Shortly after the Tennessee Titans selected Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi hinted that he wanted Ward to earn the Week 1 starting job in a competition with 2023 second-round pick Will Levis.
During a Thursday appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Borgonzi expanded on wanting to “create competition” between Ward and Levis heading into training camp.
“I think the expectation is, you take a quarterback No. 1 overall, that he’s going to uplift your franchise and be that guy,” Borgonzi explained, Bleacher Report’s Julia Stumbaugh shared. “But part of our job here is to manage expectations as we go through the process here. Eventually, that’s what we want it to become. But we want to take the proper steps to make sure he’s ready to go out there and play, whether it be Week 1, or Week 2 or Week 3. If he hits the ground running here in training camp, he’ll be out there Week 1.”
Titans head coach Brian Callahan benched Levis for poor play this past December, which suggests Callahan will be at least slightly disappointed if Ward doesn’t emerge as the club’s starter by the time Tennessee’s final preseason game wraps up. Per Pro Football Reference, Levis ended the 2024 regular season ranked last among qualified players with a 27.8 adjusted QBR. Additionally, he was 35th out of 36 signal-callers with a 36.5% passing success rate.
Recent history shows that quarterbacks drafted first overall become Week 1 starters as rookies — Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers and Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears are all examples. That said, Borgonzi hopes that Ward’s presence will “bring out the best in” Levis over the next several months.
“Will’s a young quarterback that’s still developing, but any time you take a quarterback with the No. 1 pick, your anticipation is that he’s going to one day lead the franchise and be a franchise quarterback,” Borgonzi added.
In short, Levis likely will spend the preseason auditioning for other teams as his current employer prepares to hand Ward the keys to its offense.
