Kelly: Building an offense around Malik Willis’ skills presents promise, and challenges | Opinion
Even though it was a windy day, one where the flags at the end of the goalposts were extended consistently, the spiral was tight.
There was very little wobble to Malik Willis’ passes on Tuesday during the Miami Dolphins’ second OTA practice session.
With the flick of the wrist the football was headed in Malik Washington’s direction with some heat on it during the individual drill portion of practice.
On that particular pass, Willis got the ball to the sideline on the 15-yard out with very little effort, so little that I wondered if he even stepped into the throw since his sidearm motion looked effortless.
Seems like the Dolphins can reinsert that route — which Tua Tagovailoa and his lackluster arm struggled with most of his career — back into the offense’s playbook.
In his first week of work on the field during OTAs the Dolphins’ new starting quarterback proved he has a relatively strong arm, which paired with his top-shelf athleticism, makes him a complete contrast of what the franchise had in Tagovailoa.
The practice session wasn’t perfect. There were too many checkdown passes for my taste. Receiver Tahj Washington dropped a touchdown pass from Willis on a deep route where he escaped Chris Johnson’s coverage, and Willis was picked off once by safety Dante Trader Jr. But the session made it clear that we’re entering a new era for quarterback play in Miami.
However, there are still plenty of unknowns.
We will soon learn if Willis can take a hit, and whether he hangs in the pocket long enough to find open receivers?
Can he read defenses effectively like Tagovailoa could, finding open receivers and tight ends when his first read isn’t there?
This is the period of discovery South Florida’s NFL franchise is in when it comes to the player put behind center, the key cog of every team’s offense, and the more we learn, the better off the Dolphins will be in the first year of this massive rebuild.
“Every day that we get to come out here and do this, I’m grateful. It’s a blessing. I mean, I could be sitting in an office somewhere, I’m out here throwing a ball around. This is awesome. This is what I’d rather be doing,” said Willis, whom the Dolphins signed to a three-year deal worth $67.5 million, which guaranteed him $45 million during the first two seasons. “I try to be just as grateful as right now as when we go to training camp, when we’re in this [upcoming] season, and I think that keeps me centered on what’s important.”
The Dolphins are in the early stages of building an offense that caters to Willis’ strength, and hides his limitations.
There’s chemistry that needs to be developed between the fourth-year quarterback and his weaponry, which features five veterans who have been fringe NFL starters and six receivers and tight ends who are beginning their rookie season in the NFL.
At this point any of them could become Willis’ favorite target because it’s early. Everything is being established, and that includes Willis’ role with the team.
“My main focus for him right now is to learn. Learn the scheme, get to know the players and not overdo the whole leadership thing,” coach Jeff Hafley said of Willis’ backup-to-starter journey this offseason. “I think [leadership’s] my job, and our job right now, so he can focus on becoming the best quarterback, the best player and best teammate he can be.
“Don’t worry about the other stuff right now,” Hafley continued. “That’s been my message to him so he doesn’t have to worry about all that. I think that’s really important as we get started.”
In Willis’ six NFL starts for the Tennessee Titans and the Green Bay Packers he completed 66% of his passes, throwing for 141 yards per game, with three touchdown passes and three interceptions thrown. He produced a dismal 83.5 passer rating for those starts while holding a 98.9 passer rating for his career.
He also gained 272 rushing yards and scored four rushing touchdowns on 41 carries (45.3 per game) in those starts.
However, if we split those numbers up by team, which distinguishes his early years (the Titans) from the maturation process he underwent in Green Bay, we will see the potential that encouraged general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and Hafley to invest in him.
In three starts with the Packers he had a 127.4 passer rating, threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions. He averaged 204 passing yards per game and 58 rushing yards per game in his starts the past two seasons.
Extrapolate that out to 17 games and that’s 3,468 passing yards, 986 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns scored for a season.
For comparison’s sake, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, a two-time MVP winner, has only had two seasons where he exceeded that passing yard total and two seasons where he exceeded those rushing yards.
Jackson averages 55.1 rushing yards per game and 194.9 passing yards in his career, so if Willis is anywhere in that neighborhood it will be encouraging.
When asked Tuesday if there was a moment that reinforced his belief that he had become a good NFL starter, Willis had a phenomenal response, one that showed he has been to the abyss and back.
“Whenever you get the opportunity to show it,” Willis said. “You can think all you want, but until you get the opportunity to show it, or go out there and do it, all it is is your confidence.”
And hopefully that confidence takes Willis and the Dolphins to their desired destination, which is to greater heights for himself, and for South Florida’s NFL franchise.
