Player: Malik Willis

College: Liberty University 

Height and Weight: 6’0.5 ”, 219

Combine Results:

• Other Notes: Willis did not test at the combine, seemingly for the same reason that Lamar declined years prior. Everyone knows he is a special athlete. He only participated in the throwing drills, and what resulted was exactly what shows up on tape. The bad was that he missed the crossing route by a mile on a bad throw and missed badly a couple other times. The good; he effortlessly threw most of the deep balls 60 yards plus on the dot. The spiral concerns I personally had did not show up and he flashed the potential that everyone knows he has. A side note, he was filmed helping out a homeless person near the stadium. It is just another example that, above all else, he is an extremely high character and smart player.

Strengths: Elite athleticism, arm strength really popped in Eastern Michigan game (but not as much in others watched),  scrambles with head up most of the time and does not always look to run first when pushed out of pocket, pretty safe with throws when scrambling, 

Weaknesses: Throws a lot of ducks, does not have a ton of touch at times, has different throwing motions (not angles, motions), throws off back foot or not stepping into it way too much, seemed to have an awful o-line that may have formed bad habits like falling away when throwing, does not use as much lower body in most throws as you would like (arm strength could be very elite if he learns this), on top of different throwing motions arm slows down when trying to add touch, does not throw the ball away a ton despite being safe with throws when scrambling (will just run out of bounds for a loss instead)

Projected Draft Day: Day 1 (and sit for a year)

Player Comparison: Josh Allen (Coming out of college)

Player Summary: I tried to not go with the Lamar comparison that seems obvious, but the similarities are there. I feel like Jacksons is faster and more elusive, but Willis will most likely be right behind him in running potential for a quarterback. Instead, I feel as though he more mirrors Josh Allen in a way when he was entering the draft. They are not similar in playing style, but I am comparing them for a different reason. Josh Allen, when going to the Bills, had a ton of things to work on. He did not always throw off the proper platforms and thought he could just succeed with his arm alone (as opposed to stepping into throws and using the whole body) and that got him into trouble early on. This sounds like Willis to a tee. He needs to learn proper lower body mechanics. But, like Allen, he came into the combine and put on a show with his effortless throws. So the comparison is that they both had extreme accuracy questions and needed a lot of refinement out of school, but the upside is immense (as Allen has fulfilled his and beyond). They also are high character players. Willis also has multiple throwing motions depending on if he is trying to throw bullets or touch, and that needs to be fixed into one repeatable motion. I am unsure if Willis’s upside is that of Allen’s, but it is not impossible if he develops as Allen has, with the flipside being he plateaus as Lamar Jackson. We here are of the opinion that, while Baltimore has tried to build an offense to Lamar’s strengths, they have also greatly hindered his throwing maturity in doing so. If someone drafts Willis that has an established starter for this year, and allows Willis to sit and focus on his throwing mechanics, then he has a chance to surpass Lamar in throwing ability. If he is put into action too early or put in a system that does not allow him to flourish, you could end up in a situation like Baltimore where there is a lot of development and then a plateau that exists because of your offensive system. It would be smart to treat Willis as the 49ers did with Trey Lance, where you make sure to sit him unless absolutely necessary, but also get him a few plays here and there to get his feet wet. Then, in year two, if he is not ready that is not a problem. Because, if you wait until he is definitely ready, the payoff will be immense.