In Minecraft, if you enter inventive mode the world is totally in your fingers. With no necessities to carry any of the sources in your rolodex to create, you’re solely restricted by your individual thoughts. Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t create a TNT block and blow your undertaking up, after which your duplicate Viking longship you took three days to construct is ruined. With all the good instruments in your arsenal, it comes with a whole lot of fun–but within the improper circumstances and a very tough mod, the expertise can flip nasty actually fast.
Consider Miami QB Cam Ward as a participant who’s in Minecraft inventive mode on the toughest mods. After a school 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 looking at what Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders brings to the desk, let’s have a look at Ward and what he could be on the subsequent stage.
What instantly stands out about Ward is his really feel for playmaking and productiveness exterior the pocket. If each QB has a superpower, Ward’s is his skill to increase performs. Regardless of not being a dominant or overwhelming athlete by any means, Ward has an innate skill to make nothing into one thing late within the down and do the inventive stuff we talked about in Minecraft. On 69 makes an attempt exterior the pocket, Ward is first amongst draft-eligible QBs resembling Sanders, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Louisville’s Tyler Shough in Growth Charge, that means performs that finish with an EPA over one on the play. His knack for the unimaginable exterior the pocket reveals up underneath strain as properly, 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 skill 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 totally 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 wanting 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 exterior the pocket, his choice making has improved a bit since his time at Washington State. Ward was once a man who wouldn’t cook dinner by the guide. Nevertheless, he’s proven flashes of some huge boy quarterbacking from contained in the pocket and course of which you could at the very least 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 examine (we’ll additionally get to that later). Of all of the spectacular throws Ward made at Miami, this landing in opposition to Virginia Tech is one in every of my favorites.
To his proper, he’s obtained a bunch formation with the surface receiver operating an out, his tight finish operating a sit route and his slot receiver operating a nook. What I like a lot about this throw is the little shoulder shimmy he offers to the surface 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 in opposition to Syracuse is fairly good as properly, with Ward working to this frontside dig after wanting off the bottom linebacker. From the tip zone view, you’ll be able to see how Ward manipulates LB #8 by wanting him over to grass, then coming again to his receiver breaking throughout the center of the sphere. That is good stuff from the Hurricanes’ QB.
The place Ward can fall brief comes again to Minecraft. In Minecraft, you’ll be able to fly too near the solar in inventive mode, and find yourself blowing up one thing you have been engaged on. Whenever you’re in survival mode, you may suppose 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 speak about 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 properly beneath the mark for first spherical QBs he’s charted during the last three years. Along with that, Ward is beneath common when throwing to the boundary as properly. Regardless of having an excellent arm, I stored questioning why Ward would have simply these actually bizarre misses, and I feel it comes all the way down to his ft.
Ward has a really Air Raidy decrease half relating to 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 change into compromised as a result of each throw is off platform. Until you’re Inexperienced Bay Packers’ QB Jordan Love (who has a rocket for an arm), that’s not a sustainable method to dwell within the NFL.
Ward will typically shut off his torque by actually stopping his movement. It’s like slamming the brakes on an F1 automobile, positive you may nonetheless transfer ahead, but it surely received’t go almost as far with almost as a lot accuracy. My colleague (and QB knowledgeable) Mark Schofield stated that Ward’s entrance leg is locking, and never ending by means of his entrance foot.
Prepared for an train? Stand up and faux to throw the ball like an NFL QB. The whole lot for probably 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 fingers may play into his lack of accuracy exterior the numbers, however I feel it’s extra simply wonky decrease physique mechanics. You’ll be able to 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 go exterior the numbers for Ward. Once more, you see his decrease physique lock out, and the accuracy dips. This occurs lots on throws exterior the numbers, which is a part of why I feel he could be even higher on the NFL level–with the right teaching.
You may get away with some flawed mechanics in case you have an elite, elite arm (see: Love, Jordan), however in Ward’s case, a few of that stuff must be cleaned up. The great factor is, we’ve seen that Ward could be good mechanically. I feel for probably the most half on the short sport work and most passes over the center, his decrease physique is far more in sync. Take a look at this throw in opposition to 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 relating to Ward, nonetheless. Sure, he’s holding on to the ball, however I feel what an NFL workforce will inform Ward on the subsequent stage is to know when to fold. Ward is rarely going to let a play die, and whereas it comes with spotlight performs like we obtained on the prime, we additionally get moments like this:
We’ve seen Ward make throws the place he manipulates second stage defenders, and he’s obtained 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 suppose Ward will work within the NFL is having the ability to succeed as a scrambler. He’s a thicker participant at 219 kilos, and is extremely robust. Amongst all faculty QBs final yr with at the very least 20 scrambles, Ward was first within the nation in First Down Charge as a scrambler and had an 87% Constructive Play Charge. That’s fairly rattling good, and an indicator that he could make well timed scrambles.
Finally, Ward’s NFL trajectory is determined by one factor, in my view. The primary of which is that if he’s a ok athlete to compensate for among the wonky mechanics and tendency to interrupt among the guidelines on the place. Jordan Love is without doubt one of the purest examples of this, a man who doesn’t all the time cook dinner by the guide however has the athletic expertise to make it work anyway. Ward goes to go up on straightforward completions to search for the massive play, he’s gonna hunt for the landing — which is sweet! However can he be a ok athlete on the place to dwell like that? And if not can he develop as a passer?
I feel it’s well worth the danger 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 best teaching.
