The 2025 NFL Draft is shaky regarding quarterback prospects. That being said, the bona fide No. 1 quarterback prospect, Cam Ward of Miami, is a very solid choice.
He might not be near the top of the previous draft’s stacked class, but many believe Ward has plenty to offer as a potential franchise quarterback.
The Las Vegas Raiders hold the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, and while it is just about unthinkable for Ward to fall to the Silver and Black, CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell rates the Raiders as the fourth-best fit for the Hurricanes star.
“Ward would immediately have a go-to guy in first-team All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers, who is fresh off setting the league’s rookie receptions record (112) despite catching passes from Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew and Desmond Ridder,” Podell wrote. “Las Vegas also has a defensive building block in edge rusher Maxx Crosby and the second-most effective cap space in the league ($85.8 million, per Over the Cap). New head coach Pete Carroll could team up with Ward to turn around the Raiders quickly if he falls in the draft.”
What is interesting is that what may be worse situations in Cleveland, New York (Giants), and Tennessee are rated higher.
The Raiders now have coaching stability with a proven winner in Pete Carroll (who is also adept at building quarterbacks) and quarterback-friendly offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, and an offensive line that is as good if not better than those options with Kolton Miller, Andre James, Jackson Powers-Johnson, a blossoming DJ Glaze, and Dylan Parham.
A young, generational weapon in Bowers, the picks to draft wide receiver and running back talent, and the cap space to get a bridge quarterback to allow Ward to sit and develop. The defense is talented, too.
While it is unlikely Ward ends up in the desert, there is no doubt he carries the potential to be a franchise-changer.
“Stylistically, there are some similarities between Ward and the 2024 NFL Draft’s first overall pick, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, when he came out of USC,” wrote Podell. “Both extend plays out of structure and outside the pocket for jaw-dropping completions. However, Ward might actually do a better job than Williams, coming out of college, at resetting his feet and making sure they’re on the ground, thus generating more on-platform throws than one would think a quarterback who dances around behind the line of scrimmage would make.
“Another plus for Ward is that he’s shown demonstrable improvement in each year of his collegiate career, which provides hope that a similar trend could continue in the NFL, and he has the arm talent in the velocity department to complete passes with slim margins for error.”
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