight from people smarter than me when it comes to quarterback development. Here is what they had to say, and where I think Ward has to go from here:

Cam Ward doesn’t have a true accuracy problem

When you look at Ward’s numbers on paper, it’s reasonable to want to label him inaccurate right now. He’s completed just 57.6% of his passes through seven games. And he ranks 33rd out of 33 qualifying quarterbacks in Off-Target Pass Rate so far in 2025. Each week, there have been at least a couple passes that stick in your brain as truly poor placement.

That’s the thing about Ward so far: when he’s off, he’s usually off in a loud way. The guy goes big with everything, it’s all or nothing a lot of the time. When I asked Cam himself about what he sees on tape, he seemed to think each throw has its own story. “It really just depends on the concept of how it came out,” he told me. “And then really if my feet was there, or if I threw a sidearm, or if I threw it just a different way. It all comes down to where I’m hard on myself because I want to be perfect on every throw, and that’s not even just having the receiver catch it, it’s just ball placement, giving them a chance to get some YAC for us. I think just the more I continue to stress that on myself, it will help our receivers a lot.”

He’s right that not every miss can be sorted into the same bucket. But when I evaluate quarterback strengths and weaknesses, accuracy issues can come from more than one place. For some passers, accuracy just isn’t a strength of theirs. They can be doing everything right mechanically, within the timing of a play, with their eyes in the right place, and still struggle with ball placement. To me, that’s a real accuracy issue.

Then there are quarterbacks who can count accuracy as a strength when they do those things. When they’re set right, they hit their spots. But when they aren’t they miss. Sometimes, badly. It’s still inaccuracy, but in my eyes, that’s really a footwork and eyes problem that manifests as inaccuracy. The root weakness is different. Don’t take my word for it, though. I spoke with my friend Sean McEvoy, a professional QB coach with Quarterback Takeover who has worked with college and NFL passers for many years.

“I think there can be true mechanics issues” McEvoy told me, “such as arm path, hip/shoulder separation, sequencing issues, extension to the target, front side stability, etc. that affect both accuracy and ability to generate power. But then there are footwork, base, stability, load, and alignment issues that can and often do cause or exacerbate the above issues as well.”

When I asked him specifically about what he’s seen from Ward, he said “I’m of the opinion that while he certainly has some of the former (inaccuracy), it is primarily the latter (footwork/mechanics) that are causing his issues with consistency and accuracy. Meaning better footwork, stability, and alignment would offset his mechanical issues and allow him to have success.” Fixing this will be no easy task, and Ward will have to do a lot of work his first couple years in the league to polish his craft. But the good news is that while this leads to some shakiness now, it’s absolutely fixable.

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