Cam Ward is drawing Shedeur Sanders chatter in a way he doesn’t deserve

The Tennessee Titans surprised nobody when they selected Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He was the clear-cut best quarterback available, and that's what teams with the No. 1 overall pick tend to select 90+ percent of the time. Unfortunately, Ward has not looked like a No. 1 overall pick thus far.

He was able to get his first career NFL win on Sunday, but he only completed 53.8 percent of his 39 passing attempts and threw what could end up being the most memorable interception of his career. It worked out well, but man, that throw wasn't what anyone rooting for Ward or the Titans wanted to see.

Despite Ward finally earning a win, the chatter has, understandably, been mostly negative surrounding his performance thus far. It's been so bad that he's been drawing some Shedeur Sanders chatter.

Why Shedeur Sanders chatter has surrounded Cam Ward

Ward was the clear 1.01, and in many people's minds, Shedeur Sanders was the second-best quarterback in this past year's NFL Draft. This wasn't to say anyone expected Sanders to go No. 1 overall, but some certainly felt that the two were relatively close in ability, and it was shocking to see him fall all the way to the fifth round.

While Ward struggles, some assume that Sanders can't be much worse than this, right? Ward entered the day having completed just 51.4 percent of his passes for an average of just a shade over 150 passing yards per game. It's at least fair to some to say that if Ward is struggling to this extent, then Sanders shouldn't have fallen as far in the draft as he did.

This argument might have some validity to it, but at the end of the day, it feels entirely off base.

Cam Ward does not deserve any Shedeur Sanders chatter

Obviously, things haven't gone well for Ward in the slightest, and I won't argue otherwise. I will say that his situation is among the bleakest in the NFL, but even with that, he should be playing better. With that being said, though, at least he's playing, right?

Sanders is not only glued to the bench with the Cleveland Browns, but he's their third-string quarterback. At the end of the day, he fell to the fifth round for a reason, and it isn't solely because he can be perceived as a distraction. There are questions about his game, as we saw in the preseason.

It's unfair to compare Ward to anyone who hasn't even played a single snap yet. If Sanders ends up appearing in regular-season action in a bad situation in Cleveland and clearly outplays Ward, perhaps discussions can start at that point. Until then, though, it's unfair to Ward to be compared to a third-stringer, especially when Ward just put together a game-winning drive. Yes, as bad as he looked throughout the day, he helped lead Tennessee to this win.

At the end of the day, the NFL is hard. There was always going to be an adjustment period for Ward to get comfortable. He hasn't looked as good as you'd like a No. 1 overall pick to look, but he's also only played five games. Please, let's let Ward get his feet wet a little more, and let's let Sanders appear in a regular season game before we get to comparing the two.