It's not a done deal until the pick is in. And it's best to never take anything at face value when it comes to NFL draft chatter.
But it sure sounds like the Tennessee Titans are leaning heavily toward selecting Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the first pick in the NFL Draft.
Ward's pro day is scheduled for late Monday. Per multiple reports, everybody who's anybody within the Titans power structure is in Miami to see Ward. In fact, they've already had dinner with him.
Per multiple reports, Titans brass took Ward out to dinner on Sunday night. Those in attendance for Ward's pro day reportedly include team president Burke Nihill, general manager Mike Borgonzi and head coach Brian Callahan.
Per The Athletic's Zac Jackson, the Titans have also sent their in-house TV and website production crews to document Ward's pro day. Unless they're all there to acquire extensive footage and information on a potential future opponent, all signs point to Ward going first overall to Tennessee in April.
It's not a stretch to reach that conclusion absent the Titans going all in on Ward's pro day. In a draft with a dearth of high-end quarterback talent, Ward has separated himself in the eyes of mosts analysts from the competition. Colorado's Shedeur Sanders has been discussed as another potential first-round prospect, but Ward appears to have put considerable distance between himself and Sanders, thanks in part to his superior arm talent.
And the Titans need a quarterback. The Will Levis experiment was put to bed in a difficult 2024 campaign for the second-year quarterback and the Titans. Hence, Tennessee possessing the No. 1 overall pick.
There are non-quarterback prospects in this draft rated higher than Ward, most notably two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter and Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter, lending credence to the prospect that the Titans could pass on a quarterback to select a player perceived as a superior talent.
But if a Titans team in need of a quarterback that's holding the No. 1 pick passes on a quarterback that's deemed to have high-end first-round upside, it'd be among the first. There's little reason at this point to believe that the Titans will do anything but select Ward first overall.
