Rookie Scouting Profile: QB Malik Willis

Malik Willis (QB) Liberty

Height	Weight	40-Time	DOB	NFL Draft	Dynasty ADP	NFL Comp
6-0 1/2	219	–	05/25/1999	1	2.02	poor man’s Lamar Jackson

College Production

Originally out of the renowned Westlake program in Austin Texas, Willis attended Roswell High School in Georgia and surpassed 2,500 passing yards, ran for over 1,000 during his senior year, and nabbed Georgia 7A Player of the Year honors, which resulted in a scholarship to Auburn. After attempting just 14 passes in two seasons with the Tigers, Willis was denied a waiver claim and redshirted the 2019 campaign with Liberty. Upon becoming the Flames’ starter in 2020, Willis shined, engineering a 9-1 record and Mortgage CureBowl victory. In his senior season, Willis led Liberty passed for a career-best 2,857 yards, 27-to-12 TD-to-INT ratio, ran for 878 yards and 13 TDs, and was named the LendingTree Bowl MVP after leading the Flames to an 8-5 mark and bowl win over Eastern Michigan.

Strengths

• Elite athleticism and rushing ability. Has the potential to be an immediate impact dual-threat option whose scrambling ability will keep opposing defenders in check and turn broken plays into big gainers.

• Powerful throwing arm is able to challenge safeties deep and force the ball into tight windows.

• Escapability and raw speed will make him monster yards after contact runner. Also has the strength to break tackles and run through defenders as a short-yardage rushing threat.

• Made good pre-snap reads on beating blitzers and on RPO snaps.

• Interviewed well in Indianapolis and is considered mature with strong leadership qualities on and off the field. Poised.

• Consistently made big plays and put team on his back. Was able to get the most out of a lesser supporting group. Seemed to make at least one “wow” throw in every game.

Weaknesses

• May not be ready to play immediately. Willis has issues with reads and mechanics and could benefit from a redshirt rookie season.

• Will need to be drafted by a team willing to revamp their entire scheme to fit his strengths, rather than trying to fit Willis into a pro-style offense.

• Took too many sacks and turned the ball over unnecessarily by looking downfield instead of checking down through progressions.

• Mechanics need work and cause issues with accuracy and footwork.

• Doesn’t have much experience against elite-level opponents.

Fantasy Outlook

When you look at comparisons to Willis, you get many of today’s top rushing QB threats- Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, and Jordan Love. But there is a little bit of that gunslinger mentality that could make Willis a potential top-5 fantasy producer when he is ready to take over. That, of course, is the big concern…can Willis start right away or when he need a year of clipboard holding behind a veteran in 2022? That uncertainty is baked into his ADP, as Willis is widely considered the top fantasy signal-caller of this draft. But that elite rushing ability makes Willis a solid bet to go top-3 overall in Superflex leagues.