Who Should I Start? Geno Smith or Cam Ward

Friday, May 30, 12:13 PM

The Athletic's Tashan Reed writes that so far this offseason, things have gone smoothly as Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly have acclimated to one another. "Geno's literally like a second coach," Kelly said. "When you're in that room with him and Greg Olson, there's a lot of ideas going around. And then it's just a matter of corralling it. Because sometimes you can have too many ideas. Like, let's try to do a million things, and then you don't get good at one thing. But his football acumen is really off the charts, and it's impressive to be around him." Under Kelly, the Raiders want their offense to remain amorphous with flexibility to apply to their personnel groupings. Kelly is well-known for operating with plenty of wideouts, but Vegas also plans to use multi-tight-end sets frequently. Smith has a better TE to work with, but his weapons overall will be a downgrade from his last few years in Seattle. Consider him a high-end QB2/low-end QB1 in fantasy in his new digs.

Wednesday, June 25, 12:32 PM

ESPN's Turron Davenport writes that Tennessee Titans rookie first-round quarterback Cam Ward is already emerging as a leader heading into his first season in the NFL. Ward organized a group of rookie receivers to come into the building at 5 am for film study and hasn't been hesitant to tell a veteran wideout how he wants a route run. Additionally, the first overall pick has bounced back quickly from his mistakes during offseason workouts. "It certainly didn't shy him away from throws," head coach Brian Callahan said. "You want to see a guy just kind of get ready and throw it again." The 23-year-old is certainly showing maturity early on, but whether it translates to immediate production on the field when games count will be another story. With limited options beyond receiver Calvin Ridley to throw to, Ward is expected to have an up-and-down rookie season, especially since he's not much of a runner.