Cam Ward’s Debut: Titans vs. Buccaneers in Preseason

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00:00The first week of preseason action is coming up,

00:03and there's a couple of games that I think if you are going to be locked in on

00:08or at least you know, hey, okay, what happened here,

00:12it'll involve some of the star rookies.

00:14And I think this is probably the spot where you start to see

00:18the Cam Ward conversations bubble a little bit.

00:23There's been, you know, the most you hear about Cam Ward

00:26is how people say no one's talking about Cam Ward.

00:29No one is talking about the first overall pick who Tennessee selected.

00:33They'll be in Raymond James against Tampa Bay.

00:36They are currently listed as a road favorite in that game.

00:41Is there anything you're looking for, Joe, from Cam Ward

00:44in his first preseason action?

00:46Poise, don't turn the football over and get your team in a position to score points.

00:51And we'll know if it's Cam Ward from college or Cam Ward in the NFL.

00:55If he's very comfortable in the pocket,

00:57he's extending plays with his legs, he's looking downfield.

01:01That's the Cam Ward that you want to see for the Tennessee Titans.

01:05If he looks a little tight, doesn't know where to go with the football,

01:08pump fakes a couple of times and he's hesitant, that's a cause of concern.

01:12And now, I'm not big on Tennessee big picture because I think wide receiver-wise,

01:17they have a long way to go in a major rebuild.

01:20There's not a lot of playmakers around them.

01:22But Cam Ward, as long as he looks comfortable in the pocket,

01:25that is all I need to see when this game plays out.

01:28Yeah, I am curious if the – I know this may lead to some high rolls.

01:34I don't know if the number's right for the game where it's a clear Cam Ward boost,

01:38but it's also the first preseason game.

01:40I'm not sure he's going to play, you know, more than a half at most,

01:44and it might be less than that.

01:46The game is still in Tampa Bay.

01:47There's no depth behind Cam Ward to speak of.

01:51I mean, it's like – I think Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle are his backups.

01:55Now, maybe I'm speaking too favorably of Kyle Trask,

01:57who's going to likely get the lion's share of the work from Tampa Bay.

02:00But, you know, look, people are going to bet these games.

02:03Let's be honest here, and that's just something to look for.

02:06Here's – I just wanted to bring up, Joe, what I think is maybe the –

02:09what will end up being the most watched rookie preseason performance,

02:15assuming he's out there in the mix.

02:17Travis Hunter.

02:19Jacksonville's at home against Pittsburgh.

02:22I haven't – we haven't been able to kind of reconnect on some of this stuff.

02:25Like, where are you at on two-way Travis

02:28and how the Jaguars are going to deploy Colorado's own?

02:33I think it's 80-20 offense to defense.

02:36I don't think he's going to be out there for a long period of time

02:39on the defensive side of the ball.

02:40I think they drafted Travis Hunter to be the secondary option

02:44to take away from Brian Thomas in double teams.

02:46Again, I think he can get 900 yards with Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence

02:51as long as he's healthy.

02:52I think this offense could be explosive.

02:54I mean, you look at their playmakers at every level, running back, wide receiver,

02:59and what they have now, hopefully in a resurgence of Trevor Lawrence

03:03with Liam Cohen, I think Travis Hunter could eclipse the 909 and a quarter

03:07that he puts up.

03:07But I think it's wide receiver first, and then secondary is nickel situations

03:13on the defensive side of the ball.

03:15If it's the other way around and it's 80-20 defense to offense, that's a problem.

03:20Yeah, I think – I think you will see him do both in this game.

03:2650-50?

03:26But the amount he's out there might be so small that, yeah, for the game,

03:32it might be 50.

03:32He might do a drive on each, and that might be it.

03:34Maybe he'll do, you know, two drives offense, one drive defense kind of thing.

03:39But I think even for this coaching staff, they just might want to feel this out

03:43a little bit of when do we put him in, when do we take him out,

03:46and get their own reps with it.

03:48Last one I'll ask you about, Joe.

03:49We get a little Pete Carroll versus old team in the preseason,

03:52which also means we're going to see Ashton Gentry, we would think,

03:56for the first time, Raider Seahawks.

03:58Yeah, and I want to see exactly how he looks as well, right?

04:00I mean, I don't think he's out there for more than a quarter

04:03or maybe a couple of drives.

04:04You want to give him the rock against NFL competition.

04:07See, they want to run the football.

04:09You know that with Pete Carroll.

04:10He wants to have offensive balance, but he's got to get used to the NFL game speed,

04:14and I don't think with Chip Kelly giving him a couple of drives

04:17is out of the realm of possibility.

04:19I do feel when you look at Seattle and you look at Las Vegas,

04:23similar situations.

04:24I know Sam Donald is there, but I'm not high on Seattle this year.

04:28I'm not.

04:29I think at best, maybe a seven- or an eight-win football team,

04:33you ship DK, you know, to Pittsburgh.

04:35It's a lot of pressure on this team right now.

04:37Yeah, I don't like how the offense is set up at all.

04:40I think the defense has a chance, though, to be really, really good.

04:43I like Mike McDonald.

04:45I think Tank Lawrence could be a nice addition,

04:46playing next to Big Cat, Leonard Williams.

04:48So, it's a very – it's the inverse of the Dallas Cowboys.

04:53I think the Cowboys' offense could be fantastic.

04:55I think their defense is set up to be pretty bad.

04:57I think Seattle looks like the inverse of that.

04:59We'll see what we can glean from this preseason action,

05:02and we'll start to get you ready here on Pro Football Today.

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