In Minecraft, while you enter artistic mode the world is totally in your arms. With no necessities to carry any of the assets in your rolodex to create, you’re solely restricted by your personal thoughts. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t create a TNT block and blow your venture up, after which your duplicate Viking longship you took three days to construct is ruined. With all the nice instruments in your arsenal, it comes with loads of fun–but within the fallacious circumstances and a very troublesome mod, the expertise can flip nasty actually fast.
Consider Miami QB Cam Ward as a participant who’s in Minecraft artistic mode on the toughest mods. After a university soccer profession that spanned stops at FCS Incarnate Phrase and Washington State, Ward turned an outstanding season at Miami into probably being the primary participant picked off the board within the 2025 NFL Draft. After having a look at what Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders brings to the desk, let’s take a look at Ward and what he will be on the subsequent degree.
What instantly stands out about Ward is his really feel for playmaking and productiveness outdoors the pocket. If each QB has a superpower, Ward’s is his means to increase performs. Regardless of not being a dominant or overwhelming athlete by any means, Ward has an innate means to make nothing into one thing late within the down and do the artistic stuff we talked about in Minecraft. On 69 makes an attempt outdoors the pocket, Ward is first amongst draft-eligible QBs equivalent to Sanders, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Louisville’s Tyler Shough in Growth Fee, that means performs that finish with an EPA over one on the play. His knack for the unbelievable outdoors the pocket exhibits up beneath stress as effectively, the place he makes use of that athleticism to make throws like this one:
Or this one:
What else actually stands out about Ward is the higher physique mechanics and launch, particularly within the fast sport. Cory Kinnan extensively charts and scouts QBs, and Ward’s means to hit within the fast sport is about common sitting at about 85%. He has a versatile launch and is similar to a shortstop, working and manipulating completely different arm angles within the RPO sport to large success. He’s in a position to drop his arm to suit passes round defenders and make wonky trying passes that each highschool quarterback in America goes to try to do (and fail).
Whereas he can entry the netherite sword that’s these arm angles and performs outdoors the pocket, his determination making has improved a bit since his time at Washington State. Ward was a man who wouldn’t prepare dinner by the e book. Nonetheless, he’s proven flashes of some huge boy quarterbacking from contained in the pocket and course of that you could a minimum of work with. Whereas it’s not tremendous constant (we’ll get to that later), you’ll be able to see the imaginative and prescient when he’s taking part in composed and has his mechanics in test (we’ll additionally get to that later). Of all of the spectacular throws Ward made at Miami, this landing towards Virginia Tech is one among my favorites.
To his proper, he’s received a bunch formation with the skin receiver operating an out, his tight finish operating a sit route and his slot receiver operating a nook. What I really like a lot about this throw is the little shoulder shimmy he provides to the skin nook, to make him hesitate in direction of the out route, then throw this nook behind him within the void. That’s Sunday QB’ing.
This one towards Syracuse is fairly good as effectively, with Ward working to this frontside dig after trying off the bottom linebacker. From the tip zone view, you’ll be able to see how Ward manipulates LB #8 by trying him over to grass, then coming again to his receiver breaking throughout the center of the sector. That is good stuff from the Hurricanes’ QB.
The place Ward can fall quick comes again to Minecraft. In Minecraft, you’ll be able to fly too near the solar in artistic mode, and find yourself blowing up one thing you had been engaged on. While you’re in survival mode, you would possibly assume you’re in a position to go and get some extra iron ore that you simply see over the river, however you then recover from there and it’s darkish and there are monsters round. Ward is only a good athlete with a good arm, along with his launch and arm angles working greater than his arm power. Once we discuss Ward being reckless, it begins a bit along with his mechanics and base, which saps his arm power.
When charting Ward, Kinnan additionally famous that the Miami QB completed 18/43 on deep passes this season, a 41.86% quantity that is available in effectively beneath the mark for first spherical QBs he’s charted over the past three years. Along with that, Ward is beneath common when throwing to the boundary as effectively. Regardless of having a very good arm, I stored questioning why Ward would have simply these actually bizarre misses, and I feel it comes right down to his ft.
Ward has a really Air Raidy decrease half in terms of mechanics. With all due respect to the late Mike Leach, the decrease physique mechanics of Air Raid QBs are very … vibey. Ward tends to float within the pocket and his base will grow to be compromised as a result of each throw is off platform. Except you’re Inexperienced Bay Packers’ QB Jordan Love (who has a rocket for an arm), that’s not a sustainable strategy to dwell within the NFL.
Ward will generally shut off his torque by actually stopping his movement. It’s like slamming the brakes on an F1 automobile, certain you would possibly nonetheless transfer ahead, but it surely received’t go almost as far with almost as a lot accuracy. My colleague (and QB skilled) Mark Schofield mentioned that Ward’s entrance leg is locking, and never ending by means of his entrance foot.
Prepared for an train? Rise up and fake to throw the ball like an NFL QB. The whole lot for essentially the most half really feel regular, proper? Now, try to do it with out bringing your again leg by means of. That’s what Ward is doing, and I feel it’s messing along with his ball placement. Ward’s small arms would possibly play into his lack of accuracy outdoors the numbers, however I feel it’s extra simply wonky decrease physique mechanics. You possibly can see how Ward’s physique form of jams up when he throws the ball, and it results in sailed passes like this one.
Take a look at this vertical move outdoors the numbers for Ward. Once more, you see his decrease physique lock out, and the accuracy dips. This occurs so much on throws outdoors the numbers, which is a part of why I feel he will be even higher on the NFL level–with the correct teaching.
You may get away with some flawed mechanics when you’ve got an elite, elite arm (see: Love, Jordan), however in Ward’s case, a few of that stuff needs to be cleaned up. The great factor is, we’ve seen that Ward will be good mechanically. I feel for essentially the most half on the short sport work and most passes over the center, his decrease physique is way more in sync. Take a look at this throw towards Virginia Tech. All his cleats are within the floor, and he unlocks his entrance leg, exhibiting off some very nice ball placement.
The holding on to the ball stuff is one thing that I feel I fear much less about in terms of Ward, nevertheless. Sure, he’s holding on to the ball, however I feel what an NFL group will inform Ward on the subsequent degree is to know when to fold. Ward is rarely going to let a play die, and whereas it comes with spotlight performs like we received on the high, we additionally get moments like this:
We’ve seen Ward make throws the place he manipulates second degree defenders, and he’s received the chance to right here with the MIKE, however he finally ends up drifting from the Cal 45 to Miami’s 45 and consuming a sack. That may’t occur within the NFL.
The place I additionally assume Ward will work within the NFL is with the ability to succeed as a scrambler. He’s a thicker participant at 219 kilos, and is extremely powerful. Amongst all school QBs final 12 months with a minimum of 20 scrambles, Ward was first within the nation in First Down Fee as a scrambler and had an 87% Constructive Play Fee. That’s fairly rattling good, and an indicator that he could make well timed scrambles.
In the end, Ward’s NFL trajectory depends upon one factor, in my view. The primary of which is that if he’s a adequate athlete to compensate for a number of the wonky mechanics and tendency to interrupt a number of the guidelines on the place. Jordan Love is likely one of the purest examples of this, a man who doesn’t at all times prepare dinner by the e book however has the athletic expertise to make it work anyway. Ward goes to move up on straightforward completions to search for the large play, he’s gonna hunt for the landing — which is nice! However can he be a adequate athlete on the place to dwell like that? And if not can he develop as a passer?
I feel it’s well worth the threat for Ward, who’s seemingly operating away with QB1 proper now. Whereas I feel the margins are a lot thinner between he and Sanders, Ward can win within the NFL–with the appropriate teaching.
