Who Should I Start? Mason Rudolph or Cam Ward

Wednesday, May 28, 11:59 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph opened OTAs with the first-team offense on Tuesday, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. This news isn't much of a surprise, but it does confirm head coach Mike Tomlin's vision as full-team practices get underway this summer. Presumably, the starting quarterback job is Rudolph's to lose, barring an external quarterback addition such as Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins. Rudolph's internal competition comes from Skylar Thompson and rookie Will Howard. Thompson has completed just 58.7 percent of his career passes with one touchdown, three interceptions, and two fumbles. He primarily served as a backup over three seasons in Miami. Meanwhile, Howard is a rookie who impressed at Ohio State, but he has suboptimal draft capital as a sixth-round pick. On the other hand, Rudolph has shown flashes of potential during his time with the Steelers (2018-2023) and Titans (2024). In Tennessee last year, he completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,530 yards, nine touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

Wednesday, July 23, 5:31 PM

Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward, who was the first overall pick in this year's NFL draft, made his training camp debut on Wednesday and took all of the first-team reps, per ESPN's Turron Davenport. Now that Will Levis (shoulder) is out for the entire season while needing surgery on his right shoulder, Ward is firmly in line to start in his first year in the NFL. Back in OTAs and minicamp, the Titans used a rotation of Ward, Levis and Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle. The Titans haven't officially announced Ward as its starter, but it's pretty clear that will eventually come to pass. Davenport goes on to write that most of Ward's passes were towards the middle of the field on Wednesday after most of his success in college came there as well. His first season in the NFL will be more about development and will surely come with plenty of ups and downs. Ward is a low-end QB2 heading into his first year.