Former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel recently tweeted about Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward and his big week one game against Florida. In his first game for the Miami Hurricanes he went 26/35, 385 yards, three TDs, one interception with a completion percentage of 74.3%. Daniel then tweeted out that same day:
Cam Ward is SHOWING signs right here of next level superstar.
The problem with comments like this is that to get clicks and interactions media personalities have gone to great lengths to use my favorite term, hyperbolic. Everything its made out to be a huge thing. A player has a great game? he or she is now the best player in their sport. Its not fair to the fans and not fair to the players because it puts undue pressure on them to perform and to live up the the hype created by fans and media. Being a former NFL and college quarterback he should already know all this. So then it seems that he might be exaggerating like this on purpose.
Ward didn’t have a perfect game either. Flashes of the old Cam Ward were still there. Some questionable throws and questionable decisions still happened. You have to give it to him though, he did look to be playing more in the rhythm of the offense and seemed to have improved his reads.
Even Some Fans Called Him Out For His Statement
Can we please the slow the roll after week 1 games, so many many things can happen between now and December. What you see now won’t be what you see in 3 months.
Nov 29, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Chase Daniel (10) warms up prior to the game against the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Daniel responded saying “Can we not be excited?” and the answer is of course we can. Being excited and claiming Cam Ward is the Heisman favorite after one weeks are two different things. We all would like to see a little less extreme viewpoints from those in media.
Is There Historical Context For This?
Heisman winners can emerge unexpectedly, and past performances in week one do not guarantee success. For instance, Caleb Williams had a standout week one in 2023 with 319 yards and five touchdowns but did not win the Heisman, while Stetson Bennett’s impressive week one in 2022 with 368 yards and two touchdowns did not lead to a win, as Williams ultimately claimed the award that year. This illustrates that assessing Heisman potential requires more than just a single week’s performance.
Can Cam Ward Win The Heisman?
It is also well known that Ward has always been highly talented, his issue has always been consistency. He will have big games and he would have bad games. As you can see in his game logs from 2023 he had three games where he threw for over 400 yards, but also had three games where he threw 211 yards or less. Could he end up in the Heisman conversation? yes, he has the talent and has the talent needed around him to do it, but needs to be more consistent.
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A Packers fan, college football and especially NFL draft fan. He has been writing about the NFL draft off and on since 2001, but more heavily the last four years.
