The Hurricane stemming out of southern Florida fizzled out into nothing more than a passing breeze in the grand scheme of the 2024 College Football season. Miami’s unbeaten start was rendered futile after losing 2 of their last 3 games down the stretch. Missteps that cost them a playoff berth. But there was one glaring positive that’ll afford solace to the program and fans. QB Cam Ward came in via the transfer portal as a messiah and left as a hero. He’s forever etched in the annals of this fabled school and the football paradigm. Ward boasts the record for the most TDs thrown in NCAA D-1 history. As he now ascends to the NFL, he’s making one last stop in the Sunshine State before bidding adieu—and there are a prominent few names coming to witness it.

Cam Ward is at the U for his last chance as Miami hosts their Pro Day. Since Cam refrained from partaking in drills at the Combine in Indy, this prognosis of his skills, tangibles, and intangibles alike, carries a ton of weight. He’s gaining traction in the consensus hivemind of draft analysts and experts alike as the No.1 overall pick of next month’s NFL Draft. Naturally, the holders of that pick are in attendance. The Tennessee Titans aren’t leaving any stone unturned if they seek to put their franchise on Cam Ward’s back. They’ve brought down everybody who’s got a say in the matter. But interestingly, the Titans also have some eyebrow-raising ancillary personnel in Miami alongside the powers that be. The presence of whom is fanning the flames of their links to Cam.

The Titans have been in AFC purgatory for a minute. It doesn’t help that you haven’t hit on a franchise QB in years. But that failure gets accentuated when almost every quarterback in the league is concentrated in your conference. Albeit there’s a viable chance they go for EDGE Abdul Carter or 2-way phenom Travis Hunter instead; it does feel like quarterback takes precedence. Cam Ward has already resuscitated a College program down south. Can he do so with an NFL franchise, too? You’d think the Titans brass certainly thinks so.

Not only have they pulled up with head coach Brian Callahan, team president Burke Nihill, and GM Mike Borgonzi to Cam’s Pro Day. They’ve also tagged along their in-house media teams—both TV and online ones.  Maybe get some Cam Ward content for the archives and social media when they call his name in Green Bay on draft night? This revelation was reported by The Athletic’s Zac Jackson, who primarily covers the Cleveland Browns. The team picking right after Tennessee. His announcement on X spawned pandemonium among Browns fans who want the Titans to forego Cam.

The Titans not signing a QB in free agency does reinforce the notion they’ve got their eyes on drafting one. Their fans have seen their fair share of adversity. But subjecting them to another season of the Will Levis experience would verge on inhumane! That’s hyperbolic, but the Levis experiment really hasn’t worked out. Cam Ward, or even his closest contemporary, Shedeur Sanders, does offer a fresh start for this flailing franchise. A clean slate to build things back up with a QB on a rookie-scale contract. Put pieces around him, and they could make some noise in the AFC South. A division not exactly doing great apart from the Texans. Speaking of putting together pieces, Mike Borgonzi has already got things rolling.

Titans’ off-season activity points to them preparing for the arrival of Cam Ward

Conceded, the quarterback is at the crux of the operation. But one player, as great as they may be, can’t bump a 3-win team up to any barometer of success. Assuming they’re drafting and then planning to play a rookie quarterback in Cam Ward, the Titans needed to afford him some leverage as he adapts to the speed and physicality of the league. O-line help is a must, and they’ve added some in the form of Dan Moore. He’s stolen most of the fervor around the Titans’ free agency, and rightly so. An $82 million outlay would feed into that. But don’t sleep on other moves they’ve made elsewhere. Not only has Tennessee further bolstered their O-line with guard Kevin Zietler, but they’ve also addressed special teams and defense too.

What’s good with moving the sticks as a quarterback if your kicker can’t convert field goals. Borgonzi has onboarded a new kicker in Joey Slye, formerly of the Patriots. Slye has a career 81.7% FG% and has converted 89.6% of his extra point attempts. He even made a personal best 63-yarder last season. The reason he’s come in to replace vet Nick Folk is fairly straightforward—he’s 11 years younger. The Titans have also brought in LB Cody Barton and safety Xavier Woods. This off-season splurge, which has set them back well north of $100m in salaries, will help complement the quarterback and, by extension, facilitate better performances and results.

The Titans bringing the media teams to Miami could be smoke and mirrors. There’s a school of thought they’re playing poker, trying to make it seem they’re drafting Cam Ward so another team trades for the No. 1 pick. This isn’t far-fetched, but the conspicuous signs point towards them taking Cam themselves. Trading down would make sense, given the alternatives, but only if they’re comfortable passing on the consensus best QB in the class. A lot more shall become clear in the days and weeks following his Pro Day.