Cam Ward was already slender coming into the NFL out of Miami, but he has opted to get even leaner ahead of year two with the Tennessee Titans. The former No. 1 overall pick has lost about 10 pounds so far during the offseason. He weighed in at 219 pounds during his rookie campaign. Ward made it a point to eat better to help with his durability, but football is a game where you can get beat up badly...
He told ESPN's Turron Davenport the following about his decision to cut some weight this offseason.
"I think it'll help me with durability. Just being faster, getting up in the pocket, and trying to play my speed. I watch my diet more, continue to have more cardio, just work on my body, just now here and when I'm away from the building."
While Ward does make great points about him wanting to be faster, improving his cardio, and getting up more in the pocket, what happens when a defensive tackle who weighs 100 pounds more than him falls on top of him during a designed run? Ward's best attribute is his lightning quick release, but being slightly nimbler may not accentuate that as much as he think it might. It falls back on one thing.
No matter how much work Ward puts into his body, Tennessee must do a better job of protecting him.
Cam Ward cutting weight puts a ton of pressure on Titans' offensive line
With Titans fans realizing Ward could be something special, Tennessee needs to build around him by getting better in front of him. Whenever the Titans have ever been anything worthy of writing home about, the offensive line usually leads the way for a great running game. Of course, having a reliable quarterback throwing darts behind them always helps, but Tennessee is normally a ground-first team.
Where Ward and the Titans need to get on the same page is understanding how they are going to win together. They need to put their trust and faith into Mike Borgonzi as the general manager, as well as hope that Robert Saleh is infinitely better as a retread head coach than Brian Callahan was during his brief time in Nashville. There is also one other thing to be greatly concerned about for Ward in all this.
That would be new Titans offenisve coordinator Brian Daboll... When he is at his best as a play-caller, the former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator and New York Giants head coach loves to run it with his star quarterback. He had tremendous success with Josh Allen in Orchard Park, as well as fleeting success with Daniel Jones in East Rutherford. Both are built to tuck it and run with their giant frames.
While Ward might be every bit as good of an athlete as both of them, he is built differently. Smaller quarterbacks can have success in the NFL, but their games have to evolve to overcome their physical limitations. There is a reason why the prototypical size of an NFL franchise quarterback is somewhere around 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds. He needs to see over the offensive line and be able to take a big hit.
Ward may be able to escape the big hits for the time being, but all it takes is one to change his career.
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