Cameron Ward, Miami: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Ward is a member of the class of 2020 from Columbia High School in West Columbia, Texas

Cameron Ward is positioned to have the best supporting cast of his career after transferring to Miami. This is his chance to have a final breakout season and contend for a top 50 selection. Ward’s elite arm strength, creativity, and escapability make him one of the most unique prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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Cameron Ward, QB Miami: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Fifth-year senior quarterback from West Columbia, Texas

Background: Ward is a member of the class of 2020 from Columbia High School in West Columbia, Texas. He was not ranked by any major recruiting sites. Ward transferred from Incarnate Word to Washington State for the 2022 season and then transferred to Miami for 2024. He threw for over 1,000 yards in his high school senior and junior seasons. In 2018, he completed 72 out of 124 pass attempts for 1,070 yards and seven touchdowns to accompany four rushing scores. His opportunities were limited by Columbia’s Wing-T offense. Ward earned First-Team All-Southern Brazoria County honors at quarterback and was an All-State honorable mention. He was the All-District Offensive MVP twice as a basketball player. According to MaxPreps, Ward averaged over 20 points per game as a junior and senior, amassing nearly 600 points in his high school career. Ward has three older siblings, one of which ran track and field at Houston Baptist. He’s related to Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs and former San Diego Chargers defensive back Quentin Jammer.

Injuries & Off-Field: Ran the Cameron Ward Youth Football Camp in 2023 for 200 campers (free for ages 8-17)

Awards: 2020 Jerry Rice Award, 2021 First Team All-Southland Conference, 2021 FCS Second Team All-American, 2022 Honorable Mention All-Pac-12, 2023 Honorable Mention All-Pac-12

Pros: Clear and consistent development, good bulk at his size, contact balance, rocket arm, arm strength and velocity are both elite, ball explodes off his hand, easily accesses throws 55+ yards downfield, quick and fluid throwing motion, quick release in the face of pressure, adjusts arm slots to fit the ball around defenders, fires lasers to the far sideline, threads the ball through tight windows, improved lower body weight transfer during throwing motion, feet don’t get stuck in the mud, comfortable throwing on the run, thrives creating off-platform, arm strength to get the ball 50+ yards downfield while throwing off-platform, creates second chance plays, mobility to extend plays and punish defenses for leaving him alone, runs to extend plays by keeping eyes downfield, escapability flashes consistently, elusive QB who escapes muddy pockets, enough speed to stay ahead of pursuing defensive linemen, backyard football creativity, getting better with eye manipulation, anticipation took a jump in 2023, some holy cow! ball placement, touch on throws between the numbers and sideline has improved, nice touch to layer the ball between the pursuing corner and crashing safety, significant improvement dropping downfield passes in the bucket, gotten better at protecting his receivers, sharp cuts to elude defenders, protects himself as a runner

Cons: Limited snaps taken under center, Washington State’s offense featured plenty of schemed touches and one-read throws, limited height, ten passes batted at the LOS in 2023, pressure to sack conversion rate of 24.9%, hand size concerns, massive fumbling issues with 46 in his career, loose with the ball when navigating a crowded pocket, awareness of backside pressure is hit-or-miss, late to address blindside pressure in second half vs. Oregon (2023), lacks elite speed and agility, defenders’ NFL speed might limit his escapability, retreats instead of stepping up into the pocket/pocket management, too much retreating while going through reads, sometimes rolls out of good pockets, willingness to throw off-platform sometimes leads to inaccurate throws, arm arrogance, hero mentality leads to him holding the football for too long, needs to throw the ball away and live to fight another day more often, pressure in his face leads to some bizarre misses, throws behind his receivers when pressured, inconsistent ball placement on short slants and passes to the flat, a few perplexing decisions and missed throws/overthrows, double-clutches and second-guessing vs. Oregon (2023), stares down targets on short to intermediate route concepts, some tunnel vision on quick read plays, inconsistent at leading receivers to space, speed going through long reads still needs to improve, feet can be overly active and toesy

Overview: Ward has shown clear and consistent development across each season of his college career. He isn’t very tall but has good bulk to absorb and survive contact. Ward’s arm is elite in all areas. He has the arm strength to access throws more than 55 yards downfield easily, even on the move without setting his feet and stepping into the throw. The ball explodes off Ward’s hand with the velocity to fit through tight windows and quickly travel on a frozen rope to the far sideline. The Washington State transfer has a fluid throwing motion with a quick release that he speeds up to beat pressure. He has a loose arm to access all sorts of angles and arm slots to fit throws around defenders and into odd windows. Ward’s faith in his arm sometimes leads him to challenge disadvantageous coverages, but that overall elite arm talent also sets him apart from other top quarterbacks in the 2025 class. His feet can be too active or toesy in the pocket, but he improved his lower body weight transfer during his throwing motion in 2023. Ward thrives throwing on the run and creating off-platform. He creates second chance plays and always seems to be a step faster than the defender chasing him when rolling out to extend plays. The fifth-year quarterback’s escapability is among the best in the 2025 class. He’s elusive and has the contact balance to make defenders miss, escape muddy pockets, and hurt defenses with his legs. He runs to extend plays and keeps his eyes downfield instead of just dropping his head to run. Ward’s backyard football creativity invites pressure, and his speed and agility will be challenged more by NFL defenders than it has been in college. His hero ball mentality and willingness to be creative sometimes lead to inaccurate throws and holding the ball too long. Ward’s pocket management needs significant work. He constantly retreats instead of stepping up to avoid outside pressure, which puts strain on his offensive tackles. The Texas native also voids clean pockets occasionally. Ball security is a significant concern with Ward. He has fumbled 46 times in his career, and his hand size might contribute to this issue. It doesn’t help that his awareness of blindside pressure is very inconsistent. Ward’s speed processing the field post-snap and going through reads still has room to improve. However, his anticipation and use of eye manipulation took significant leaps in 2023. The number of throws Ward made with elite touch and ball placement, especially on downfield throws between the numbers and the sideline, rose noticeably. The former FCS star uses touch to layer the ball between the pursuing corner and crashing safety and has learned to protect his receivers from taking big hits by changing their momentum with his ball placement. Ward’s cannon of an arm still misfires every now and then with perplexing overthrows to open receivers. Having that much arm strength also leads to some inconsistent ball placement on short passes. Ward can do a better job of leading receivers to space and avoiding getting tunnel vision on his preferred targets. As Ward joins Miami in 2024, he’s joining by far the best supporting cast of his career. Ward’s Washington State teammates dropped more than 50 of his passes during his two seasons with the Cougars. One of the very few NFL-caliber players on Ward’s supporting cast was left tackle Jarrett Kingston, who transferred from Washington State to USC after the 2022 season and only ended up as a sixth round pick.

Overall, Ward makes plays that no other quarterback prospect in this upcoming class is capable of, but his creative playstyle leads to a mix of genius and perplexing reps. Ward still suffers from some bad misses, but he has shown incredible improvement with his ball placement and touch. He needs to tighten up his ball security and improve the in-structure elements of his game.

Role & Scheme Fit: Pocket passer with creative upside in a spread offense

Round Grade: Second Round

Size: 6'2", 223 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 06-19-24