We've talked some about how Liberty quarterback Malik Willis will need some grooming by the team that drafts him, and there's a lot of evidence to back that up. It's a big jump to the NFL (he'll be the first Liberty passer ever selected), and Willis himself is pretty rough around the edges.
Willis was nearly as likely to run the ball (366 attempts) as complete a pass (388 completions, on 618 attempts) as a college starter. He tended to throw interceptions in bunches -- 18 in his 23 starts, including 3 interceptions on four different occasions. And he took an awful lot of sacks.
Last season, Willis took 51 sacks, more than any college quarterback. It looks even worse when you look at sacks per pass attempt, since he attempted 150-200 fewer passes than some of the other top prospects. He wound up taking a sack once per every 7 attempts, which is dramatically worse than most of the other quarterbacks talked about as 1st- or perhaps 2nd-round picks in the draft.
Table shows the 50 most sacked college quarterbacks last year, sorted by sacks per attempt. Willis was sacked twice as frequently as most of the other perceived top quarterbacks, listed in bold.
MOST SACKED COLLEGE QUARTERBACKS, 2021 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Com | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Sack | Sack/Att |
DJ Irons | 78 | 120 | 892 | 8 | 4 | 29 | 4.1 |
Malik Willis | 207 | 339 | 2857 | 27 | 12 | 51 | 6.6 |
Chandler Rogers | 112 | 179 | 1311 | 9 | 3 | 25 | 7.2 |
Sam Howell | 217 | 347 | 3056 | 24 | 9 | 48 | 7.2 |
Dylan Hopkins | 155 | 235 | 2274 | 18 | 7 | 31 | 7.6 |
Jordan Travis | 122 | 194 | 1539 | 15 | 6 | 25 | 7.8 |
Brendon Lewis | 149 | 257 | 1540 | 10 | 3 | 31 | 8.3 |
Hendon Hooker | 206 | 302 | 2945 | 31 | 3 | 36 | 8.4 |
Garrett Shrader | 123 | 234 | 1445 | 9 | 4 | 27 | 8.7 |
Max Bortenschlager | 178 | 342 | 2935 | 19 | 12 | 39 | 8.8 |
Cameron Friel | 141 | 226 | 1608 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 9.0 |
Dustin Crum | 245 | 382 | 3238 | 20 | 6 | 38 | 10.1 |
Matt McDonald | 236 | 393 | 2555 | 12 | 7 | 39 | 10.1 |
Ben Bryant | 279 | 408 | 3121 | 14 | 7 | 40 | 10.2 |
Braxton Burmeister | 142 | 255 | 1960 | 14 | 4 | 25 | 10.2 |
Dequan Finn | 144 | 250 | 2067 | 18 | 2 | 24 | 10.4 |
KJ Jefferson | 198 | 294 | 2676 | 21 | 4 | 27 | 10.9 |
Max Johnson | 225 | 373 | 2815 | 27 | 6 | 33 | 11.3 |
Adrian Martinez | 189 | 306 | 2863 | 14 | 10 | 27 | 11.3 |
Holton Ahlers | 256 | 414 | 3126 | 18 | 10 | 36 | 11.5 |
Jonah Johnson | 257 | 438 | 2705 | 10 | 8 | 38 | 11.5 |
Jayden Daniels | 197 | 301 | 2380 | 10 | 10 | 26 | 11.6 |
Clayton Tune | 287 | 421 | 3546 | 30 | 10 | 36 | 11.7 |
Michael Pratt | 189 | 328 | 2381 | 21 | 8 | 28 | 11.7 |
Layne Hatcher | 201 | 341 | 2423 | 19 | 13 | 29 | 11.8 |
N'Kosi Perry | 210 | 345 | 2771 | 20 | 7 | 29 | 11.9 |
Jarret Doege | 272 | 417 | 3048 | 19 | 12 | 35 | 11.9 |
Spencer Petras | 165 | 288 | 1880 | 10 | 9 | 24 | 12.0 |
Jack Coan | 253 | 385 | 3150 | 25 | 7 | 32 | 12.0 |
Kaleb Eleby | 230 | 362 | 3277 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 12.5 |
Chevan Cordeiro | 195 | 353 | 2793 | 17 | 11 | 28 | 12.6 |
Tanner McKee | 206 | 315 | 2327 | 15 | 7 | 24 | 13.1 |
Bryce Young | 366 | 547 | 4872 | 47 | 7 | 39 | 14.0 |
Todd Centeio | 229 | 380 | 2958 | 15 | 10 | 27 | 14.1 |
Carson Strong | 367 | 524 | 4186 | 36 | 8 | 37 | 14.2 |
Sean Clifford | 261 | 428 | 3107 | 21 | 8 | 30 | 14.3 |
Sam Hartman | 299 | 508 | 4228 | 39 | 14 | 35 | 14.5 |
Desmond Ridder | 251 | 387 | 3334 | 30 | 8 | 26 | 14.9 |
Levi Lewis | 236 | 391 | 2917 | 20 | 4 | 26 | 15.0 |
Matt Corral | 262 | 386 | 3349 | 20 | 5 | 25 | 15.4 |
Brennan Armstrong | 326 | 500 | 4449 | 31 | 10 | 31 | 16.1 |
Davis Brin | 243 | 410 | 3254 | 18 | 16 | 25 | 16.4 |
Hank Bachmeier | 252 | 401 | 3079 | 20 | 8 | 24 | 16.7 |
Anthony Brown | 250 | 390 | 2989 | 18 | 7 | 23 | 17.0 |
Drew Plitt | 248 | 411 | 2541 | 18 | 6 | 24 | 17.1 |
Kenny Pickett | 334 | 497 | 4319 | 42 | 7 | 29 | 17.1 |
Devin Leary | 283 | 431 | 3433 | 35 | 5 | 25 | 17.2 |
Taulia Tagovailoa | 328 | 474 | 3860 | 26 | 11 | 25 | 19.0 |
Will Rogers | 505 | 683 | 4739 | 36 | 9 | 34 | 20.1 |
Jake Haener | 329 | 490 | 4096 | 33 | 9 | 23 | 21.3 |
My intent is not to trash Willis. He's got an NFL arm, and he'll heave up some 60-yard passes and complete some of them. He wasn't surrounded by the kind of top talent as the other top prospects; not playing behind an elite line or anything. With his running, he could be a fantasy star; if he gets in the lineup, he might look a lot like rookie year Lamar Jackson, who while starting 7 games his first season ran for 695 yards and 5 TDs while passing for 1201 and 6. We're playing fantasy football here, and Willis taking 3 sacks per game won't take away from that potential.
But I hope he's selected by Pittsburgh, or Atlanta, or New Orleans -- some team and coaching staff that has the luxury and time to keep him in a backup role this season. I worry that Carolina, with its decision makers hanging by a thread, will feel pressure to get him on the field too quickly. If that happens, fire up the opposing defenses for streaming purposes in fantasy leagues.
--Andy Richardson