The Tennessee Titans drafted University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward No. 1 in the 2025 NFL Draft. But, you wouldn’t know it if you followed the media coverage. As a draft junkie, I’ve followed it closely for as long as I can remember, and I can’t remember a quarterback drafted at the very top who got less attention.
It’s not just that he didn’t get thrown a hype parade or anything, but it seemed like his first-overall selection was glossed over. “Oh, yeah…and, um, the Titans take Cam Ward first. Is this where Shedeur starts to slide?” I’m being hyperbolic, but I’m not far off.
Titans’ defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons has noticed the lack of love, said Ward is “legit,” and thinks the lack of attention could actually be a good thing for the team.
“I think where we’re at right now with him not getting enough praise, who is not known as a No. 1 pick overall or don’t get the attention and the praise that he deserve,” Simmons said during his appearance on NFLN’s Good Morning Football. “But I think that’s a chip on his shoulder. You could tell by the way he goes about his business — his swagger, his demeanor — this gonna be one of the ones that I’m excited to see. I’m excited to get back to camp next week to be more around him and learn a little more about him.”
Simmons is a veteran All Pro who has been playing at a high level for years. He’s probably dying to have a stud quarterback come in and turn around a moribund franchise that was 3-14 in 2024.
Simmons doesn’t think the Titans get enough respect as a team
Simmons pointed out that the Titans are often overlooked. He’s probably right, but that’s also because they’ve been mired in mediocrity for so many years. Even in 2021 when they secured the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, they were one-and-done with Ryan Tannehill in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals that was hardly headline-worthy.
It sounds like Simmons is using the perceived disrespect as a point of motivation.
“First off, I think that our team — the Tennessee Titans — never get the respect and attention we need,” Simmons said on Thursday. “I’ve never seen the No. 1 pick overall never get the respect and, quite frankly, the attention that he deserves.”
Ward was even an afterthought on draft night, which is crazy because the draft broadcasts always give plenty of love to the first guy taken. Ethan Sears of the New York Post was one of many who made a note of it at the time.
“There have been first overall picks before who haven’t been talked about as much as deserved,” Sears wrote.
“Cam Ward, though, must be the first who’s ever been overlooked by a broadcaster in favor of someone that didn’t even go in the first round for just about the entire broadcast.
“The newly minted quarterback of the Titans was, correctly, seen as a lock to go No. 1 on Thursday night, but the Worldwide Leader didn’t spend much time at all discussing the Miami product.”
Simmons has already tried to rattle Ward
As with many incoming rookies, the veterans want to test you. How tough are you? How will you react if I do this? What if I say this? Simmons has already started poking Ward in offseason workouts and practices.
“It was after a play, we stopped him, and I think I ended up getting a sack,” Simmons recalled. “All of the sudden, we’re talking smack and Cally (head coach Brian Callahan) is giving him the dang play and I’m still talking smack to him, I’m jawing because that’s my game — I want to talk smack, I want to get in your head.
“It didn’t faze him. He’s still talking smack while Cally’s getting the play to him. He’s giving the play to the offense, still talking smack to me. When they gave him that play and came to the line, the next play after the smack talk, he threw an 80-yard bomb to Calvin Ridley. So, that right there showed me we got us one. He’s legit.”
Simmons and the Titans certainly hope Ward is the real deal. If he’s not they’ll be looking to sell next year’s No. 1-overall pick to the highest bidder…unless it’s a full-on Josh Rosen situation.
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