Can Malik Willis go from 'project' to 'primetime' in Miami?
Yahoo Sports NFL analyst Nate Tice and Yahoo Sports fantasy analyst Matt Harmon discuss how the Dolphins new quarterback will be the player to watch for Miami this season. Check out the full conversation on "Football 301" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
I think my spotlight player and your X factor player were the same, which is Malik Willis, you know, because- Yeah I mean, yeah.
This is very-- It's a really interesting experiment for Willis where, like he's a, he was, he's a such improved player from what he was in Tennessee when he got to play in Green Bay.
He was unplayable in Tennessee.
He was like unpl- yeah, he was unplayable in- Yeah in Tennessee- Yeah for sure.
I mean, yeah, it was just, it was brutal.
But obviously, you know, in, in Green Bay, you got some talented pass catchers.
Mm-hmm.
The run game's been a little bit hit or miss, especially last year when Willis was starting.
It wasn't that great late in the season, but it's still- it's a really good, well-designed offense.
Mm-hmm.
Obviously, this is a different situation here.
But can he be somebody that is part of your future?
I think that's just the question with Malik Willis.
Is this like a, he's just a fantasy scam like quarterback, and not in the Jacoby Brissett way where he's dropping back a bajillion times and pumping volume to the pass catchers, but just like, "Well, I'm starting Malik Willis in fantasy 'cause he runs a football," you know?
Is it, is it that- Yeah or is it- Hopefully he scrambles 10 times.
Yeah, exactly.
Which he's going to, by the way.
Like when they're, when they're behind in the fourth quarter, he's gonna be, he's gonna be scrambling a lot.
We talk about projects all the time, and people said like Drake May is a project, which I totally disagreed with, or so-and-so's project.
Malik Willis was the classic definition of a project.
He was Tavares Jackson back in the day, you know, of Randall Cunningham- Yeah from 30 years ago.
Like he truly was a project.
And you got to see some improvement in Green Bay, but the thing was, this is why kind of my negative with it, was even some of his good plays, like I get he had some cool scrambles a- and like against the Bears I think was one.
But the thing was, what, this is where I'm gonna get to the negative, the talking out both sides of my mouth, was those plays that he was scrambling, he's passing up throws still.
And the concepts- Oh, true that the Packers were calling, who run a pretty wide-ranging passing game with Jordan Love, was they're running like stick on third and 10, and he's still passing up an open guy and scrambling.
Now you could say, "Well, it's great he created a new play," but to me it's like, well, hit the stick route.
They call that for a reason, and also you're calling the simplest day one install play.
So why I'm saying is that he's still-- Yes, he has improved, you know, as far as just his, his polish, mental polish, but I still think he is a far, you know, a long ways away, and now he's doing it to receivers that would be a receiver three or four on some good offenses.
So that's where some of my negatives is.
But he's gonna have some fun, flashy moments because he can chuck it and he can run and he's big, and I think he'll handle the offense okay enough and they might have some cool wrinkles, but he's still, still-- When people were talking about how much he was getting paid, I was like, "Eh, are you guys watching what he's handling right now?"
'Cause this is like day one- Yeah preseason first game offense that he's asked, being asked to run right now.
So that's, that's why I kind of sometimes kind of chuckle when I hear how people describe him like right now.
