Once a wild card in the 2025 NFL Draft QB class, Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cameron Ward is now establishing himself as one of the best signal-callers in the upcoming group.
What does Ward’s scouting report say about his viability as an NFL prospect, and is Round 1 a possibility?
Cameron Ward’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’2″
- Weight: 223 pounds
- Position: Quarterback
- School: Miami (FL)
- Current Year: Redshirt Senior
Ward has always been a natural. That much is clear now as he racks up video game numbers on the national stage at Miami. It was also clear the moment he started playing college football when he acclimated as a true freshman at FCS school Incarnate Word.
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 Ward’s 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.
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. Few defenses were able to match up against their firepower, with Ward’s arm as the central force.
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 heading into 2024, Ward had thrown for almost 15,000 yards and 119 TDs to just 30 total INTs. In one last gambit to achieve FBS success and improve his 2025 NFL Draft stock, he transferred to Miami. And so far, that gambit is paying off.
In his first four games with the Hurricanes, Ward is somehow on pace to score career-high marks. He’s completed 89 of 123 attempts (72.4%) for 1,439 yards, 14 TDs, and just two interceptions, with an additional score on the ground.
In a wide open 2025 NFL Draft QB class, Ward has the natural talent to rise. And early on in 2024, it looks as though he’s starting to put it all together around that physical foundation.
What does Ward’s scouting report say about his standing at this point?
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.
- Able to mix velocity and touch seamlessly, driving throws past trailing defenders.
- Can use obtuse throwing angles to layer throws with velocity at unique trajectories.
- Elite creation presence with his burst, change of direction, and improvisational feel.
- 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 off-script problem solver who maintains potency as a passer all through reps.
- Able to sense surging pressure threats outside and escape through interior gaps.
- 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.
- Has a good feel for mechanical congruence in the quick game and on screens.
- Has improved his sense of timing, discipline, and discretion thus far in 2024.
- 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.
- 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.
- Doesn’t have ideal consistency moving from progression to progression as a processor.
- Is inconsistent as an anticipatory passer and sometimes needs to see wide receivers open.
- Field vision against zone, while improving in 2024, still appears inconsistent at times.
- Has a degree of arm arrogance at times and will attempt to force ill-advised throws.
- Sometimes sacrifices lower body mechanics and base drive when attempting deep.
- Tendency to do too much can affect ball security, evidenced by 31 fumbles since 2021.
- Will be 23 years old at the start of his rookie season.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Ward currently ranks as a top-50 prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft and has Round 1 upside. He grades highly in all of the physical talent categories, and thus far, in 2024, he’s shown promising growth in many of the requisite operational areas.
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
In the past, Ward’s nontraditional playmaking style has come at the cost of traditional QB utility and pocket operation. Heading into 2024, he was plagued by flaws in this area — holding the ball too long if completions weren’t schemed and inviting unnecessary chaos with delays and lax footwork.
Ward is a high-level problem solver in chaotic situations, with the combined malleability, as an athlete and a thrower, and the improvisational feel to make something out of nothing. But often in the past, he relied on that creation capacity to a fault, because of other deficiencies.
So far in 2024, however, he’s shown progression as a pocket operator and field general. Ward is operating more frequently pre-snap, and he’s playing with more decisiveness and efficiency on multiple levels. As a result, he’s trending up as a 2025 NFL Draft prospect.
Assuming he carries on his current trajectory and continues to grow, Ward has NFL starter potential. Not only that, but he has the high-level arm talent, creation capacity, and gamer mentality to be one of the first quarterbacks selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.