Why did we pass on Malik Willis?

We have about 5 guys under contract in the XFL:

https://www.xfl.com/news/xfl-player-tracker

 

It was 49-26. I remember vividly! Living in San Diego, whenever the Charger fan gets cocky and brings up the AFCCG, I just look at him and say, "49-26"!

 

Oh wow I remembered it like 50s to 10. Must have been a Niners Broncos SB

 

Or just bring up the 2008 divisional round.

 

Wow, I never knew (why would I?) that 8 Chargers from that game were deceased.

"Junior Seau 43, died in May 2012 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Lew Bush, 42, died in December 2011, of an apparent heart attack. Rodney Culver, 26, died May 1996, in the ValuJet crash. Shawn Lee, 44, died February 2011, of a heart attack. Chris Mims, 38, died October 2008, of an enlarged heart. The others, not shown, Curtis Whitley, 39, May 2008, drug overdose; Doug Miller, 28, July 1998, lightning strike and David Griggs, 28, July 1995, automobile accident."

I copied this from some sports article. Besides Junior, the only other ones I remembered were Culver in that Valu-Jet crash and Chris Mims. All of these guys were so young, it's sad.

 

He's waiting until the next Steelers loss, so he can fill up the front page with negative threads .

 

Question is did any of them start the 1st year back from NFL Europe.
I mean play a whole season there, and then play starting a whole season that year in the NFL......because I agree with @Vox Ferrum.....that is way hard on the body.

 

I really don't recall. Tommy Maddox started with the Steelers after playing in the XFL. He may of had a year break, I don't know. I do see Carson Strong is heading to the XFL as well.

 

I've read your replies and that is a great list. I think QBs especially can grow in that kind of environment. For starters it's probably the hardest position to master, one can also get a longer career..even as a back up. Geno Smith is the most recent example..who would have thought it lol. I think to with the training camps getting shorter there are quality guys from smaller schools that benefit from this kind of experience. Like I said not against it, but a hard path indeed. I heard one former GM say he could tell in a few days of he missed on a high draft pick. Seeing how 25 to 40 per cent of the league are low round or undrafted its not surprising that some slip through the gaps.

 

Wait till you get to be my age and see how that memory thing works for you

 

When I look at the league in general, I see maybe 12 legit quarterbacks. Then the next tier are adequate game manager types. I do agree that asking someone to start 17 NFL games and then 12 XFL/USFL games and then 17 more NFL games would be a bit much. But in reality, a Malik Willis would play in maybe 4 full NFL games this season, then 12 XFL games and maybe another 4 next fall. That's about 20 games, which is less than a full NFL season SB team. A Malik Willis probably needs two years of spring ball to really maturase as a QB, if he ever does. He has the tools, and less practices in the spring & summer and condensed camp is really hurting the maturation process of players, especially at the QB position. And it doesn't help when teams really don't have the patience to develop players. Look no further than Kenny Pickett; the extra year of college due to Covid really gave him one more year to develop, as opposed to riding the bench or practice squad in 2021. I think all QB's these days need to play 4 years of college and perhaps a year or two of the XFL/USFL before taking off the training wheels in the NFL, or we're just going to continue to see a plethora of busts.

 

Interesting perspective. A “minor league” for the NFL could indeed be helpful to some of these players who need more time to develop like Willis. It’s hard to develop running the scout team and you don’t want to throw them to the wolves if they’re nowhere near ready.

 

Still no benny

 

I think many of the Chargers fans bailed when the team moved to LA. It's now the new fans thinking Superbowl team with Justin Herbert.

 

The old AFL was thought a weak league before the merger. Not saying these other leagues are close to the talent in the AFL, but the AFL gave a lot a players a chance to play football and get better in it.

 

Thanks to Spanos, fans were jumping off that bandwagon for years before the move. New fans will be just as disappointed with that "team" as long as current ownership is in place.

 

I think the biggest downfall to the current set up is that a team couldn't send a guy like Malik Willis, Trevor Lawrence or Kenny Pickett to the XFL or AFL is they had an agreement and really wanted to do as much. Those unaffiliated teams run their own types of offense and it's probably far too much to ask for QB's to not only know their NFL system, but a system ran by Hines Ward, Bob Stoops or June Jones, and then come back and not forget the NFL team's offense. In a true D League type of format, I think it would be best for each team to have a D league team and have one of the current coaches of the NFL team run the very same system that the NFL team runs for the D League. Keep the vernacular and everything the same. This probably gives NFL teams easier scouting of new systems before you have your normal season though; however, with everything there's pros and cons. Where to find 32 markets for a D league remains to be seen. I'd prefer it to be more of an international flavor myself. That way you can grow the league abroad and have an inside track to international players. But are there 32 worthwhile markets abroad for this? Who knows. There are probably 16-20 European markets that are worthwhile, which really isn't enough.

 

Why would we want to export an american product to international places when our US/cities citizens need jobs?

 

To expand the audience esp considering there isn't much of an audience for spring leagues here in the US or leagues wouldn't consistently fall apart. There was 3m people that tried to get tickets for the Bucs/Seahawks game. NFL wants to see football played in the Olympics someday. I mean, it's pretty for the same reason why regular season games are played overseas.

 

Money
It's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star, daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team

- PF

 

You and Dar went to that game if i'm not mistaken. Brought the win home!

The next week I went to the AFC Championship game and brought the win home!

Good times!

 

Yes sir. Weren't even to our seats yet when Rivers threw that long touchdown pass at the start of the game.

 

Great tune, and cool riff in that song.

 

This is a big struggle for Willis to have 100 passing yards in a game....

No game of over 100 passing yards in 3 starts so far

Malik Willis Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

I’ll say it again, I like Willis, he seems like a great kid. He played college ball at my son’s alma mater so I’m wishing him success. But I really see a running back with a strong arm and not much more when I watch him play. I hope he has success, but we certainly took the right quarterback in the first round.