The 2025 pre-draft process introduced the NFL world to the competitive dynamic between Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders. In the spring, we saw viral videos of the two rookie quarterbacks and close friends talking smack to each other throughout workouts with their trainer, Darrell Colbert Jr.
“Cam’s competitive,” Sanders said Wednesday. “It’s always fun getting out there, training with him.”
They’ll compete as NFL starting quarterbacks for the first time on Sunday, when the Browns host the Titans (1 p.m. ET on FOX). Ward has started all season for Tennessee, while Sanders will be making his third start for Cleveland.
The last time their teams played each other was in 2023, when Ward’s Washington State Cougars took down Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes. Sanders left that game in the second quarter with an injury.
Early in the draft process, they were considered the top two quarterbacks, with both being projected as the potential No. 1 pick. But while Ward went first overall, Sanders tumbled to the fifth round, where the Browns selected him at No. 144. The former Colorado star wound up being the sixth quarterback taken in the draft and the second by Cleveland, which also selected Dillon Gabriel in the third round.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward celebrates after being the first overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
While Ward and Sanders don’t talk regularly, they share a bond.
“He knows I’m here anytime,” Ward said this week. “I’ll probably say the start of the season was the last time we spoke. It’s just more of we know at the end of the day if something is going crazy, we know who we got out there in our circle. … I’m always going to be there for my guy. I know he’s going to be there for me.”
Said Sanders: “It’s all love whenever we see each other.”
So what will we see on Sunday?
“I just think it’s going to be exciting for a lot of people to be able to see what both of us will be able to do when we play at a high level,” Ward said.
Will that happen on Sunday? With Ward and Sanders set to face off, here’s a snapshot of where they’re at and what to expect moving forward:
Ward’s Outlook
Stats (12 games): 59.7% completion rate for 2,351 yards and seven touchdowns with six interceptions and a 75.2 passer rating
Ward has endured a rough rookie season for a Titans team mired in dysfunction. Tennessee, which fired coach Brian Callahan after six games, is winless under interim Mike McCoy (0-6) and has the league’s worst record at 1-11.
Ward has flashed on several occasions — notably, a game-winning drive against the Cardinals and moments of brilliance against some of the league’s best defenses, including the Broncos, Rams, Seahawks and Texans. But holding the ball too long, footwork inconsistencies and missed throws have been themes throughout his rookie campaign. The No. 1 pick has been sacked a league-high 48 times for 362 lost yards, also a league-high.
Ward was sacked three times against the Jaguars in Week 13, adding to his league-leading total. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images)
Conservative playcalling, uneven offensive line play, a bad run game (the Titans are second-worst in rushing offense) and one of the league’s worst receiving corps certainly haven’t helped. Tennessee ranks last in the NFL in scoring (14.2 points per game) and total offense (242.4 yards per game).
Ward has also had two different playcallers through 12 games — Callahan for the first three games and quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree for the past nine.
“It’s for sure testing [me],” Ward said Sunday of the team’s struggles. “But you know, to win you got to lose. So, at the end of the day, just continue to get better, try not to make the same mistakes each and every day. But eventually, the storm’s going to end. And all of us in the locker room? We’ll remember this moment, we’ll remember the guys on the team this year, and we’ll be excited for the future.”
While last week’s 25-3 loss to Jacksonville marked a step back, Ward has largely shown progress throughout the season.
When opportunities don’t open up downfield, he’s been more willing to check the ball down and scramble for extra yards. In Weeks 11 and 12, Ward scrambled on 19.4% of his dropbacks, up from 14.2% over the first nine weeks, according to Next Gen Stats.
His ball security has also improved. After throwing an interception in six straight games (Weeks 3-8), he hasn’t had a pick over his past four appearances. He has just one lost fumble in the past five games, too.
Over the past six games, Ward has completed 64.3% of his passes for 208.3 yards per game, 6.0 yards per attempt, an 82.8 passer rating and a 4-2 TD-INT ratio. In his first six games, he had a 55.0% completion rate for 183.5 yards per game, 5.5 yards/attempt, a 67.3 passer rating and 3-4 TD-INT ratio.
“I’m big on results. So, win or loss is the only thing I care about,” Ward said. “Don’t matter how it gets done, whether one side of the ball is playing [well] and the other side isn’t, or special teams wins the game for us. But it comes down to just winning games.”
Sanders’ Outlook
Stats (3 games): 50.8% completion rate for 405 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions and a 69.4 passer rating
The evaluation process for Sanders is just beginning.
Gabriel’s concussion in Week 11 vs. the Ravens paved the way for Sanders to make his debut in the second half of that game and get the start the following week against the Raiders. The former Colorado star struggled in relief against Baltimore, but the promise he showed against Las Vegas after his first week of practice with Cleveland’s first-team offense — 209 passing yards and a touchdown with an interception — bought him another start even as Gabriel cleared protocol. Sanders became the first Browns quarterback to win his first career start since 1995.
In Week 12 against the Raiders, Shedeur Sanders because the first Browns quarterback to win his first career start in 30 years. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
His second start didn’t go as well, though. After punctuating a promising first half last week against the Niners with a 34-yard touchdown pass to fellow rookie Harold Fannin Jr., Sanders failed to lead the Browns to a scoring drive in the final two quarters as they fell 26-8.
“This team is not going to be a microwave thing,” he said Sunday.
In a small sample size, though, Sanders appears to give Cleveland — which ranks 29th in scoring (16.2 points per game) and 31st in total offense (258.0 yards per game) — more upside in the passing game than Gabriel. Sanders’ 52-yard pass to Isaiah Bond in the first quarter of the Browns’ Week 12 victory over the Raiders traveled 42 air yards, Cleveland’s longest completion since 2023, per NGS.
But nearly a quarter of Sanders’ passes have been thrown behind the line of scrimmage (24.6%). His tendency to hold the ball too long — an issue in college — has already shown up in his 135 NFL snaps as well. He’s lost an average of 10.6 yards on his six sacks.
Sanders averaged a 3.37-second time to throw against San Francisco, the longest by a Browns quarterback over the past three seasons, according to Next Gen Stats. That helped the Niners to a 36.7% pressure rate, their second-highest of 2025.
After serving as a Browns backup for the first nine games of the season, Sanders is focused on just staying on the field.
“In the midst of everything that’s going on – wins, losses, anything — I remember when I wasn’t playing,” Sanders said. “So I never forget that feeling. I try my best to not let that happen again, for me to be in that position.”
Looking Forward
On Ward
The Titans are committed to building around Ward for the long haul. The first order of business will be finding the right coach to develop him and establish a new culture in Tennessee, which has been unraveling for three years.
Personnel-wise, everything around Ward must be revamped. The Titans not only need a No. 1 receiver — Calvin Ridley, who suffered a season-ending broken leg in Week 11, never filled the role as hoped — but also must build out their depth at the position. They should be in the market for an RB1 too, as lead running back Tony Pollard is a cut candidate. Center Lloyd Cushenberry has no guaranteed money left on his contract after this season and right guard Kevin Zeitler is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, so expect tweaks on the offensive line as well.
The Titans need to rebuild around Ward, including in the running game where RB1 Tony Pollard is averaging just 48.5 rushing yards per game. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images)
On Sanders
Head coach Kevin Stefanski was noncommittal when asked if Sanders would start for the rest of the season. But it makes sense for the Browns, on the verge of elimination from playoff contention, to give the fifth-round pick an extended look down the stretch.
Cleveland must be sure of what it has at quarterback before the spring. Veteran QB Deshaun Watson, who hasn’t played since October 2024 due to a torn Achilles, is finally returning to practice. The 30-year-old Watson has one season remaining on a five-year, $230 million deal that has been a disaster for Cleveland.
The Browns have two first-round picks in 2026, thanks to the draft-day deal they made last year with the Jaguars, to potentially pursue a new franchise quarterback.
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
