The Tennessee Titans held their annual open practice at Nissan Stadium on Saturday in front of hundreds of diehard fans, all part of the NFL's "Back Together Weekend". The highlight of the day was easily the budding connection between rookie QB Cam Ward and star receiver Calvin Ridley. The two connected on a handful of impressive passes downfield, but the moment that made even the media on the sideline perk up was this pass across Cam's body to a streaking Ridley on the opposite field.
Ward rolled left, extending the play, and dropped the ball in a bucket for Ridley sprinting to the right. Now, it must be pointed out that in a real football setting, Jeffery Simmons sends the quarterback directly to the underworld on this rollout. That being granted, the athleticism, awareness, and accuracy of this pass got everybody up out of their seats.
Cam and Calvin have a connection early in this summer session that Ridley simply didn't have with Will Levis or Mason Rudolph this time last year. A big reason for that is certainly Ridley's comfortability in Tennessee and in Brian Callahan's system now that he's in Year Two. But after practice, Calvin shared (whether he actually meant to or not) another big difference between Cam and the 2024 Titans QB room.
Cam Ward and Will Levis's Big Difference
ESPN's Turron Davenport caught up with Ridley in a one-on-one interview on the field, and they covered a handful of topics. Give the full video a listen:
The most revealing thing that Ridley told TD was in response to a question about this highlight catch in particular:
"You see that touch he had on it? Yeah, he gave me time to run under it. They're easy catches, so that's what I love about him. It's not, you know, hard catches, he has some touch, he let me run right under it and it was soft. So, man, that's all a receiver's ever wanted, man."
It's Cam's touch. Now, Ward has a stronger arm than I think many (myself included) gave him credit for in the pre-draft process. But it doesn't compare to Levis, who has one of the strongest arms in the entire league. Everybody understands he has a true cannon, a la Josh Allen or Anthony Richardson. But pure, raw strength can be a blessing or a curse depending on how you utilize it.
A big part of the conversation this time last year, when Levis and Ridley continued to be just off in their connection downfield, was how Levis lacked natural touch on the ball. This is common with stronger QBs, who can throw frozen ropes but have to develop their ability to feather passes. Cam can do this, and has utilized that ability well with Ridley so far this summer. The dirty little secret about deep ball accuracy in the NFL is that it's really more of a receiver stat than it is a QB stat. But that doesn't mean both ends of the connection don't have an important role.
For the passer, deep ball accuracy is more of a "floor" skill than a "ceiling" one. A good deep passer must clear the threshold of hanging the ball out there for a talented receiver to be able to make a play on. Give them a chance to run under it, break the right way, and run away from their defenders. Receivers who are great deep ball guys don't get enough credit for the skill required on their end to "make the QB right" with how they track and play the ball in their route.
This is something Ridley does very, very well. He just needs a QB capable of hanging the rock out there for him, and he can do the rest. Cam is a natural in that department, and Will wasn't. And that difference is already showing itself in camp.
