Miami Dolphins Fans: Malik Willis Early Season Takes
I suspect it would have been better to post this before Willis had his best games of the season, or maybe it would have been a question better asked after Sunday’s game. Either way, I asked the following question after our Miami Dolphins had played five games:
What are your thoughts on Malik Willis’s performance so far, and how should the team handle his future? Do you believe he still has the potential to develop into a long-term starter, or has the experiment run its course, signaling that the team must prioritize finding a new quarterback next season?
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Below are some of your thoughts and answers-
dolfan2352 wanted to see Malik pull back on so many deep throws and to scramble for yards when needed/it’s there to take. I feel like he did both this past Sunday; let’s hope to see more of that going forward.
I think he needs to stop going for the big yardage and go for the recievers that get open. Some of his shortcomings are the fault of the plays being called and some fall on missed catches. Some plays he could run from my views and his running skills could easily make first downs or score. He needs help and he needs to play better. all that being said if a quality qb is available in the draft they need to take him.
surfla8 is another who wanted to see him focus on taking what the defense gives him instead of taking long-shot deep shots.
Sometimes an outstanding receiving corps and a great OL make an average QB seem good.
Other times an outstanding QB makes an average receiving group seem above average.
And yet other times, an outstanding OL and a great running game make a poor QB seem serviceable.
This is none of those times.
I really had hopes Malik could be good. Not great, just good. But right now the pieces around him aren’t elevating him to serviceable level and his processing seems kinda slow. On the upside, he’s athletic and it could be worse – he could be out with a concussion.
I would like to see what he can do with short passes between the numbers, in combination with doubling down on the running game. Don’t know why Slowik is calling long bombs down the field when it doesn’t seem like that is Willis’ forte (or the rookie receivers strength for that matter).
Hey, at least we’re not seeing those awful bubble screens behind the LOS this year.
Phins1972 didn’t believe he was the answer from the beginning.
What are your thoughts on Malik Willis’s performance so far?
Not even close to what Sullivan and Hafley promised. His 68.4 passer rating is the lowest among quarterbacks with at least four starts this season. The inexperience of his receivers is a factor, but it only explains part of the problem. The bigger issue has been Willis’s painfully slow processing and decision-making, both of which have been consistently poor. His accuracy has been equally concerning.
How should the team handle his future?
In the immediate future, they have little choice but to continue starting him. Beyond this season, however, Miami must make finding a new starting quarterback a top priority, whether through the draft or free agency. You simply cannot expect to compete after enduring this level of quarterback play for two consecutive years.
Do you believe he still has the potential to develop into a long-term starter, or has the experiment run its course, signaling that the team must prioritize finding a new quarterback next season?
I’ve never believed Willis was likely to become a long-term NFL starter, so my answer is no. At this point, the experiment has run its course. Acquiring a new starting quarterback for next season isn’t just advisable, it’s absolutely essential. You can’t expect the fan base to tolerate this kind of QB play for two years in a row.
FFFL66IBA&O lays out an entire game plan to get Willis on the right track.
What is holding back Miami Dolphin’s Quarterback Malik Willis from playing good, sound, solid football through 5 games this year? What should the Coaches do to speed up his processing skills and overall play?
Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis has struggled through five games due to poor footwork, holding the ball too long (averaging 2.93 seconds), a high rate of deep-ball reliance despite a 14.3% deep-pass success rate, and erratic decision-making that has yielded just 849 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.
What is Holding Malik Willis Back
Inconsistent Footwork: He frequently narrows his throwing stance and throws off his back foot, which destroys his passing accuracy (a league-worst 58.5% on-target rate).
Delayed Processing & Hesitation: He holds the ball for an average of 2.93 seconds, bailing out of clean pockets instead of stepping up, and missing open short-to-intermediate targets.
Over-Reliance on Low-Percentage Deep Throws: Over 21% of his passes are deep attempts (20+ yards), yet he connects on only 20% of them, ignoring open checkdowns.
Ball Security Issues: He has already accounted for multiple interceptions and four fumbles under heavy pressure (sacked 11 times, hit 39 times).
Underutilized Mobility: Rather than using his dynamic running threat to open up the defense or create easy lanes, he has been hesitant to tuck and run effectively.
What the Coaches Should Do to Speed Up His Processing
Design Quick, Rhythm-Based Passing: Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik needs to dial up more slants, hitches, and drag routes to get the ball out of Willis’s hands in under two seconds.
Establish Defined, Simplified Reads: Simplify the progression tree so Willis knows his primary target immediately rather than scanning the field and second-guessing.
Fix Basic Footwork & Pocket Mechanics: Enforce daily drill work to fix his base, encouraging him to step up into the pocket rather than drifting wide into pass-rusher paths.
Integrate Designed Movement and RPO/Run-First Concepts: Lean into a run-first identity and utilize bootlegs, play-action passes, and designed outside-the-pocket rollouts that match his athletic strengths.
Prioritize High-Percentage Throws: Force a discipline shift toward taking checkdowns to playmakers like Chris Bell and Malik Washington rather than forcing low-percentage deep shots.
JUK believes his body of work needs context when discussing his play thus far.
Overall his performance has been below what is needed, but the lack of context and rush to judgement are both way over the top.
With Douglas and Achane out it’s a truly horrific set of pass catchers to throw to. Malik Washington is a passable #3 being asked to play as a #1 and no one else is even below average. There is zero pass catching pedigree from the RBs, Dulcich has been a huge disappointment and Belland Coleman are not ready.
Slowik’s play calling is questionable at best.
Austin Jackson has been a revolving door which has blown up our drop back passing game in 3 of the 5 contests
Despite all the above he actually played well against the best defense in the league and would have won that game if the rookie receivers could stay in bounds and avoid drops
On that point, a lot is made of his TDs vs turnover numbers. He has unquestionably made some bad decisions, but he’s also had 2 TDs chalked off by mental errors by Chris bell. For his fumble against Minnesota Jackson lost so catastrophically he was hit as he threw after a 3 step drop – there is nothing any QB can do about that. For his second INT against Cincy Washington runs a terrible route to bring the defender into the path of the ball (yes he should still see him but he doesn’t get a chance to throw that int with proper WR play)
James says he hasn’t used his mobility as expected – he’s 4th in the league in rushing yards for QBs and 2 of the guys above him have played a game more!
5 games is just not a big enough sample to decide anything
I don’t think any if the above is really even debatable. If you think time in the league is more important than actually playing QB in games there’s no point debating it, I will never agree.
None of this means I’m happy with Willis or that he is the future. Cincy was his worst game too. But as for what should we do, the answer is exactly the same as it was at the start. Play the season then decide what to do. If Willis had been amazing through 5 weeks that would also be the correct answer
Gllmiaspr says to give Willis the full season and then decide what we have in him. Fair!
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Thoughts? Work in progress, too early to tell how much is due to problems in supporting cast and different OC.
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What should the team do? a) Look at GB tape and see why this is different. Based on what I saw too many long passes, too few easy completions.
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Should the team prioritize finding a QB next season? Always but not necessarily on day one. Let’s see what Willis does in the next 12 games.
Phoenix6 says it’s not decided yet!
What are your thoughts on Malik Willis’s performance so far.
Abysmal
How should the team handle his future?
No choice but to keep him for now.
Do you believe he still has the potential to develop into a long-term starter,
He plays scared. Maybe doesn’t want to get hurt… has millions to spend. Maybe he doesn’t know how to take the offense on his shoulders to win.
or has the experiment run its course, signaling that the team must prioritize finding a new quarterback next season?
The experiment has not finished, rather his evaluation. Only 5 games. Nor has the evaluation of couches at this point. All talk of any moves in regards to this area(s) must wait until two months after the last game. That’s when final grades are given. Then we’ll all know what direction Sully & Haf take.
go_canes knows that sometimes it takes a while for a QB to develop at this level.
Too early to say I think. Darnold, Mayfield, Daniel Jones, probably a couple others I’m forgetting. They took a while to develop and those guys got a lot more starts than Malik due to being 1st rounders. In better situations too.
Bill Moody has no more F’s left to give.
Willis doesn’t look good, but like Jimmy Crackin’ Corn… I don’t care.
StanleyDoyle1 says he’s got at least one more Jets game in him, and then who knows?
Standing by my preseason prediction that he’ll start until after the second Jets game.
coluccim points to a lot of questionable things that were happening.
He’s been bad
It looks like he understands the plays, but is slow in processing what he sees.
The line play and WR are questionable (this is a generous eval)
The play calling is questionable (this is a generous eval)
The TE situation is questionable (this is a generous eval)
The talent is there at times, he is rated one of the worst for on-target throws. But, I see 2-3 passes a game that are uncannily accurate in the mid-range. So, I’m not sure what to make of that stat
BlueRed_AquaOrange saw the flashes and hoped he could use the bye week to work on the shortcomings in his game.
Man, everyone on here is correct in some capacity, or all the way there. The biggest thing for me is confidence in abilities, which we’ve seen in flashes, and trust in his teammates, which comes in time. Hoping the bye week was enough time to reflect on the last five weeks, make some adjustments, key in on the his weakest aspects. Can’t try to fix everything in such a short window. That kinda goes for the whole team though at this point. Keep chopping wood!
Well, it seems the take was either that Malik wasn’t the right guy or that he had shown flashes and just needed to put it all together consistently before this season ends. I wonder how many of you who commented on the original thread now have a slightly different take on Willis after what we saw from him this past Sunday. My thoughts are that it’s better; now show me that you can do that week in and week out without games where you look overmatched. As always, thank you to each of you who took the time to answer our Phinsider Question Of The Day.
