Cameron Ward transfers to Miami: Ex-Washington State QB rescinds name from NFL Draft to play for Hurricanes
Ward has passed for 13,874 yards and 119 touchdowns in his career
Former Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward will transfer to Miami, he announced on social media Saturday. Ward had already declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, but will now return to collegiate football to finish his career with the Hurricanes.
“Ever since I declared, I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep,” Ward told 247Sports. “It’s always been at the back of mind, sneaking up there. I feel like it’s a win-win situation. I can go (to Miami) behind a great head coach, fantastic offensive coordinator in a terrific offense, I feel like I can raise my stock even more. There were a lot of things coming into the picture. But I enjoy playing college football, and I feel like there’s just more left on the table for me.”
Ward began his career at Incarnate Ward under offensive-minded head coach Eric Morris and didn’t take long to make a major impact, pushing out an incumbent starter and winning the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision after averaging 376.7 yards passing per game during the Spring 2021 season. He returned as a starter in Fall 2021 and was named an FCS All-American.
When Morris left UIW to pursue the offensive coordinator job at Washington State, Ward followed. He continued to excel there, passing for nearly 7,000 yards and 48 touchdowns in two seasons. He became as one of the most elusive and imaginative passes in the sport.
Ward passed for 13,874 yards and 119 touchdowns throughout his two stops and entered the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer. Ward declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, spurning initial interest from the likes of Florida State and Miami, on Jan. 1 before rescinding his name with a stunning declaration Saturday.
Miami moves in silence
Prior to Ward’s course reversal, it looked as if the Hurricanes may strike out on all of their top quarterback possibilities in the transfer portal. The staff cast a fairly broad net at that position after incumbent starter Tyler Van Dyke took his talents to Wisconsin. Ward, who visited Miami, was the first domino to fall away from Coral Gables when he initially declared for the NFL Draft.
The Hurricanes also took a huge shot at former Kansas State standout Will Howard before to his commitment to Ohio State, and were allegedly interested in Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson and USC’s Malachi Nelson before they decided in favor of UCF and Boise State, respectively. Former Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa seemed like an obvious option for the Hurricanes, given their proximity to his family and older brother Tua — who starts for the Miami Dolphins — but there’s some doubt on whether or not he’ll actually be granted an extra year of eligibility to play in 2024.
With choices wearing thin, Miami was still working Ward behind the scenes the entire time. Its constant effort paid off as it now gets a signal caller with greater upside at the position than it’s had in quite some time.
Healthy competition predicted
While Ward surely isn’t coming to Miami to ride the bench, the Hurricanes are gearing up for a tremendous competition in their quarterback room between now and the start of the 2024 season. Ward is actually the second quarterback transfer to pledge to “The U,” joining former Albany star and FCS All-American Reese Poffenbarger.
Poffenbarger made his decision known on Jan. 8 after — at the time — it felt like Miami whiffed on a variety of quality possibilities. Not to downplay Poffenbarger’s abilities; he led the FCS in passing with 3,614 yards and 36 touchdowns while guiding Albany to a trip in the FCS Playoff semifinals.
Miami’s transfers join a roster that already features two quarterbacks with starting experience. Rising sophomore Emory Williams is a guy that Mario Cristobal and his staff are very high on. He got his first career start as a true freshman in 2023 and replaced Van Dyke ahead of a game against Clemson, leading the Hurricanes to a win while throwing for 151 yards and one touchdown. He received another start against Florida State in November and had 175 yards and two touchdowns against the eventual ACC champions before sustaining a severe injury to his throwing arm.
These veteran signings — Ward only has a year of eligibility left while Poffenbarger is entering his fourth season of collegiate football — will offer Williams more time to recover from his injury and develop without much pressure to step in quickly. Another solid depth piece is sophomore Jacurri Brown, who started two games in 2022 as a freshman. Brown also got the starting nod in Miami’s 2023 Pinstripe Bowl loss against Rutgers owing to Williams’ injury and Van Dyke’s desire to transfer. Barring any more transfer movement, Miami possesses one of the deepest quarterback groupings in all of college football, a crucial asset in the current era.
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