The history of NFL No. 1 overall pick QBs and prime-time games: Why Cam Ward, Titans are outliers

The NFL announced the 2025 season schedule on May 14, complete with 71 prime-time, international or holiday games (not including the three Week 18 games TBD) across the regular season.

The Tennessee Titans will not be playing in any of those matchups as of now.

No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward will have to wait until his second season as a pro to make his NFL prime-time debut, barring a Titans game being flexed in later in the season. He is the first No. 1 overall pick QB since Cam Newton in 2011 to not have the chance to appear in primetime as a rookie, though scheduling rules have changed.

The NFL’s flex scheduling always leaves the opportunity for schedule changes, with expanded flexibility for Thursday and Monday Night Football games added over the last couple seasons. Tennessee, New Orleans and Cleveland were the only teams shut out of primetime in the league’s schedule release.

“We kind of have this adage that you play your way into primetime,” NFL VP of broadcast planning and scheduling Mike North said to CBSSports.com on May 15 about the Titans. “You don’t draft your way into primetime.”

In 2023, the NFL stopped a practice of giving each team a prime-time or standalone game in the schedule. Still, No. 1 overall picks in 2023 (Bryce Young, Carolina) and 2024 (Caleb Williams, Chicago) had multiple night games as rookies.

But how rare is it for a team with a No. 1 overall pick at QB to be shut out of primetime? Since 1998, it’s rare though not unheard of across the league. Over the last decade, it hasn’t happened.

GENTRY ESTES: If Tennessee Titans want more attention in NFL circles, they need to earn it

NFL No. 1 overall pick quarterbacks and prime-time games as rookies1998: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis

Prime-time games: 1

At this point, the NFL schedule was announced several days before the draft. This would be the case for the next 20 years or so. Schedule makers could safely assume that either Manning or Ryan Leaf would be in a Colts uniform.

1999: Tim Couch, Cleveland

Prime-time games: 1

Cleveland’s return to the NFL got the ESPN Sunday Night Football treatment.

2001: Michael Vick, Atlanta

Prime-time games: 0

Atlanta had struggled over the previous seasons sans the 1998 Super Bowl run, and Vick only started only two games anyway in the era of the first-round rookie QB watching and learning for a season.

2002: David Carr, Houston

Prime-time games: 1

Like Cleveland in 1999, Houston returned onto the NFL stage with a Week 1 home game on ESPN’s Sunday Night Football.

2003: Carson Palmer, Cincinnati

Prime-time games: 0

The Bengals had bungled to an awful decade-long stretch that would eventually end in the Palmer era. But not in 2003, when Palmer sat out the full season.

2004: Eli Manning, NY Giants

Prime-time games: 1

The 2004 NFL schedule came out before the Manning-Philip Rivers trade by the Giants and Chargers occurred on draft day. Still, the Chargers had zero scheduled prime-time games, and the Giants had just one in the final week of the season.

2005: Alex Smith, San Francisco

Prime-time games: 1

The 49ers’ lone prime-time game came on SNF in Mexico City early in the season. Smith’s first NFL start would not come until the week after.

2007: JaMarcus Russell, Oakland Raiders

Prime-time games: 0

The post-Rich Gannon Raiders suffered, and the franchise is still trying to return to prominence today only in a nicer stadium. Of note in 2007: Raiders coach Lane Kiffin.

2009: Matthew Stafford, Detroit

Prime-time games: 0 (Not including Thanksgiving)

There’s not much to say about the 2000s Lions. One game on Thanksgiving was often too much national TV exposure.

2010: Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams

Prime-time games: 1 (Week 17 game flexed into Sunday Night Football)

Remember the 2010 NFC West? The Rams and Seahawks battled for the division title in Week 17 with sub-.500 records. That was good enough for a flex into SNF.

2011: Cam Newton, Carolina

Prime-time games: 0

Charlotte is not a big NFL market as it is, and the Panthers were 2-14 in 2010. A reminder: the NFL schedule was still being released pre-draft to this point.

2012: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis

Prime-time games: 1

Schedule makers were burned by Peyton Manning’s injury in 2011 and didn’t take too many chances with the prospect of a new rookie QB. From this point, every NFL team had a prime-time or standalone game from 2012 through 2022 as the league expanded the Thursday Night Football schedule.

2015: Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay

Prime-time games: 1

At this point, the Thursday Night Football package was home to more prime-time filler games than marquee matchups. Many of the prime-time games for the next several No. 1 picks came from the pre-Amazon TNF package.

2016: Jared Goff, LA Rams

Prime-time games: 2 (Not counting game in London)

The 2016 LA Rams were covered in detail on the Amazon Prime Video “All or Nothing” series, and Jeff Fisher’s final season as an NFL head coach had two prime-time games including the opener. And the Rams traded up to No. 1 overall after going 7-9 in 2015.

2018: Baker Mayfield, Cleveland

Prime-time games: 2

Mayfield’s Browns debut was on TNF against the Jets in Sept. 2018, orchestrating a comeback win.

2019: Kyler Murray, Arizona

Prime-time games: 1

Murray’s rookie season for the Cardinals included a lone TNF game. Note: This was the final year that the NFL released the regular-season schedule before the draft.

2020: Joe Burrow, Cincinnati

Prime-time games: 2

Burrow’s 2019 season at LSU was so good that the Bengals had two prime-time games in his rookie season despite a terrible 2019 record.

2021: Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville

Prime-time games: 1 (Not including game in London)

Charge another to the TNF package. The Urban Meyer-led Jaguars grabbed more headlines than wins.

2023: Bryce Young, Carolina

Prime-time games: 2

In hindsight, this is a tough one. Carolina won seven games in 2022, traded up for Bryce Young and somehow managed two night games in a woeful season.

2024: Caleb Williams, Chicago

Prime-time games: 3 (not including games in London, on Thanksgiving)

Chicago is a big market, and the Bears are a solid brand. Williams’ prime-time exposure only increased in 2025 despite an uneven rookie season.

2025: Cam Ward, Tennessee

Prime-time games: 0

Ward is the first No. 1 overall pick QB since Cam Newton in 2011 to be shut out from prime time. If Ward plays like Newton did in his rookie season, Titans fans would be ecstatic. (And the Titans would be on prime-time multiple times in 2026.)

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Titans, Cam Ward shut out of prime-time games in 2025 season: Rare for No. 1 pick QB

The history of NFL No. 1 overall pick QBs and prime-time games: Why Cam Ward, Titans are outliers

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