MOBILE, Ala. — Malik Willis is far from the most NFL-ready quarterback to come out of college in recent years, but after three days of practice at the Senior Bowl, the Liberty product appears closer to being an NFL starter than people think.
Willis showed off his mighty arm and mobility in practice Tuesday, then had a solid performance on a rain-soaked Wednesday.
He’s earned high marks from Detroit Lions coaches on the American staff, and his personal quarterbacks coach said Willis is “further along” in his development than most realize.
“I think the Liberty thing really is more of a — I think it skews the perception of him the wrong way in that people don’t understand the talent around him and what it’s like to play with lesser talent,” said Sean McAvoy of Quarterback Takeover. “It makes it more difficult than maybe whatever perceived benefit it is to play against lesser competition, if that makes sense.”
Willis had a productive but erratic senior season at Liberty, a school that plays as an Football Bowl Subdivision independent after recently making the transition from the Football Championship Subdivision.
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He threw for 2,857 yards and 27 touchdowns and had another 878 yards rushing and 13 scores, but he completed just 61.1% of his passes and threw 12 interceptions.
As a junior, Willis had nearly 3,200 total yards in 10 games and accounted for 34 touchdowns with six INTs.
“This Senior Bowl week’s going to be so big,” McAvoy said. “They’re going to see how quickly he picks up the offenses, they’re going to see how good he is on the board working through, being able to draw up, understanding defenses and how to kind of adapt and read through his concepts against different defenses. When we talk about, are guys ready? That’s what we’re talking about. Like, are they going to be doing the quote-unquote seeing ghosts thing, or are they going to be ready to adjust and make plays? And I think he’s further along.”
A transfer from Auburn who attempted 14 passes in his two seasons at the school, Willis led Liberty to upsets of Syracuse, Southern Miss and Virginia Tech on consecutive weeks last season to vault himself into first-round pick conversation.
Willis struggled in 2021 late-season showcase games against Ole Miss and Louisiana, when he threw five interceptions and completed 51% of his passes.
McAvoy said Willis’ turnover problems were largely the result of trying to do too much. Liberty did not have another draftable player on its offensive roster this season.
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“He gets tagged with the hero ball mentality,” McAvoy said. “That’s fair. The reality is, when you’re going into Ole Miss and Hugh Freeze is on ‘GameDay’ telling the reporters, ‘Hey, our only chance to win is if Malik Willis goes nuts,’ like, you kind of understand why he thinks he’s got to play hero ball.”
In his work with McAvoy in recent weeks to prepare for the Senior Bowl, Willis focused on footwork, taking snaps from under center and the mental side of the game.
He had multiple Zoom calls with Lions quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell to learn the playbook he would be using this week; Brunell had similar calls with fellow American team quarterbacks Sam Howell of North Carolina and Bailey Zappe of Western Kentucky.
And he showcased both his playmaking ability and mental acuity when he stepped on the field.
Brunell said Wednesday he was especially pleased with one progression Willis made, when he checked down to his fourth option after surveying the field.
“I think he throws a nice ball,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “I think he’s pretty athletic. He’s built better than — from afar you don’t know. That’s why to be able to see these guys up close and he’s a good-looking player, man. He’s built right, looks like he’s built to last.
“Shoot, he handled our playbook pretty dang good (Tuesday). We had a couple run checks in there. Defensively, we had a couple of pressure looks, too, that I thought he handled.”
While none of this year’s quarterback prospects currently projects as a top-five pick, Willis has the best chance to see his stock rise in the coming months because of his dual-threat ability.
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He stands just 6 feet tall, but is built like a running back and has gobs of film shaking off would-be sacks. As a passer, Willis said he still is learning the art of extending plays with his feet, but his legs have proven to be a weapon both in the regular season and against top draft prospects this week.
“I try to take what the defense gives us,” Willis said. “If somebody’s in the backfield with me, I probably shouldn’t stay in the pocket. But if it’s a clean pocket, I can probably stay in the pocket. I try not to have a set thing in my mind where I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going to run this play. OK, I’m going to throw this play from the pocket. OK, I’m going to throw on the run this play.’ I just try to play the game of football.”
A fan of Russell Wilson’s deep passing ability, Matt Ryan’s anticipation and Aaron Rodgers’ mobility, Willis said he has enjoyed his time working with Lions coaches, even if he does not end up in the mix for their No. 2 pick in the draft.
“I’m not even sure that their picks matter,” he said. “Working with them is working with people that are at the next level and that’s what we aspire to be. I feel like it’s just being that sponge and trying to learn from them, wherever we can and take it wherever we go cause at the end of the day, we don’t have a choice.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.