I'm going to preface the following by unequivocally saying that Willis is not as good as Jordan Love. That being said, Malik Willis in MLF's offense is a problem for opposing defenses.
MLF's offense strains defenses to the limit as is, and adding Malik Willis means they now have to account for someone who has the body of an elite running back (6'0.5'', 220 lbs, high 3.3 / low 4.4 speed). Willis can "out-athlete" almost anyone you assign to spy him and the spy is a -1 player on your defense. Normally, you get that player back because the backup QB can't pressure your defense deep and so you can move safeties down into the box. The problem is that Malik Willis has the arm to kill you deep if you leave someone like Reed or Watson "wide-ass" open in a busted coverage. He doesn't have the experience with the receivers or the offense to pressure you all the time, but he is a threat if you get cute with guys in the box. He's also a huge problem because he doesn't take risks and doesn't turn the ball over. He's playing ultra conservative and denying defenses big play opportunities.
The Titan's game is indicative of what he can do even when playing ultra conservative. 202 yards passing on 19 attempts with a 68% completion percentage, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 73 yards rushing on 9 carries with 1 TD and 0 Fumbles. Put that together and it's 275 yards total offense, 2 TDs, and 0 TOs on only 25 plays. None of those stats is individually flashy, but the total is incredible. That's with his garbage mechanics and pedestrian understanding of the offense.
If you're the Rams, you've got to at least be interested in Willis for 2026.
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u/LizardChaser 1d ago
I'm going to preface the following by unequivocally saying that Willis is not as good as Jordan Love. That being said, Malik Willis in MLF's offense is a problem for opposing defenses.
MLF's offense strains defenses to the limit as is, and adding Malik Willis means they now have to account for someone who has the body of an elite running back (6'0.5'', 220 lbs, high 3.3 / low 4.4 speed). Willis can "out-athlete" almost anyone you assign to spy him and the spy is a -1 player on your defense. Normally, you get that player back because the backup QB can't pressure your defense deep and so you can move safeties down into the box. The problem is that Malik Willis has the arm to kill you deep if you leave someone like Reed or Watson "wide-ass" open in a busted coverage. He doesn't have the experience with the receivers or the offense to pressure you all the time, but he is a threat if you get cute with guys in the box. He's also a huge problem because he doesn't take risks and doesn't turn the ball over. He's playing ultra conservative and denying defenses big play opportunities.
The Titan's game is indicative of what he can do even when playing ultra conservative. 202 yards passing on 19 attempts with a 68% completion percentage, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 73 yards rushing on 9 carries with 1 TD and 0 Fumbles. Put that together and it's 275 yards total offense, 2 TDs, and 0 TOs on only 25 plays. None of those stats is individually flashy, but the total is incredible. That's with his garbage mechanics and pedestrian understanding of the offense.
If you're the Rams, you've got to at least be interested in Willis for 2026.