Columbia’s Cam Ward became the 15th Texan to be selected with the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft when the Tennessee Titans selected the Miami quarterback on Thursday night.

Ward, who was an unrated recruit in the 2020 class without a single FBS offer, flew under the radar due to the COVID-19 pandemic and because the Roughnecks ran the Wing-T offense. 

Ward began his college career at Incarnate Word playing for head coach Eric Morris. He led the Cardinals to a 10-3 record and was FCS All-America Second Team in 2021. Ward threw fewer than 300 passes in his final two seasons at Columbia. He attempted 590 passes in his final season at UIW before transferring to Washington State when Morris became the offensive coordinator at Wazzu. 

Ward spent 2022 and 2023 as the quarterback of Washington State, starting all 25 games and passing for 6,963 yards and 48 touchdowns. He transferred to Miami in 2024 and became a Heisman Trophy finalist in his only season with the Hurricanes. He won the 2024 Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback and was the ACC Player of the Year. 

Ward is the first Texas high school football product to be selected first overall since Kyler Murray did it in 2019. Texas boasted the first overall pick in three straight drives starting in 2017 with Myles Garrett, Baker Mayfield, and Murray.

Ward is the first unrated recruit selected with the top pick since 247Sports began prospect rankings in 2000.