NASHVILLE — Cam Ward has plenty of things to work on as he prepares for his second NFL season. So far at Tennessee Titans OTAs, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick has not been impressive.

Scrutiny, fair or foul, comes with the position.

Two things can be true about Cam Ward’s offseason

How many of us expect Ward to be truly great in 2026?

Do not count me among those. Not because Ward is bad in the traditional sense. If Tennessee’s quarterback along with other second-year passers Jaxson Dart, Shedeur Sanders and Tyler Shough, were stocks, Ward would be the one to buy low on. Dart and Shough were better as rookies.

Ward has the highest ceiling.

No, any trepidation on Ward comes from one simple fact. He’s a player in Year 2 at the highest level of his sports. He’s on a roster that is definitively better at every position besides offensive line (which matters), but still isn’t a “good” team in the traditional sense.

The Titans and Ward can improve demonstrably in 2026, and still be the worst team in their division.

As OTAs concluded on Thursday, Ward was more bad than good. His best session of the practice was the second 11-on-11 period. Ward largely checked the ball down and then was the beneficiary of two nice moves by fellow sophomore Elic Ayomanor who shook his coverage to create big separation and the two biggest gains of that drive.

The first and third team sessions were objectively poor.

In the opening series for the starters that practiced, Ward completed only two of a possible five passes. Giving him the second completion would be generous as it would have resulted in a defensive sack had it been a live rep. The only other reception of the drive went to Calvin Ridley, who caught that pass but was stripped by safety Kevin Winston.

Winston recovered the ball, too.

In Team Session No. 3, Ward’s first pass was completed to receiver Xavier Restrepo. The remainder of the drive were two incompletions, a false start for offensive tackle Ryan Hayes and a sack by defensive end Jacob Martin.

It is too soon to fret about Ward’s long-term viability

I am not overly concerned about Cam Ward in June.

The poor practice performances are definitely a trend. 32-0f-63 for three touchdowns and two picks were the counting stats for this final week of OTAs. It is too soon to make any final determinations on whether Ward is just never going to impress you in practice, or whether this is an actual concern.

Maybe, he’s just not going to be the Drake Maye-esque MVP candidate in Year 2 Tennessee fans are praying for him to be.

Ideally, Ward does not have to lean on his play-making ability to bail the Titans out as often as he did as a rookie. The reality is: it led to an occasional “Wow!” moment but not much else beyond a 3-14 finish. My expectation for Ward in 2026 is a higher-end “passenger princess,” for lack of better term.

Run the offense, limit turnover opportunities, be an efficient distributor would be meaningful improvements.

All would mean Ward is on-track. Not ahead of schedule, not a bust. Those, along with consistently improved recognition of NFL defenses are all that should be both asked of and expected of Ward right now.

Featured Image: USA TODAY Sports.