GREEN BAY – The Titans selected Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Ward was thrilled with the news, and began making the rounds with interviews wearing a brand new Titans cap.
Back in Nashville, Titans coach Brian Callahan and General Manager Mike Borgonzi discussed the pick.
Some excerpts from the presser back in Nashville:
Head coach Brian Callahan
Callahan intro: "Obviously incredibly excited to add Cam to our football team. He's a fantastic young man, a very talented quarterback. He has all the qualities that you look for in the position, and everything about him as a person and a player fits everything that we're looking for. It's a really exciting moment, I think, for our organization, for our coaching staff, for our front office, I think most importantly for our fans.
"This is an awesome moment for us to be able to add a player the caliber of Cam Ward. And I can't wait to get to work. We've got a long road ahead to get ready to go. We don't play until September but there's a lot of work to be done in the meantime. But I am incredibly excited about adding Cam and to get started, and get back to work, and coach football, and stop pretending about all the things we have to pretend about over the course of the last couple months and be able to get going and move forward. It's time to start doing some football."
Callahan on the traits that Cam Ward possesses as both a player and a person:
"So the football part, incredibly poised, has a great knowledge of both offensive scheme and defensive structure. He has the, what I would call, a natural ability to feel space. He can see and understand and feel without explaining exactly what it is he's feeling. He just feels it. That goes with the way he moves in the pocket. That goes with the way he sees and feels space in the defense. He's an incredibly quick processor. He has great physical tools on top of it. He's got size. He's got athleticism. Cam is one of those guys, I think, growing up was sort of good at everything. He's got a really unique athletic ability. He can move the ball with his feet. He can throw it. His releases is one of the quickest releases I've seen and he's incredibly accurate. All the things you look for from a physical standpoint and mental standpoint showed up. The intangible part of it is really what separated him for us because he's got a—his work ethic is top-notch. He's got a chip on his shoulder. He's trying to prove every day that he's worthy, and that won't change the minute he gets here; it will stay the same. His journey is unique. He's experienced a lot of things when it comes to new places, new faces, new teammates, and his ability to connect with all of them was incredibly impressive. I think when you look at players that have done those things over time, their chances of connecting in an NFL locker room, you just get to see so much more of it, and their ability to raise the level of play, to raise the organization around them, Cam has done that at really every place he's been over his college career. Then you just look at how he was raised, the family he comes from. His parents are incredibly impressive people. They raised him in what you'd like to call the right way, I think. And that shows up. That shows up in how he treats people. It shows up in how he interacts with people. When he came on his 30 visit here, he interacted with our building. There wasn't a person in the building that didn't come away impressed. He walked all over it. I brought him all over. We went upstairs, downstairs, his interactions, I think, if you asked anybody in the building, were really, really, really positive and people came away with, you know, there's an aura to him. He draws people to him. I think everyone felt the same thing when he came in our building, which was really cool to see."
Callahan on a potential trade offer: "Yeah, we went through the process the correct way. We considered all things available to us. As far as when and where and how much, that doesn't really matter now at this point. But those conversations, those offers, we did our due diligence. Ultimately, we just felt that Cam was a player we weren't going to let go anywhere else except here to Tennessee. We arrived at that consensus. Took a lot of work to get there. I don't think at any point since we made that decision, really wasn't any conversations past that. I said it before that I think when you have an opportunity to add a caliber of quarterback like Cam, those things are priceless. There's no price you put on that from a draft capital standpoint because if those players end up being what you think they're capable of, those picks don't matter when it comes to future picks and draft capital because he's got the ability to be a really fantastic quarterback."
Callahan on the one particular trait Cam Ward possesses that makes Callahan believe in him: "To me, it's the leadership ability and the way he's able to make those around him better. That to me is a huge part of the position. And that's what I think ultimately separates—there's a lot of talented players, a lot of guys that can throw the football, a lot of guys that can play the position. But the guys that transcend have a unique ability to connect with their teammates and then raise the level of everyone around them. I think that's what he has shown to do really at every stop he's been and hopefully that continues here."
Callahan on what his biggest task will be to maximize Cam Ward's abilities: "Well, we've got to start and get to work. You start at the basics. He's got to learn the snap count. He's got to learn the formations. He's got to learn the things, you got to get in and out of the huddle to start. Like I said, there's a lot of work ahead. There's a lot of things that we have to do to be ready to play in September, but I think we're all up to task. It's exciting, it's fun, to be able to do that. He's willing to put in the work as well. And we get a lot of time with these guys now, especially with the rookies as they come in. They're really not part of most of the time limits of the day so we get all kinds of extra time on top of that. So, looking forward to it. Looking forward to spending a lot of time with him, learning the offense, learning him, learning his likes and dislikes. He's got a lot of work ahead learning his teammates, too. Learning what guys do well, learning how to communicate with them. So, a lot of things to do and ultimately not a lot of time but we'll get there."
Callahan on what Cam Ward said over the phone when they called him: "I think he was a bit overcome by the moment. Even though it's something that probably wasn't a huge surprise. I think that's just a big moment. Number one pick in the NFL Draft. You have your family there, something he's worked his entire life to be at. All I told him at the moment was just it's cool, enjoy every second of it, and enjoy it for your family. It's a culmination of a lot of work to get to this point. And then I just reminded him there's a lot of work to be done. This is kind of the ending of one journey, and the beginning of another. We've got a lot of things to get done. But he was excited, and he said in no uncertain terms he's got a play that he really likes. We have the play. But he said, in very certain words, that you better put that play in. I said, 'We got it, we're putting it in, don't worry.' So, I know he's ready to get going."
Callahan on if there was one particular moment that led him to believe Cam Ward was their guy: "I wouldn't say there was one particular moment that led to that consensus decision. I watched the tape, and I liked his tape. I was really intrigued by the talent that I saw. There's just so much of playing the quarterback position that is neck-up in this league and the rest of it was where we had to find out the answers. And I would say that the first in-person experience we had with him at the combine in our formal interview setting was super impressive. And that to me was sort of the starting point was, 'Oh, he really might have all the things that we're looking for.' And again, there was still a lot of things to get to, but that moment was the first time where I felt like that he might, at that time, he might fit what we're looking for. And then we had to go through the rest of it, too. It was only a 15-ish minute conversation, but you could tell right away there was something about him made me confident that if we kept uncovering the things we needed to uncover, that the answers would be what we were looking for."
Callahan on if Cam Ward has any traits that correlates to Joe Burrow and Callahan's experience in Cincinnati: "It's hard to compare players like that. I think comparing those guys as players is challenging because they're just in such different places in their careers. There is some commonalities in terms of what you look for in a quarterback. And those are all things, I think, that you could argue that Joe's (Burrow) got plenty of those, too. But I think I'm excited just for Cam to learn how to be Cam and show what's unique about his game. All these guys have something unique, and they do something special. Cam's no different, and I'm excited to see what that looks like in the NFL. We've seen it in college, now we get the chance to see it at this level."
Callahan on the balance of being patient with a rookie quarterback and wanting to win more next season: "Yeah, it doesn't change for me. We want to win as much as possible. We want to put our team in position to win as many games as we can. And the development of the quarterback is a part of that process. And you want to be able to put him in position to have success as well, with what you ask him to do, with how you help around him with how you play defense, how you run the football, how you protect him. Those are all the things you're focused on. You want to put him in the best possible situations to be successful early and that usually translates into helping you win games on top of it. I don't know if that's the best way to answer the question, but I just think you never sacrifice really one for the other. You're trying to do both at the same time."
Callahan on if the plan is start Cam right away: "We'll see. We don't need to worry about that until September. I think he's got a lot of work to do. We're going to do the requisite work. But I don't think we need to get into naming starters and talking about all that. He's got his work ahead of him and we'll name starters in September."
Callahan on the critiques of Cam Ward being too risky with the football: "I think anytime you have quarterbacks that have talent, that have the ability to make those types of plays, they tend to try to make them. And they're confident in their ability to do it, and most of the time the guys that I've been around that put those types of plays out there is they're going to make a whole lot more of them than they miss. That's the mentality you want to have. I think that he's got that mentality. I think he's got the talent to do it. There's definitely things where, if you asked him, there's a couple of throws, you're like, 'That probably wasn't the best idea.' He'd go, 'Yeah, you're probably right.' And that's okay; that's part of maturing and growing in the game. You learn how to play quarterback at the NFL level, which there's a balance to that. There's a time to be efficient, a time to take completions, a time to throw the ball away and there's also a time to let your talent take over and all the things that God gave you, allow to put it on display. I think he understands that, which is the part I think is the most encouraging for me is that all the things he did—any throws he made that you would argue were hero ball throws, he had a very good reason for why he did it and was also aware that if it was one that was in a bad spot he shouldn't have made that particular throw, he was aware, 'I probably shouldn't have done that there.' I think that's half the battle with those things."
General Manager Mike Borgonzi
Borgonzi intro: "Obviously we put the pick in tonight, drafted Cam. We said we wanted to go through the entire process here with Cam, and we did that. I'll tell you that I first got here, I had watched Cam in the past a little bit but really hadn't studied him a ton. So the first thing, when I came in here, it was to really watch all the quarterbacks.
I wanted to do it separately with Brian and myself, Chad, the rest of the staff, Reggie, Dave. So that was kind of the process we went through. We watched every game that he played in at Miami, Washington State, went back to Incarnate Word, and then we kind of got together and talked about it. So that was the first part of the process.
Where it really started to come together -- and I'll tell you really before the combine, we made a decision, you know, if we go through the rest of it -- we really never met him before to go through the process and talking with him and how impressed we were with him, just the person, the football intelligence of the person. You could feel the competitive edge when you talk with him. You can feel the confidence.
It's not cocky or arrogant, but there's a confidence there that you need to have as a player and a quarterback. So we went through the combine, his pro day, private workout. Got to meet his family. He comes from a great family. Great support system.
So, you know, we pretty much had all the answers -- all the questions answered probably couple weeks -- probably three weeks up to the draft where we felt comfortable and we made that decision."
Borgonzi on Amy Adams Strunk making the trip to the private workout, her interactions and what the back and forth was after that: "So it just happened to be the owners meetings down in Florida that week, and we had it scheduled for that Friday, I believe it was, before the owners meetings. And Amy joined us during that time at his private workout. She got to talk with him, meet with him. He's from the same area down in Houston. So they had a lot of common things to talk about. And then just meeting his parents and she got to see him workout and talk with them. We felt great and she felt great coming away from that workout."
Borgonzi on if he thinks that Ward would have been the best quarterback in a lot of different drafts in the past: "Yes, I think that the talent was there. I think the one thing that stood out to me when I first started watching him is he had -- a lot of quarterbacks have great arm talent coming out. But the one thing that stood out to me was really just his instincts and his processing ability, the spatial awareness that he has on the field, his pocket awareness. Now, there's things he has to improve just like any other young quarterback.
But those are the things that really jumped out to me that I thought, you know, this kid has a chance to be special. And then just going, like I said, going through the process and getting to meet him. He's very smart. He's intelligent. At that first meeting at the combine, we had a pretty good idea where we were going."
Borgonzi on how seriously they considered some of the trade offers: "I did want to listen because I think you have to do your due diligence and listen. And I did that. But I think we came to a decision that we weren't going to move off that pick and we wanted Cam."
Borgonzi on what made him so convinced to pass that up and have Ward be the pick: "I just think if you identify a franchise quarterback, there's really not a price you can pay for that, in my mind. Like I always said, that's the most important position in all of sports, and if you come to a consensus -- and we did -- that he has the potential to be that, like I said, he's a young quarterback and he still has a lot of things to work on, but I think the intangibles with him, his work ethic, his want-to to become better, we felt comfortable with that."
Borgonzi on whether the trade offers came before or after the three-week period when their minds were made up: "They came before, yeah, and after. But it was multiple times we had some offers. I don't want to go into specifics of the teams and what the offers were. But, you know, we were approached multiple times for that pick."
Borgonzi on how many teams wanted to trade: "I don't want to go into specifics on the teams but we had offers."
Borgonzi on whether Ward was the number one player on the board: "He was, yep."
Borgonzi on comparisons with Patrick (Mahomes) and if he puts any stock in that: "You know, some of the things I mentioned about instincts and spatial awareness, when we studied Patrick coming out, I thought Cam showed that. Now, he's got a long way to become Patrick Mahomes, future Hall of Famer, three Super Bowls right now, but there were certain traits I think that I saw that I've been around Patrick a long time, his ability to process and the instincts kind of stood out to me."
Borgonzi on if the veteran receivers they have added also help in his development: "I think Tyler, bringing him on, is going to be big for us, just having a veteran presence in there, dependable."
Borgonzi on whether the addition of Tyler Lockett changes anything as far as the projections go, and what might be ahead for day two: "Not necessarily. It won't change anything we have on the board adding a player. I think our mindset is the same. Like I said, we're going to approach day two just seeing who the best available player is on the board for us. Like I said, we have a lot of holes right now that we want to fill. I think we want to stay true to the board and draft the best player that we can."
Borgonzi on what it meant to be able to make the phone call to a pick for the first time: "Yeah, it was a special moment. You put a lot of work into getting into this position. It certainly wasn't me. I just had to call him, but it really was a collaborative effort between coaches and scouts to come to this decision."
Borgonzi on what gives him confidence about Brian Callahan's ability to develop a quarterback: "Well, he's been around a lot of pretty good ones now. With Peyton and Stafford, and obviously Joe. He's gone through the development part, and we've had discussions on that and just how they develop Joe and things they did with him. So he's seen it done before. So I have full confidence in Brian."
