Did Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward make some NFL teams raise their eyebrows when he sat through half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Saturday?
Ward didn’t play during the second half in a 42-41 loss to Iowa State. Before he exited, the QB threw the 156th TD pass of his career, setting an FBS record. He finished 12-of-19 passing for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal addressed the decision following the game.
“All meetings with players and decisions like that, we made them in private, we keep them in private,” Cristobal said, per ESPN. “So I’ll prefer not to answer any questions as it relates to that. But I know he played his best while he was in there.”
ESPN draft expert Matt Miller thinks the choice won’t affect his stock.
“I promise you zero teams care that Cam Ward only played a half tonight,” Miller wrote on his X account while watching Miami lose. “Move on. Nothing to see here.”
Others will disagree with Miller’s take. Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith explained talent evaluators may frown on Ward leaving in the middle of a game.
“Even some NFL personnel evaluators who have no problem with players opting out of bowls entirely may have a problem with what Ward did,” wrote Smith in a piece published Sunday. “To play long enough to pad your own individual stats, and then leave in the middle of a game while your teammates are fighting to finish their seasons as winners, isn’t going to sit right with some in the NFL who are considering whether to draft Ward.”
Ward likely took to the bench because he didn’t want to suffer a major injury, which would affect his draft stock. Still, he could’ve sat out of the entire game to avoid a potential controversy.
Ward — a 2024 Heisman finalist — could still be one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, scheduled for April 24-26 in Green Bay. According to Tankathon’s mock draft, the Tennessee Titans will take him with pick No. 4.
However, teams may question him about his mid-game opt-out throughout the draft process.
