Cam Ward Eyes A Year 2 Leap Among Fantasy Football QB Ranks
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Cam Ward Eyes A Year 2 Leap Among Fantasy Football QB Ranks

Ian Hartitz examines the possibility that Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward could take a Year 2 leap into the top of fantasy football QB rankings.

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Cam Ward came as advertised, with a cannon for an arm and enough mobility to make some truly "wow" plays. But the supporting cast let him down, leaving him often running for his life on the way to a 3-14 record that could've been worse. Though the promise of those big plays have both an organization and Titans fan base hopeful that Ward could one day be a QB who lifts a franchise—and fantasy football managers. Can that happen in Year 2? Ian Hartitz breaks it down as part of his Tennessee Titans Team Preview.

Is Cam Ward poised to take a leap in Year 2?

The good from Cam Ward's rookie season revolves around him usually making one to two absurd plays per week thanks to ridiculous arm talent and a penchant for avoiding sacks. Not many QBs have a two-minute mixtape of highlights this cool.

The bad from Ward's debut campaign comes down to the reality that pretty much every stat we care about says he was quite bad overall.

Cam Ward among 43 QBs with 150+ dropbacks in 2025:

  • EPA per dropback: -0.12 (41st)
  • Completion percentage over expected: -2.9% (36th)
  • Success rate: 39.5% (40th)
  • Yards per attempt: 5.9 (39th)
  • Passer rating: 80.2 (38th)
  • PFF pass grade: 56.4 (40th)

Of course, the other side of this is: How many quarterbacks would have been capable of putting up even average numbers in this dismal offensive environment? This offense ranked 27th in my "Supporting Cast Rating" and offered arguably the single-worst group of pass catchers in the league. Throw in a rather lackluster scheme as well as an offensive line that finished 2025 ranked as PFF's 23rd overall unit, and you have pretty much anyone's idea of a miserable offensive environment.

This begs the question: Should we really expect things to change in a major way ahead of 2026? It's reasonable to think Brian Daboll can make some improvements in the playcalling department, although it's not like his tenure in New York was full of flowers. There's also still at least some concern involving the weaponry (ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently ranked the Titans 25th in terms of their RB, WR, and TE rooms), and it's not really guaranteed this offensive line goes from bad to good.

Ward passed the eye test in 2025. There's no doubt about it. And yet, this still feels like a roster that is a year away from probably being at least another year away. Throw in the reality that Ward doesn't possess the sort of high-end dual-threat upside that we look for in late-round QBs, and it's tough to be overly excited about the 2026 expectations—even if I'm absolutely down to buy stock in the 24-year-old in dynasty land.

Also note: I would love to see Will Levis get a chance to compete for a starting job again. Yeah, yeah, we've seen the memes, but the former second-rounder really did flash some serious arm talent alongside underrated mobility during his 21 starts across the 2023-24 seasons. Ultimately, he's got a bit of that Jameis gene in him: Things won't always go the way the coach drew it up, but dammit, it's a lot of fun for better and (mostly) worse. I'm sick enough in the head to happily continue to reserve a dynasty bench spot for Levis in deeper leagues.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Cam Ward
    CamWard
    QBTENTEN
    PPG
    10.9
    Proj
    234.2

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