Former Incarnate Word and Washington State and current Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cameron Ward is a wild card in the 2025 NFL Draft QB class with his scouting report. What is there to like about Ward, what causes concern, and where does he rank as a prospect?
Cameron Ward’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’2″
- Weight: 223 pounds
- Position: Quarterback
- School: Miami (FL)
- Current Year: Redshirt Senior
There’s something to be said about Ward’s production at the collegiate level and how quickly he acclimated as a true freshman at the FCS level.
Ward wasn’t known for his production in high school, playing in an option-heavy offense. He averaged only around a dozen pass attempts per game as a senior and was an unranked recruit. Incarnate Word was the first school to see his potential, and they reaped the rewards.
Ward started only six games in 2020 as a true freshman for the Cardinals, yet he put up massive numbers, amassing 2,260 yards, 24 touchdowns, and four interceptions. He averaged almost 400 yards and four touchdowns per game and earned the Jerry Rice Award as the most outstanding freshman in the FCS.
MORE: Top QBs in the 2025 NFL Draft
Ward upped the ante in 2021, completing 384 of 590 attempts (65.1%) for 4,648 yards, 47 TDs, and 10 picks. The Incarnate Word offense ran through him, and the team went 10-3 as a result — with few defenses matching up against the firepower Ward provided.
In 2022, Ward leveraged his strong play at Incarnate Word into an opportunity at the FBS level with Washington State. And in two years with the Cougars, he totaled 6,966 yards, 48 passing TDs, 16 INTs, and 13 scores on the ground.
Across four seasons, Ward has thrown for almost 15,000 yards and 119 TDs to just 30 total INTs. Now, in one last gambit to achieve FBS success and improve his 2025 NFL Draft stock, he’s transferred to Miami. What does his scouting report look like as he joins the Hurricanes?
Ward’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Has hyper-elite arm elasticity and angle freedom and can throw from any launch point.
- Combined arm strength and arm elasticity amount to elite composite arm talent.
- Composite arm talent unlocks a type of situational precision few QBs can match.
- Can use obtuse throwing angles to layer throws with velocity at unique trajectories.
- Able to mix velocity and touch seamlessly, driving throws past trailing defenders.
- Fluid short-area mover with an incredibly stable center of gravity working off-script.
- Smooth ball handler with swift hip flexibility and effortless off-platform throwing ability.
- Natural problem solver off-script who maintains potency as a passer all through reps.
- Elite creation presence with his burst, change of direction, and improvisational feel.
- Able to sense surging pressure threats outside and escape through interior gaps.
- Has a good feel for mechanical congruence in the quick game and on screens.
- Has shown he can identify 1-on-1 mismatches and help WRs capitalize with placement.
- Flashes the ability to anticipate route breaks and place passes for RAC over the middle.
- Can use controlled shoulder tilt to add loft on passes and fit throws into tight buckets.
- Gunslinger with a willingness to test tight windows he knows he can convert on.
Weaknesses
- Arm strength is good but visibly falls below the quantifiably elite mark.
- Passes sometimes die out on him when pressing past the opposite hash.
- Dropback footwork can be segmented and uncontrolled, easily throwing him off-rhythm.
- Corrective mechanics can be too lax at times, causing aberrations in shoulder alignment.
- Sometimes fails to drive his hips, tipping his front shoulder up and causing high misses.
- Often invites unnecessary chaos with delayed footwork, missed reads, and hesitation.
- Lacks extensive experience as a traditional dropback QB and pocket manager.
- Eyes sometimes idle on initial reads, delaying progressions and keying in defenders.
- Doesn’t have ideal consistency moving from progression to progression as a processor.
- Is very inconsistent as an anticipatory passer and sometimes needs to see WRs open.
- Field vision against zone and on multi-layered reads is very questionable at times.
- Has a degree of arm arrogance at times and will attempt to force ill-advised throws.
- Tendency to do too much can affect ball security, evidenced by 31 fumbles since 2021.
- Questions surrounding maturity and developmental stagnation still linger in Year 5.
- Will be 23 years old at the start of his rookie season.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Heading into the 2025 NFL Draft cycle, Ward grades out as an early-to-mid Day 3 prospect on my board. He grades highly in all of the physical talent categories — suggesting that he could embark on an early-round rise. But four years into his career, there’s still work to do.
Ward is one of the most recognizable passers on the collegiate stage, on account of his production at multiple levels. He’s a very good college QB, but hidden behind his impressive production is a concerning overall lack of development from 2020 to 2024.
Ward is undeniably talented, making some of the hardest throws look effortless. His elite composite arm talent allows him to layer passes into incredibly tight windows. He’s a danger as a passer from any platform, inside or outside of structure, and his arm elasticity is perfectly attuned to the modern game.
MORE: 2025 NFL Draft Big Board
At the same time, Ward’s non-traditional playmaking style also comes at the cost of traditional QB utility and pocket operation. If quick completions aren’t schemed for him, he often holds the ball too long — by fault of inconsistent processing and lax footwork — inviting unnecessary chaos.
In those chaotic situations, Ward is a high-level problem solver, with the combined malleability, as an athlete and a thrower, and the improvisational feel to make something out of nothing.
However, Ward relies on that creation capacity because of his deficiencies with anticipation, progression work, and trigger quickness. That overreliance on off-script ability isn’t translatable in the NFL, where starting quarterbacks need to have strong rhythm and discipline.
As a prospect who’ll be a 23-year-old rookie with five years of starting experience, Ward is more of a project than preferred. But his tools should earn him an opportunity to sit and learn as a developmental QB with spot-starter ability and starting upside.
