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.

Tuesday, June 3, 12:15 PM

The Tennessee Titans have been pleased with rookie first-round quarterback Cam Ward's progress this offseason as he learns the offense. "Pleased with where he's at," head coach Brian Callahan said. The head coach also said that Ward is picking things up pretty quickly as far as the mental part of the transition to the NFL. Although the 23-year-old first overall pick has been splitting reps evenly with Will Levis during offseason workouts, Ward is fully expected to win the starting QB job going into the 2025 regular season this fall. The Miami product has high-end arm strength and set an NCAA record with 158 career touchdown passes. There's plenty to like about Ward long term, but he's not much of a scrambler, and the Titans don't have a ton of weapons for him to be much more than a low-end QB2 with upside in fantasy in his rookie season.