Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward has already seen the differences between the college game and the NFL game during OTAs. When training camp starts in a couple of weeks, he will get a full indoctrination into the speed and physicality of professional football, and his team will be right beside him to help and support his growth.
One of the biggest differences between the NFL game and the collegiate game is speed. Professional players are faster. They run faster and they make decisions faster. Ward threw a few interceptions during OTAs that were due to him staring down his target and not throwing off the defenders with his eyes.
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“I’m sure in college, that was open and got completed,” offensive coordinator Nick Holz said of the throw. “This time, there was a different result. And he’s kind of like, ‘Well, I used to do this and that.’ Now he sees the speed of the game, how quick those windows are.”
Speed isn’t the only difference; the other adjustment Ward has to consider is that the hash marks on the NFL field are narrower than the college field. Which means most plays are near the middle of the field and not as close to the sidelines, and that means he has a wider area of space to cover. It also makes it more difficult to spread out the defense.
“You come from college and you just feel like the wide field is so far out there,” Holz said. “You get all these boundary pressures all the time. All the field pressures in college, you can kind of see them from a mile away. In the NFL, the ball is pretty much in the middle of the field.”
The Titans are doing everything they can to prepare Ward for this season. Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson threw different blitz packages at him during minicamp, and Ward is learning to pick up on those pressures and adjust his protection accordingly.
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Ward will continue to face challenges and adversity, even once he acclimates to the league. He’s a human and will make mistakes, but as long as he recovers and comes back better, he will be just fine.
This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Titans’ Nick Holz details challenges facing Cam Ward at NFL level