Where are you on Ward at this point?

[FRT]

Today he was ass for sure.  

[NashvilleNinja]

44 minutes ago, FRT said:

Today he was ass for sure.  

 

Yep, and I'm still 100%. This is not the team he will be QBing next year at all. This is a trial by combat situation right now.

[Callidus]

7 hours ago, NashvilleNinja said:

 

Yep, and I'm still 100%. This is not the team he will be QBing next year at all. This is a trial by combat situation right now.

While I agree judging him off the play today and this season in general is rather unfair, it seems a bit odd that so many people are willing to still give him a 100% on the faith scale. I get its a multiple  choice question so you can say 80% but still. This is from a purely half of these top 10 qbs bust out prespective. 

[MadMax]

Man, when he's on, he's on.   Trouble is, when he's not, he's NOT.

[Callidus]

54 minutes ago, MadMax said:

Man, when he's on, he's on.   Trouble is, when he's not, he's NOT.

It would be nice to know what he sees. Thats not a knock on him, im sure Ayo out there never being in the rught place, the other targets all being 50/50 at best to be even moderately open and the drops on top of it. 

 

His less than ideal accuracy doesn't help the situation but he is in such a bad spot. 

 

All of that is without even getting into the total lack of a run game and mediocre pass blocking against defenders teeing off because of said run game. 

 

How often do you all think a play is dead in the water from the get go in his pov? 

[scine09]

One thing I noticed with Ward, and I remember McNair had this problem too, balls seem to sail on him.  It didn't happen against Seattle but yesterday he was high on his throws a lot.  I think had his receivers been able to catch yesterday would've looked better.  I feel like this is a recurring theme every week but Seattle but how many balls were dropped?  I can think of three, two of which were on fourth down.  And another by Chig.  

 

He also needs to do better with game management.  Every week now it seems like when they're down in the 4th quarter he takes his time, running the playclock down to one and trying to get the other team to jump.  Instead of doing that save yourself 10-20 seconds and snap it right away.  Who knows what would've happened if they'd been quicker last week against the Seahawks?  Also, he had that ridiculous 4th down flip to Spears when he had zero chance to pick up the first.  Just throw it down field.  What's the worst that can happen?  A pick?  I understand that with his receivers the chances of competing a 50/50 ball are well under 50% but you have to try.

 

Hopefully the next staff they bring in can work with him on some of these mechanical issues causing the high throws and also game management.  

[DCTitan]

Has Ward hit the rookie wall?

[oldschool]

I felt pretty good about Ward going into the game yesterday after his back to back performances against great defenses but then he stunk up the joint. I'm not out on him or anything but you would like to see him continue to play well against lesser competition to show he truly turned the corner.

[scine09]

7 minutes ago, DCTitan said:

Has Ward hit the rookie wall?

Seeing as he had his best game the week before at this point we can chalk it up to an off day.  It wasn't just him, the entire offense was off.  Maybe if one or two guys could've made plays for him things would've looked better.

[Pragidealist]

7 hours ago, MadMax said:

Man, when he's on, he's on.   Trouble is, when he's not, he's NOT.

Rookie..   Really that's been the Titans.  Rookie qb who looks like he can and will be a franchise qb but they dont' come out of college already that.   The Titans aren't near good enough to hide and minimize the growing pains of a rookie qb.    They dont have the oline or the running game to do that. 

 

The interesting question is what do the Titans need next year? What dramatically elevates them?    Could it be a star running back?   That is not current wisdom of a modern nfl team, is it?

 

 

My thoughts starting the year were that we'd probalby be pretty bad but hopefully the offense clicks mid season and they could get edge early next year...  ramping up the defense to a really good after an offense that starts to click. 

 

But this offense is far from clicking and the defense hasn't been nearly as bad.. surpirsingly its held the titans in there a lot longer than anyone thougth they should. 

 

Trade for a star WR?  What is the answer next year to make the job easier on Cam as he develops and dont say a new head coach!  (a new head coach is a given but its not miracle cure).    

 

Do we just trust player development with a new batch of rookies like this year?  Will that do it?   I'm not sure what helps the Titans flip the page next year at this point. 

[NashvilleNinja]

1 hour ago, Pragidealist said:

Rookie..   Really that's been the Titans.  Rookie qb who looks like he can and will be a franchise qb but they dont' come out of college already that.   The Titans aren't near good enough to hide and minimize the growing pains of a rookie qb.

 

@Callidus This is why. It's not that the Titans aren't "good enough", it's that they aren't good at all. They are working on historical badness. And Cam has still looked as good as he has in the worst possible situation you could ever put a rookie QB in. It's the 180 degree opposite situation that Mahomes was drafted into. You're seeing Cam as bad as you will probably ever see him and it won't be nearly as common in the future as it is right now.

 

It sucks that Ward had such a bad game against the Jags after the games he had had against Houston and Seattle, but the Jags defense has some talented players too and players are going to have bad games even in the best of times. If the Titans were 10-3 right now no one would be batting much of an eye about a bad game.

 

Yesterday is par for the course at this point. Ward is still a rookie and he's still going to have bad days. It's the cumulative effect of such a horrible situation to make you feel worse about him than you maybe should.

[Face]

4 hours ago, scine09 said:

One thing I noticed with Ward, and I remember McNair had this problem too, balls seem to sail on him.  It didn't happen against Seattle but yesterday he was high on his throws a lot.  I think had his receivers been able to catch yesterday would've looked better.  I feel like this is a recurring theme every week but Seattle but how many balls were dropped?  I can think of three, two of which were on fourth down.  And another by Chig.  

 

He also needs to do better with game management.  Every week now it seems like when they're down in the 4th quarter he takes his time, running the playclock down to one and trying to get the other team to jump.  Instead of doing that save yourself 10-20 seconds and snap it right away.  Who knows what would've happened if they'd been quicker last week against the Seahawks?  Also, he had that ridiculous 4th down flip to Spears when he had zero chance to pick up the first.  Just throw it down field.  What's the worst that can happen?  A pick?  I understand that with his receivers the chances of competing a 50/50 ball are well under 50% but you have to try.

 

Hopefully the next staff they bring in can work with him on some of these mechanical issues causing the high throws and also game management.  

He has a very low arm slot & passes tend to sail & curve a bit arm side. Oñ the one hand it’s great thaf he can throw from multiple arm angles but I wish his standard arm slot was a bit higher. It’s something that is very difficult to change though.

[kgsTitan]

12 hours ago, Callidus said:

While I agree judging him off the play today and this season in general is rather unfair, it seems a bit odd that so many people are willing to still give him a 100% on the faith scale. I get its a multiple  choice question so you can say 80% but still. This is from a purely half of these top 10 qbs bust out prespective. 

 

People are desperate for some glimmer of hope to cling to. Personally I would like to see your young, dynamic QB lead this band of misfits to some meaningless points against all odds. Using your legs if nothing else. Ward is getting a total pass this year, which is fine. But I can't shake the feeling that garbage time within meaningless games of a garbage, lost season has so many opportunities to put up some points and make things happen, even if just out of sheer risk-taking and opponent apathy.

I thought we'd see a ton of bad and good from Ward this season, but there's actually been less good AND less bad than I expected. Maybe that makes sense to only me. The request isn't too much, I don't think. String a couple of back-to-back scoring drives together when the opponent has no reason to give a shit. Even that is too much to ask of this offense.

[scine09]

2 minutes ago, Face said:

He has a very low arm slot & passes tend to sail & curve a bit arm side. Oñ the one hand it’s great thaf he can throw from multiple arm angles but I wish his standard arm slot was a bit higher. It’s something that is very difficult to change though.

I'm not as concerned about that as he's proven that when given time he can be very accurate (see the Seattle game).  He was just off yesterday.  Moreso than any game since probably Las Vegas.

[Face]

Just now, scine09 said:

I'm not as concerned about that as he's proven that when given time he can be very accurate (see the Seattle game).  He was just off yesterday.  Moreso than any game since probably Las Vegas.

It’s not like I watched film of his in college other than mostly highlights but from what I read he was a bit inconsistent with ball placement. He would make throws that were off the charts but then make things harder on his receivers than need be on some of the easy stuff & that his mechanics may need some adjustments. 
 

That said I think he’ll be dramatically better next year. I assume they’ll either sign a #1 WR or use the 1st pick on one. I think we need an upgrade there terribly. I also think Latham has been dealing with the hip all season & should be a lot better next year. He’s a rookie surrounded by a god awful supporting cast.