This is the game management side of things that Ward has to learn. No one open and this is him after backing up (red circle shows a chance at a shot play, deep safety is there so it would need to be on a line). This play, right here, is over three seconds old (snap at 12:12). Throw it away or take a shot, but don’t take a sack here.
View attachment 279077
Seven seconds after the snap he takes a sack. You can’t do that. It’s not on your OL, it’s on you. You had a beautiful pocket after three full seconds and still took a sack. Bad play. It’s that lack of anticipation that has held him back at times. If you’re looking to develop him, it’s repping the heck out of anticipation throws and knowing where to go with the ball if you’re first reads aren’t open.
View attachment 279078
Takes another sack on the next play. Washington has gone away from the early zone defense and switched to man, where they are just playing man-under every play now. The RG for WSU is pretty awful in this game. Here he is just standing there not finding work and the RT gets beaten quickly. If they block this up there is a deep over who is going to pop open in the window after #10 here.
View attachment 279084
Next drive Ward scrambles on 1st for two. Then on second Washington fooled Ward with a robber. This was going to be picked off but the DL tips it and knocks it down. Variance shines on you sometimes.
View attachment 279086
WSU OC did a nice job in this game adjusting when Washington would adjust to them. They’ve been playing man-under defense, then threw a robber on last play. So WSU runs a man beater with a switch on outside to get a rub on CB and release inside for a slant. But watch #24 in the middle who is also trying to create a rub on the Mike who will want to get out there to help on slant. He picks up the 1st here.
View attachment 279087
Ward has the deep-in cut if his LG doesn’t power slam the DL into his legs. He’s waiting for him to clear the LB and get into that middle window. It’s a hold on the LG, anyway.
View attachment 279088
WSU can’t recover from the hold and then misses a FG. WSU had chances in this one. (Not pictured)
This is a tough one. You’ve got a guy in your face so you can’t really step into it and you’ve gotta layer it over a LB. It hits the receivers hands and pops up into the air for an interception.
View attachment 279089
Tough catch, but we need you.
View attachment 279090
His anticipation on short routes is so much better than intermediate depth or over-the-middle. This is another of the same switch route/rub combinations we’ve seen on 3rd down. Double slants to the top was in a classic triangle coverage, so he definitely saw it correctly here. 1st down.
View attachment 279091
Let’s help my guy out a little bit here, please. This is a dart, in-stride, on 3rd down. He’s one guy from the band playing and…he drops it. You won’t find a better slant QB in college than Cam Ward. I feel ya, Cam.
View attachment 279092
He responds with a touch pass to the FB coming across the formation on 4th down. (Not pictured)
You keep this QB clean and you will get darts. Washington is throwing everything they have at him and he’s responding in this environment. Impressive.
View attachment 279093
Washington tries to leap over the line on the FG try and gives WSU a 1st down. Yikes. (Not pictured)
Neat little angle route with motion across formation fools Washington who has adjusted to that switch route WSU has been throwing at them by staying outside on the switch and leaving the inside receiver to the nickel. The motion here though gets the safety on the inside switch and Ward is on-time so much it allows the receiver to break the tackle and score. If you’re gonna watch a Cam Ward game, this one is a good one to choose.
View attachment 279094
Ward gets them with the hard count and the “clap” which simulates the snap count in the silent. WSU switched it up, clearly, to go one beat after the clap, rather than on the clap and it gets Washington.
View attachment 279095
WSU had four holding penalties in this game and they were all just crushing penalties. The starting LT, LG, and RG were out in this one and you saw it show up on 2nd-and-2 where WSU had a 1st down and they got called for another hold to bring it back. (Not pictured)
Ugh. Run it Cam!!! He tries to throw on the run and can’t get it, but if he takes off he’s got a real chance here.
View attachment 279096
WSU doesn’t get it back and Washington wins at the end. What a game from our guy, Cam Ward. He basically carried his team on his back this entire game. No Rome Odunze or other elite receivers for WSU. They had a nice player in #5 Victor, but he’s an Xavier Restrepo type of possession kid, not a playmaker who can just go get the ball for you. No run game, no OL. Heck of a performance.
Here is a nice thread of Ward throws in other games if you’re so inclined.
By the Numbers:
Ward vs. Washington:
.362 EPA per pass, Washington defense averaged .144 EPA per pass play in their other games
Ward surpassed the average EPA allowed by Washington in all but one game (vs. UCLA he struggled).
Of returning P5 QB’s, Ward finished:
- Sixth in Total Expected Points Added behind Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Ohio State, and Mizzou QB’s (only Mizzou is a team that isn’t out-talenting their opponents by a mile)
View attachment 279099
- 14th out of returning P5 QB’s in PFF passing grade
- 3rd in Big Time Throws (Jalen Milroe, Taulia Tagovailoa, Cam Ward and TVD tied)
- All of this on an offense that PFF graded as the 51st best out of 69 P5 teams
Where He Wins
- Ward is elite in the short passing game, throwing darts on slants, in the RPO game, and quick passes outside of the numbers
- His arm allows him to threaten a defense deep at any time
- Ward is not afraid to stand in the pocket and throw the ball in the face of pressure. That toughness allows him to make plays other QB’s would never dream of attempting
- His playmaking ability is right up there with any QB not named Caleb Williams
Where To Grow
- There is clearly potential to improve his understanding of carrying the ball to protect it better. While some of the fumbles are due to smaller hands, much of it is simply due to the way he handles the ball in the pocket and while making plays
- His tendency to bail backwards on pockets causes him several issues. One of the largest being that when is sacked, it is almost always in the -13 yards category of sacks, which all but end the drive
- Knowing when to live to fight another down is a major area of growth for Ward. Several interceptions occurred when he would try to force a pass while making a play. Operating in structure on-time and on-schedule will let his natural tools play up, rather than being a net negative.
- Simple game management is a skill that he can continue to grow. In high school, Ward played in a wing-T offense and he has had to continue to learn game management in a high-volume passing attack. Taking a checkdown on 1st down to stay ahead of the chains is better than always forcing the ball on any chance he gets. It’s different to force a ball on 3rd-and-long when you need to get past the sticks.
Overall
The truth of the matter is that I, like many of you, were told that Cam Ward was going to commit back in early December. Then the roller coaster ride occurred and I got Ward-fatigue. That bias was there when I went into an actual grading of his play and what he showed on film.
I expected to feel differently than I do. What I came out feeling is that Cam Ward has top of the top college potential. He is smarter than I thought he would be on the field. He sees adjustments from the defense and has a plan of where he’s going to go with the ball based on a pre-snap picture. He’s tougher than I thought he would be. A player with the number of sacks he takes and the number of fumbles he has had tend to be a bit softer with the ball and not want to take hits. That isn’t Cam Ward. All over his tape he is standing tall in a collapsing pocket and taking a hit to deliver a ball.
The WSU offense was pretty well-coached in the games I watched. Especially against Washington, in a game that I scrutinized every play, you could see Washington change the picture multiple times. They started out zone heavy and ignoring the run game to get depth with the LB’s. When that didn’t work because Ward was throwing darts into clean spaces, they switched to press-man. He recognized that picture and hit them with a killer before half. Washington then switched to man-under with a shell to keep things in front of them. The WSU staff exploited that with switch concepts and rub plays. Ward hit them all. Washington used a robber multiple times and the only time they caught Ward with it, the DL tipped the pass and saved an interception.
Ward is going to love Restrepo. He had a weapon just like him at WSU and he was the only guy who could reliably catch the ball. On those quick and timing passes, expect Restrepo to eat.
The release is elite. The arm is excellent, no doubt, but it’s the release that makes it play up.
I watched the Cal game from 2022 and while Ward played a good game, you could see real and tangible improvements in 2023. His footwork, stride, release had all improve visibly. Ward still has a tendency to cross his feet on his drop, which is something he will want to clean up this year, but if he makes the same jump from 2023 to 2024 that he made in 2022 to 2023, we could be looking at one of these transfer-to Heisman contending cases.
Struggles to anticipate over the middle. He has to “see it” at that depth. He still hits the windows against zone because of the arm and the release, but you can see him waiting to throw, rather than throwing to where the receiver will be next. Much better on short throws, where he will release the ball and let the receiver get to the window, rather than the other way around.
Holds the ball too long, bails out of pockets backwards, and loses his internal clock at times. If he ever learns to step up in the pocket he will take a massive jump in efficiency.
If you watched only this players top plays you’d swear he’s up there with Caleb and Maye. It’s the bonehead throws and deep sacks that hold him back.
My goodness does he make some curl your toes throws at times. I see why Mario planted his flag on this kid and never moved off of him. He’s really good, with the potential to be much more.
