Hopefully everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend thus far! Make sure to enjoy all the tailgate and cookout foods. We are back with another edition in our series called 99 Things. One of the more underrated transfers from this past season was Cameron Ward transferring to Washington State. You may be reading this article and thinking “who in the hell is Cameron Ward?” Don’t you worry, I got you. Just know he is an incredibly talented quarterback who has the potential to make a lot of noise in the Pac-12 this season.
Ward played two seasons at Incarnate Word before transferring to Washington State. In 2021 Ward was name to the FCS All-American Second Team while also being named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Ward passed for 4,648 yards with 47 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also completed over 65% of his passes. After Ward’s freshman season he won the Jerry Rice Award. The award is given to the most outstanding freshman in FCS. Ward chose to attend Washington State over Ole Miss, Houston, and Prairie View A&M. New Washington State head coach, Jake Dickert, will be able to slot Ward in as the starting quarterback after Jayden De Laura and Victor Gabalis entered the transfer portal.
Ward will give the Cougars are talented quarterback who is accurate and has a strong arm. Scouts believe he has the ability to make all the NFL level throws already. He has good touch on his deep passes to help stretch the defense. Ward is not a runner but he can extend the play if the situation is necessary. He only rushed for 61 yards on 77 attempts so he will not be transforming into a duel threat at the FBS level.
One area Ward will need to improve in order to successful in the Pac-12 is his pre-snap reads. Ward’s did not receive significant varsity snaps until his junior year of high school. His high school ran the Wing-T which resulted in Ward having only a few opportunities to pass the ball each game. Between his junior and senior season Ward attempted a total of 233 passes. Due to this system he had very little experience reading defenses at the line of scrimmage. While Ward has improved over his two years starting at Incarnate Word, he will need to make significant strides as he will play ferocious defenses such as Utah and Oregon.
Washington State has an early season test against Wisconsin. The matchup may fly under the radar but college football fans should tune into this one. The Badgers usually boast on of the best defenses in the Big Ten so we will have our first real chance to see what Cameron Ward can do. Should Ward be able to move the ball and score points it is not unreasonable to think Washington State could make some noise in the Pac-12. The Cougars will also face USC on the road which may set up for a high scoring battle between Ward and Caleb Williams. I may be higher on Ward than most college football writers but I believe he could be a special talent. Pac-12 after dark could get even more exciting.
