Cam Ward, for the most part, can rest on his laurels right now. He’s a made man. Every bit of prognosis from the Combine in Indy to Pro Day down in Miami is in the rearview mirror. There’s nothing left to do or prove between now and the NFL Draft in a fortnight. Ward can kick his feet up, knowing he’s pretty much the unanimous No. 1 overall pick. Knowing that the Tennessee Titans shall almost assuredly be home. However, a reality check can creep up and hit harder than a All-Pro edge rusher. Cam Ward’s just been blindsided and knocked down with one via a certain Dane Brugler. Who’s probably on the Mount Rushmore of active draft analysts.

The NBA and the NFL are very contrasting leagues in every facet of theirs. This is epitomized by how contradictory their drafts are. The NBA variant is fairly straightforward, owing to the sport it represents. All 5 positions on the hardwood equate to more or less equal stature and value. Hence, not accounting for team fit, the draft becomes a linear hierarchy of the best prospects in descending order. The best player goes 1st, the next best goes 2nd, and so on. The NFL Draft is more nuanced. If you’re privy to Cam Ward’s grade amongst analysts and draftniks, you know where this is headed. The nuance lies in how disproportionately valuable quarterbacks are. Front offices can’t quite justify drafting, say, a tailback over a signal-caller. Positions being baked into the equation means this isn’t a meritocracy. But there’s another reason Cam Ward’s poised to go no. 1 overall.

Aside from the value perpetually vested into QBs, Ward’s stronghold is also circumstantial to the ‘25 draft cycle. At its crux, every draft is an exercise of supply vs. demand. It’s been a foundational pillar of discourse around the draft, but it’s worth reiterating how the supply at quarterback this year is substandard. It’s a deep, quantitative class at the position group, but not qualitative. Generations of QBs work in crests and troughs. Remember the ‘22 draft? Kenny Pickett went #20 and was the only QB off the board on the first two days. Now, the class of 2025 isn’t as devoid, but it’s closer to that on the spectrum than to 2024. Where as many as 6 quarterbacks got drafted within the top 12. It’s actually a comparison to the class of ‘24 that brought about Dane Brugler’s scathing take on Cam Ward.

Brugler of The Athletic appeared on ESPN’s This is Football show to discuss Cam Ward, amongst other draft-related things. He was asked a fairly straightforward question that every football savant has asked themselves during this process. “If Cam Ward was in last year’s draft as this prospect, where would you have him?” Dane Brugler didn’t hesitate or flinch before saying, “He would be duking it out with JJ McCarthy as QB4…the top 3 guys are untouchable,” Those, of course, would be Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye. This is a rather prevalent notion around Cam Ward. As much separation as he’s created with Shedeur Sanders and the rest of his contemporaries this year, there’s still an echelon he hasn’t breached. An exclusive club he can’t enter. 

Being perceived a notch under the last batch of QBs aside. Ward hasn’t even earned his status as the #1 pick-elect relative to the merit of this batch. The likes of Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter are consensus considered better prospects than him. But being a quarterback, as aforementioned, holds value and has its perks. Is being compared to national champion JJ McCarthy an indictment? Far from it. Cam Ward also wouldn’t care whether he’s deemed more or less “talented” than Hunter and Carter. As long as Roger Goodell calls his name at the top of the draft and he gets that sweet rookie-scale contract that comes with being the 1st pick. Even his girlfriend is fanning the flames of this imminent supremacy over hundreds of his peers.

Cam Ward’s girlfriend drops a cryptic hint about his draft position

PSA for whoever needs it: Being the no.1 overall pick is still a big deal. It equates to the same financially as well as gives you the same fulfillment. Imagine being Cam Ward, who began on the FCS level and grated his way to this juncture. He probably can’t hear you say “yeah, but” from Cloud 9. Naturally, his girlfriend, Nailah Landon, is buzzing as well. 

Last week, Cam Ward took to IG and posted a bit of a photo dump. He’s about to shoulder the burden of a multibillion-dollar franchise, but he’s a Gen-Z kid after all! In the comments section of this post, which includes pictures with her, Nailah left a subtle, cryptic message. “FIRST!” she wrote. His first supporter when he was traversing the second rung of college football? The first commenter under the post? Or acknowledgment of the soon-to-be first-draft pick? Cant say, but one thing is definitive- this was done with this exact purpose. Have people talking.

By all accounts, Cam Ward isn’t the perfect quarterback. There are holes in his repertoire. But you’d be hard-pressed to find an analyst or draft evaluator who thinks he doesn’t warrant going #1 overall in this market. Even Dane Brugler would concur. You can only beat what’s in front of you, and Ward’s done just that.