Malik Willis: Scouting Report. Everything You Need To Know

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CARSON STRONG	KENNY PICKETT	MATT CORRAL
DESMOND RIDDER	BAILEY ZAPPE	SAM HOWELL

• Height: 6’1”
• Weight: 225 Lbs
• College: Liberty
• Year: Senior RS
• Position: Quarterback

BACKGROUND

Malik Willis is an outstanding quarterback prospect who has a huge ceiling in the 2022 NFL Draft.

From Atlanta, Georgia, Malik Willis attended Westlake High School, before transferring to Roswell High School in his senior year. At Roswell, Willis was given the opportunity to be a quarterback full time. That year he went on to pass for 2562 yards, rushing for a further 1033 yards, scoring 37 touchdowns. 

Before arriving at Roswell, Willis had already committed to Virginia Tech. But not to play quarterback. A last minute offer from Auburn to play the quarterback position changed everything and soon Willis changed his commitment to Auburn.

With Jarrett Stidham firmly the starter, chances were hard to come by for Willis. Over the 2017 and 2018 season, he mostly featured in late game situations. When he didn’t feature in a spring game in 2018, Willis knew to get a starting opportunity he would have to look elsewhere.

Willis opted to transfer to Liberty, but had to sit out the 2019 season due to transfer rules. A FBS Independent, it was a drop in competition for Willis. But, he hit it off with Coach Hugh Freeze straight away. With a starting job in hand Malik Willis showed his worth in the 2020 season.

He led Liberty to 10 wins in 2020. With 2260 passing yards, 944 rushing yards and a total of 34 touchdowns, Willis cemented himself as one of college football’s most dynamic quarterbacks. 

In 2021, Willis continued his exciting dual threat identity, putting up 2857 passing yards, 878 rushing yards and combined 40 touchdowns. 

A Senior Bowl invite in hand, Malik Willis is looking to put his name towards the top of the quarterback class.

Watch the video below which shows just how dangerous a player Malik Willis is.

STRENGTHS

• Arm Strength
• Create out of structure
• Dual threat

What Malik Willis is, is an explosive dual threat quarterback. He is a playmaker who can beat you in multiple different ways and displays huge athletic upside.

Willis’s arm strength is exceptional. He puts fantastic zip and velocity on the ball to hit receivers down field and in stride. He can make most throws and can make plays anywhere on the field. His arm strength means he can throw a missile hitting receivers deep, shallow and outside of the numbers.

What truly makes Malik Willis different is his skill as a runner and his ability to beat you with his legs. He is a rapid, explosive and lively athlete who has huge athletic upside.

As a runner Willis is super twitchy and quick. He is elusive with the ball in hand and he has the ability to make defenders miss and second guess him. He also isn’t afraid to take on contact, but that may be something he is asked to clean up at the next level. His legs mean that Willis is able to escape when the play breaks down.

Willis’s ability as a dual threat quarterback means he can dictate the tempo of a game and his pure athleticism means he will make plays in the NFL. He has a good balance of passing plays sprinkled in with the odd designed runs. Although you can forgive Willis for using his talent in his legs to make plays, he is still a pass first quarterback. What Willis can do with his legs opens up so many opportunities for an offence. His dynamic, sudden running ability means he creates an unbelievable amount of plays out of structure. 

WEAKNESSES

• Decision making 
• Accuracy 

The key attributes that Malik Willis needs to clean up are his decision making and accuracy. 

Willis’s decision making is best described as questionable. He can try and play hero ball a bit too often. Willis can try and force the ball into windows that are not open, often into double and even triple coverage. Although Malik Willis’s ability to create out of structure is a huge strength, he can make the decision to extend the play looking to get it done with his legs or with a down field throw rather than hit his checkdown or throw the ball out of bounds. 

This can be attributed to a lack of awareness on some plays, where he hasn’t anticipated how the play will unfold which leads him to making careless decisions. 

Willis has a cannon for an arm, but his technique can sometimes be inconsistent where he can put too much air under the ball, causing it to hang in the air to long and putting the ball into harm’s way. 

The talent surrounding Malik Willis hasn’t exactly been outstanding and so with better receiving weapons and a sturdier offensive line, he has the potential to clean all these issues up. Malik Willis IS the Liberty offence and he has put it all on his shoulders.

SUMMARY

Malik Willis has a huge amount of talent and traits that NFL teams will absolutely fall in love with. Due to his unbelievable athleticism, Willis has maybe the most upside of any quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft. Whichever team drafts him should be happy they can clean up his consistency and decision making enough to turn this dynamic playmaker into a starting NFL talent.

He may be a quarterback, like a lot in this class, that benefits from sitting a year and learning from a veteran who can help with his reads and ball security. 

There is no doubt that Malik Willis is a special playmaker and what he is able to do with his legs as a dual threat QB is exactly the direction the NFL is now trending. 

Given an opportunity with better weapons and protection Malik Willis could carve himself a successful career in the NFL

How good of a prospect is Malik Willis? Let us know over on Twitter @NinetynineYards and @Owain_Jones_