Legacy Play

As the confetti falls over the Super Bowl winners, signaling the end of the NFL season, the focus begins to shift towards the future. More specifically, the draft. The process that determines the future of the league and tomorrow’s stars. In every draft there are debates about the ability of players and where they rank on the so-called “draft board.” It begins to dominate TV and radio as a multitude of podcasts, sports shows, and interviews cast their diehard opinions on the ability and best fit of certain players. And in this year’s draft, there is no debate greater or more fierce than who the best quarterback is between Shedeur Sanders of Colorado and Cam Ward of Miami. In a relatively weak draft class for QBs, these two stand out like lions among sheep. However, the question remains, who is better and who will go higher? In this article I will go through each part of a QB’s game and assign points to each to determine the victor of the two.

Arm Strength

Sanders 3/5, Ward 4/5

Arm strength, the quarterback trait that stands out pretty much immediately, is the showboat weapon of a quarterback. Despite the NFL moving away from the “gunslinger” mode of quarterback, it is still an important trait when used properly. In this area, however, there is a clear winner. Cam Ward’s arm strength, for me, is almost special. He throws downfield lasers and doesn’t even look like he is breaking a sweat. It is almost his biggest strength as a quarterback. His ability to produce a huge amount of both velocity and torque on the ball so effortlessly is something very few quarterbacks coming out of the draft in the last decade have. What makes his arm strength even more unique is his ability to put it in areas of the field, in terms of accuracy, that I have not seen any quarterback coming out of the draft come close to doing. On the other hand, Shedeur Sanders arm strength is not close. Although I believe the narrative of his arm strength not being “NFL-caliber” is overblown, I do believe that a lot of his deep throws are wobbly and fall short. Although he throws the deep ball with more anticipation and more accuracy than Ward, in terms of pure arm strength, they are in different stratospheres.

ACCURACY

Sanders 4/5, Ward 3/5

This is where Sander reigns supreme and completely surpasses Ward. Sanders accuracy is historically good. Averaging 74% accuracy on throws last year along with only 10 interceptions, Sanders is surgical when throwing the ball. Although this leads to him to take more time on the ball, which leads to more sacks, his ability to fit the ball in tight windows often made up for it at the college level. His accuracy on deep balls is also impressive, as he ranks 4th in PFF’s passing grade on deep balls among this year’s QB class. What makes this even more impressive is he was doing all this behind one of the worst offensive lines in college, and yet despite being under constant pressure, he had a 1.3% turnover rate. Ward only has solid accuracy, especially in both the short, 85%, and intermediate, 76%, areas of the field. Although very strong over the middle of the field, his accuracy on deep balls is an issue and something that must be fixed in order for him to take advantage of his incredible arm talent. Another potential problem is his tendency to hunt the big plays and refuse the checkdowns, which at the NFL level could be problematic.

ATHLETICISM

Sanders 3/5, Ward 4/5

This is the area where both QBs do not excel. Although neither is slow, do not expect either one to be included in the run game for whichever NFL team picks them. Sanders struggles when it comes to quickness and, when forced to run, does not impress. Although he can pick up first downs sometimes when forced to escape the pocket, at the NFL level he is going to struggle when going up against bigger and stronger defenders. His instincts when running are poor as well, as he often overestimates his athletic ability, which leads him to bail a clean pocket, but he doesn’t have the athleticism required to consistently make positive plays this way. Ward, on the other hand, is more agile and a phenomenal escape artist, which we will get to later, along with being a capable runner, which is shown by 473 rushing yards and 20 TDs. He also, compared to Shedeur Sanders, knows when to run and when not to, which is a potent skill to have at the NFL level.

PLAYMAKING

Sanders 3/5, Ward 5/5

This area is where generational meets average. Sanders is not a bad playmaker at all; in fact, he is solid. He has the occasional magic play when faced with no options, but those are not frequent. One of the reasons for him taking so many sacks is his tendency to hold onto the ball far too long in order for something to open up. This is both a nightmare for offensive linemen and a dream for pass rushers. If you have the ability to escape and make magic plays, holding onto the ball is not a huge problem. However, Sanders does not have enough of this to make up for him holding onto the ball so long. He is a system quarterback who operates the system really well, but when play breaks down, he struggles. Ward, on the other hand—I mean, where do you start? I am of the opinion that he is the best playmaking quarterback to come out of the draft in the last 5 years. He is simply breathtaking. As a defender, you never quite have him, as his ability to throw any pass matched with his agility and athleticism, which is coupled with his creativity, is out of this world. His quick feet and processing lead him to excel when making out-of-system plays, and this makes him so special.

CONCLUSION

Sanders 13/20, Ward 17/20

As you can see, it’s pretty clear who the better QB is. Although both have strengths and weaknesses, Ward’s playmaking and athleticism separate him from Sanders. Sanders is the better pocket passer, as his accuracy is borderline special, but his arm strength, average athleticism, and playmaking take him down a notch. Saying this, I do expect both to go in the top 15, with Ward going number 1, but I think the question marks around Sanders will cause him to slide, and who knows what effect that will have on his confidence when taking the field in the NFL? There is no question that both are talented, but at different levels. I believe that Ward has the talent to lead a team to the Super Bowl, while Sanders is not up to that level unless the right cast is put around him.