Steelers Showing Early Interest in Liberty QB Malik Willis

howell, corral, ridder all have shown more in college the willis. why are they so enamored over willis?

 

why didn't it show up in his stats? it did with the others. potential wins you nothing. many a bust had potential. is this the best place for a staff to have to bring that out? they haven't shown it yet.

 

It is debatable though, as I don't think that Willis is immensely talented. I walked away from his tape wholly unimpressed. If Lamar Jackson wasn't the sensation that he is, Willis isn't in the first round discussion at all. He would be late round flier material. But for some reason people think this kid can be a Lamar Jackson clone despite showing a fraction of the God-given ability that Jackson showed in college. I'm sure I'm beating a dead horse on this discussion with you lol but I think we couldn't disagree more on a particular topic (and I usually tend to agree with many of your football related opinions).

It works both ways, right? Who did Willis play against? Horrible teams filled with guys that aren't going to be NFL players in any capacity. We've seen guys play against that competition throw for 4500-5000 yards and never amount to anything. Why does Willis' 2,800 yards passing intrigue you? Does his 800 yards on 4.5 ypc intrigue you? It certainly doesn't do it for me. How do we expect him to go from looking just OK against a bunch of scrubs to being a star playing against NFL defenses? Lamar Jackson was about 80 yards passing alone from equaling Willis' total offensive output in their respective final seasons in college, except Jackson added 1600 yards rushing on 6.9 ypc to top it off (against much better competition). If Willis was any good he would've put up video game numbers against the terrible teams he played against. Instead he looked just "meh". Jackson "popped" off the tape. Willis really doesn't.

He's a mediocre passer with some upside in that area and a mediocre runner with little upside in that area. His most intriguing ability being that he seems to have an excellent arm. If you can find a way to coach his horrific mechanics, his complete absence of pocket presence, and ability to read a defense, he might have the upside to be a solid passer in the NFL. The arm talent is at least there, and he seems to be able to hit throws while on the move, which is a vey good thing. He has a LOT to work on, but he does have some talent in that area. His rushing ability is an afterthought, as I do not think he will be an explosive or feared runner in the NFL.

 

Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

 

he also didn't play top competition where he was so it kind of equals out doesn't it? completion precentage, yards passing those things make a difference. i see a runner, thats what jumps off the screen to me.

 

Best case scenario is he ends up as a supercharged Russell Wilson should all go well. Worst case scenario for him is Tyrod Taylor. Any team drafting Malik Willis better have a plan in place for him as sending him to fight the supposed good fight will quickly derail his career. I have been on this since the beginning of the 2021 CFB; Malik Willis is truly the biggest boom/bust prospect in the class.... and that is saying quite a bit since I also do not believe the likes of Evan Neal and Derek Stingley Jr are as some claim them to be overall. Dude needs some serious refinement for certain as his overall lack of fundamentals and basics are all over the place .....



... That said, the immeasurable talent and limitless potential Willis possess... is simply too immense to ignore. As the classic saying goes "that is what you pay your coaches for." Now, if Mike Sullivan is going to be the team's QB Coach for the long haul in all of this... Malik Willis is worth pushing those proverbial chips to the middle of the table in my opinion. However, none of this is going to be relevant anyhow if the Steelers do not find the right trading partner to move up to acquire him. Unless the Washington Commanders, Denver Broncos or Carolina Panthers can facilitate trades to acquire QBs like Derek Carr, Russell Wilson among others... going to be quite the climb to nab him. Leap frogging the Commanders (dumb name by the way) will be the bare minimum.

 

If the Steelers give up much needed draft capital to move up to draft Willis or any other quarterback for that matter, this fan is not going to be a happy camper on draft night. No QB in this draft is worth trading up for.

 

Unfortunately... that is likely the Steelers main objective at this point as the team has their sights zeroed in on Malik Willis. That however, still does not matter. Priority number one is to find a suitable trading partner... and I doubt that Denver will be charitable again to entertain the idea.

 

I think Willis' arm talent is superior to Manuels... though EJ was initially my first choice. I just believe that there is simply too much talent for him to be graded so low. Tyrod Taylor is a more appropriate worst case.

 

Agreed... though that is the worst case scenario of course. For the best case scenario... time to see what Mike and Matt can really do. Up to them; Tomlin, AR 2 and the entire FO included. Again though, nothing set in stone regarding him.

 

Oh Geez!!!!!No!!!
I rather watch Mason play than that.
Matter of fact I'm not sure any of these Guys are a better Qb than Mason. I'm not saying they aren't more talented, but talent is only about 25% of playing Qb IMO. Maybe less. Well physical talent I mean.

 

Man I hope not. I know you like Willis a lot but I just don't see it. I think he has the potential to bust big time. I'm just really leery of these small college QBs. Yes there have been some that have made it but the odds are really low. They don't get the top flight coaching that most get at big time programs. If we do this it almost seems that he has to start right out of the gate.