2025 NFL Draft: Cam Ward is still the favorite to go No. 1 to the Titans, but Travis Hunter's odds have gotten a lot shorter

2025 NFL Draft: Cam Ward is still the favorite to go No. 1 to the Titans, but Travis Hunter’s odds have gotten a lot shorter

Will the Tennessee Titans take a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft?

Miami QB Cam Ward continues to be the prohibitive favorite for the Titans’ selection at BetMGM. Ward is -185 to be the first pick after he was a Heisman finalist in 2024. Ward finished fourth in the voting behind Colorado’s Travis Hunter, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel as he threw for 39 TDs and over 4,300 yards in his lone season with the Hurricanes.

Hunter is the No. 3 favorite to be the first pick, and his odds have gotten a lot shorter recently. On Tuesday morning, Hunter was +1500 to be the Titans’ choice at No. 1. On Wednesday, Hunter’s odds had fallen to +625.

Could that have anything to do with what Titans president of football operation Chad Brinker said Wednesday during the introductory news conference for general manager Mike Borgonzi?

Brinker said the Titans would not pass up a “generational talent” at No. 1. Nothing against Ward or Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders — the No. 2 favorite to go at No. 1 overall at +200 — but Hunter seems like the only player who easily fits that bill through his college career unless the Titans are really enamored with either quarterback.

The defensive back and wide receiver did things throughout 2024 that no one in modern college football had done. Hunter was Colorado’s top wide receiver and top cornerback as the Buffaloes finished in a four-way tie for first in the Big 12. He hardly ever missed a play when healthy and had 96 catches for 1,58 yards and 15 TDs while tallying 36 tackles, four interceptions and 11 passes defensed.

Ward and Sanders, meanwhile, are seen as the top two quarterbacks in what’s considered a weak class. While both players will be top-10 selections at worst, it’s very possible that no other quarterback will be taken in the first round.

They’re also the favorites to go at No. 1 because of the Titans’ need at QB. Tennessee chose Will Levis in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft, but Levis hasn’t shown himself to be the answer through his first two seasons. In 12 games in 2024, Levis completed 63% of his passes for 2,091 yards and 13 TDs with 12 interceptions. He was replaced by Mason Rudolph as the Titans’ starter near the end of the season before starting the team’s Week 18 loss to the Texans.