Cam Ward has been on a meteoric rise since transferring to Miami (FL), and now he’s in the conversation to go No. 1 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. During a recent NFL Draft preview show with Ari Meirov on “NFL Spotlight w/Ari Meirov,” NFL Draft analyst Charles Davis broke down what makes Ward unique — and the quarterbacks he believes Ward compares to most.
Charles Davis Sees Shades of NFL Stars’ Traits in Cam Ward’s Game
“The initial comp that everyone is kind of locked in on is … was Patrick Mahomes because of the out-of-structure plays that Cam Ward is fond of making and makes pretty darn well and has done it pretty darn well [in] three different places — Incarnate Word to Washington State to Miami — at no place has he not made those types of plays,” Davis said.
“But, for me, I’m looking at and been watching, there were those out-of-structure plays because of the superiority of what that person feels about their game — his arm, his ability to stay out of trouble, to keep a play extended, keep it alive and then of course the payoff on the other end.”
Davis sees Ward not as a Mahomes-like player but as a composite of these three quarterbacks — and some of them may surprise you.
1) Caleb Williams, Bears
Davis sees flashes of Williams in Ward’s play-extending style. “Coming out of USC, how many times did he extend the play, keep it alive, make the big play, which led to a problem as a rookie? Sixty-eight sacks, he took. … Young, mobile quarterbacks often get sacked more than non-mobile ones because they think they can still make a play. They won’t give up on anything.”
2) C.J. Stroud, Texans
Like Stroud, Ward has made incremental jumps at every level. “When he went from Incarnate Word to Washington State to Miami, [he] kept waiting for different things. That reminded me of C.J. Stroud … and then came the big game in the College Football Playoff when he [Stroud] just shredded Georgia.”
3) Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers
Ward’s chip-on-his-shoulder mentality screams Mayfield to Davis. “Zero stars coming out of high school … it was almost Incarnate Word or bust. Doesn’t have every measurable … but that competitive instinct, a team rallies around him. I think Cam Ward has a lot of those similarities, too.”
Charles Davis sees Miami QB and potential No. 1 pick Cam Ward as having similarities to Caleb Williams, C.J. Stroud, and Baker Mayfield—each in different ways. Great stuff here:
Full episode: https://t.co/RCnVDEFq4w https://t.co/LLh3JlQREo pic.twitter.com/HgsT7KmtrJ
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) April 1, 2025
With traits from stars like Williams, Stroud, and Mayfield, Ward is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing prospects in the 2025 class. Whether he goes No. 1 or not, Ward clearly has traits that NFL teams love.