Malik Willis Summer Scouting Report

Next up on our summer scouting series War Room Scouting takes a look at Liberty quarterback Malik Willis.

Background

The path to becoming a starting quarterback may not always be a predictable or easy one, in the case of Malik Willis all it took was some patience.

Coming out of high school Malik Willis would sign his letter of intent to play for the University of Auburn, however Willis was labeled as an “athlete” in 247 Sports Recruiting Rankings and would be given a grade of 0.8857 (3 Star). While he was labeled as a quarterback by the Auburn football staff he would have to face a highly touted community college quarterback in his 2017 recruiting class. The quarterback in that class was Jarrett Stidham, he would become a 2 year starter at Auburn and would eventually become a 4th round draft pick by the New England Patriots in the 2019 NFL Draft. For Willis however, he would be Stidham’s backup through the 2017 and 2018 season, in the two year span of being Stidham’s backup Willis would periodically come in near the end of games or as a change of pace quarterback. With the departure of Stidham in the 2019 offseason Willis hoped to take the starting job after waiting his turn but another obstacle faced him.

Willis would have to compete with a fresh new decorated 5 star quarterback in Bo Nix and would find himself at the back end of the depth chart once again as the spring portion of the 2019 offseason came to a close. He would have to find a new home as the Auburn staff would fully commit to Nix and Willis decided to enter the transfer portal on May 16th, 2019. During his two year stay at Auburn Willis amassed for a total of 69 yards passing along with a touchdown and 309 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Liberty University would give Willis the best opportunity to maximize his talents and he would decide to transfer to play for the Flames in the summer of 2019.

While Willis was ready to showcase his talents to head coach Hugh Freeze and the Liberty football program he would have to completely sit out of the 2019 season due to transfer rules enforced by the NCAA.

Patience would eventually pay off for Willis as the 2020 season would be his first year as a full time starter. Willis would show the college football world what he truly had to offer as he would start 10 games (missing one due to injury) ending the season with 2,260 passing yards, 64.2 completion percentage, 20 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and would rush for 944 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground. He would lead the Flames to a 10-1 record which earned them in a place in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl in which they would beat an ascending Coastal Carolina 37-34. His breakout 2020 performance would earn him All American honors.

Entering 2021 Willis will look to build upon his 2020 breakout campaign with the Flames as him and his team will now be put on the national spotlight.

Positives

Arm Strength

What immediately jumps out when watching Malik Willis is the explosive arm talent that he possesses to hit all three levels of the field on a line. When releasing the ball Willis generates substantial power through his upper body which allows for a noticeable pace and juice put on the football to quickly hit receivers at an efficient basis. In the short passing game, he shows good timing as a thrower to hit receivers out of their breaks on routes such as quick outs, slants, and dig routes. Even against tight man coverage the substantial velocity that is generated in his passes helps him fit balls into the tightest of windows. Because of Willis’ arm talent he can make both near and cross hash throws without losing pace on his passes making quick passing concepts easy to operate for Willis. The medium and deep levels of the field is where Willis shows off the immense arm that he possesses. On plays that attack the second level / back end of the defense Willis shows a quick but effective throwing motion to properly hit his receivers on a line especially in between the numbers where windows are very condensed. Deep passes outside of the numbers are not a problem for Willis as he possesses good anticipation and strength to hit vertical routes such corners and posts with a fast and firm trajectory.

Creativity out of structure

While Willis has effective arm talent to threaten defenses from the pocket he also thrives when plays begin to break down. In instances where a pocket collapse is imminent Willis has the quickness to evade defenders and the awareness to keep his eyes downfield even with pressure mounting in his direction. While out of the pocket he has a knack to find and hit receivers on the run resulting in substantial and meaningful offensive production. As the 2020 season continued to progress, he became more effective making plays out of structure which kept defenses unbalanced and the Liberty offense benefited from it. An example of this progress was shown against a 38 – 35 win against Virginia Tech as Willis would make a dynamic play that set the tone of the game. Below is an example of his explosiveness out of structure.

Explosiveness as a runner

With explosive arm talent to threaten defenses through the air Willis also has supreme running ability to threaten defenses on the ground. As a runner Willis is very sudden and quick to get to top speed when committing as a ball carrier either on both designed quarterback runs or improvised scrambling attempts out of the pocket. In the open field Willis possesses unique agility for the position as he puts second level defenders such as linebackers in a bind with creative lateral jukes and sudden jump cuts to avoid arm tackles. While Willis displays good elusiveness as a runner, he also carries a brand of toughness behind his runs. Possessing good contact balance as a ball carrier Willis rarely goes down on a first hit and can power through second level defenders to fight for extra yardage. Blending both agility and power in his running style Willis is a noticeable threat when he decides to take off with the ball.

Negatives

Overreliance on big play hunting

While Willis has the arm talent and mentality to challenge the back end of defenses his tendency to look for big plays can come at a fault. Throughout the course of many games Willis has a bad habit of looking for a big play downfield and holding onto the ball rather than settling for a safe outlet underneath. Because of this Willis has ran into sacks and has fumbled the ball frequently giving it back to the defense. As a passer he will need to learn to get the ball out at a quicker rate and be patient in the process of looking for an explosive play.

Lack of touch as a passer

While Willis does have supreme arm talent to strike all three levels at an effective pace he has not honed in the nuance at which the ball should be delivered. As a passer Willis’ frequent tempo at which he releases passes is a fastball-like attitude with many times the trajectory of the ball being flat and on a line. However, this approach has hurt Willis with certain passes as he does not have the required touch in his game to layer the ball in between cornerbacks and safeties. Because of this, safeties that lurk on the back – end of a defense have an easy time intercepting his overthrown balls. As Willis continues to refine his skillset as a passer, he will need to learn the importance of taking some power off his throws in order to generate more touch in order to avoid easy pass deflections and interceptions by lurking defenders.

Games Watched

vs Virginia Tech (2020), vs N.C. State (2020), vs UL Monroe (2020)

Scheme Fit

A spread offense that utilizes both his arm talent and running ability.

Grade

1.1 (Top 10 Player)

Final Summary

Malik Willis is a quarterback that has tremendous upside for the position. Paired with immense arm talent and an explosive running style he has a blend of talent many quarterbacks do not covet. However, with this immense talent comes aspects of his game that need to be refined such as his propensity to hold onto the ball and the lack of touch he places onto passes. If Willis can fine tune the noticeable errors in his play, he has the special traits that NFL teams are looking for in a dual threat quarterback at the next level. If the 2021 season proves to be a positive year for Willis, he has all the traits and play to warrant him being the first quarterback taken off the board in next year’s draft.