ESPN analyst Field Yates projects Miami QB Cam Ward drafted No. 2 overall to Cleveland Browns

The quarterback position is consistently the most important in the NFL Draft. That’s no different in 2025 when a pair of quarterbacks, Cam Ward of the Miami Hurricanes and Shedeur Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes, are battling to be the first quarterback off the board.

As of now, ESPN NFL Draft analyst Field Yates has Ward going first between the quarterbacks and second overall in the NFL Draft. That would send him to the Cleveland Browns where he would presumably take over as the franchises’ next starting quarterback. During an appearance on Get Up ahead of the NFL Combine, Yates explained why Ward would make sense for Cleveland.

“I believe Cam Ward ends up as a Cleveland Brown,” Field Yates said. “No. 2 overall. Reminder that Deshaun Watson is going to be out for almost certainly the entirety of this year and then in 2026 his money is nothing more than a lost cause. Give me Cam Ward to Cleveland.”

Ward spent one season with the Miami Hurricanes. He’d previously transferred into the program from Washington State and Incarnate Word. In that final college season with the Hurricanes, Ward completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He also rushed for 204 yards and another four touchdowns.

Certainly, Ward is confident in himself. He recently made waves with comments about the teams that might pass on him in the NFL Draft.

“Okay, you’re either going to draft me or you’re not,” Ward said. “If you don’t draft me, that’s your fault. You’ve got to remember you’re the same team that’s got to play me for the rest of my career, and I’ll remember that.”

In the scenario Yates laid out, only one team, the Tennessee Titans, would be the team regretting passing on Cam Ward.

Mel Kiper Jr. discloses bleak Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders outlook on NFL draft boards

While Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders will likely be drafted early in the first round, there is some debate about their status. In particular, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has shared that some teams don’t even think of them as top 20 players.

“When you pick No. 1, you want to get the best player and the quarterbacks aren’t the best player, or the second or the third best player. Some barely think they’re in the top 20. I have them at four and five. So, with that in mind, who is generational? As they said, they want a generational talent,” Kiper said.

“That would be Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter… You’ve got to love the quarterback. If you love Cam Ward, you bring him in, you see if Will [Levis] develops. If he doesn’t, you got Cam Ward developing. Cam Ward gets beaten out. JJ McCarthy was drafted. Sam Darnold was brought in. How’d that work out? JJ got hurt. Sam became the guy.”