Film Study: What will Malik Willis bring to the Green Bay Packers? | Preseason Breakdown

all right let's talk about Malik Willis now of the Green Bay Packers if you didn't hear Malik Willis of course was a quarterback who was very hyped up coming out of the draft some mock drafts had him going as high as number two overall that didn't quite happen he fell all the way to round three when the Titans selected him hasn't really quite worked out there and they've eventually traded him for a seventh round pick to the Green Bay Packers who are going to make him the backup which I do find interesting so I figured let's go back let's watch the film and talk about why are the Packers doing this why did they trade for him and why do they feel like he could be a backup what did they learn from the uh preseason that they like and also maybe what did the Titans see that they didn't like well let's get into it starting off with the play you see on your screen it's going to be a man coverage play and you see the concept where it's going to be you have a receiver running a deep route and another receiver running uh more of a route going towards the outside that's the one that uh Malik Willis is going to look towards on this third down and eight so Willis takes the snap he does look in that direction and he's going to fire in that direction it's not a super open play but there definitely is a window you can see why Willis likes this one however this time it's just it's just a bit off and that's something that you you just kind of have to live with with Willis not to say that accuracy is a big issue I don't know if I would say that but I just think that in general you're going to get some downplays he's not the most consistent player and I think that's probably part of why he hasn't worked out at the NFL level but you do get some really positive plays when you see him play like some like this is an example where it's going to be a rushing play because that's a big part of his game is his legs and so I do wonder if he has to come into a game do they go with more quarterback design runs like what you see on the screen The Edge rusher is going to be unblocked the one who have circled in Black right here the hope is that he kind of goes for the halfback and then1 Willis takes it himself he can get around him so that's how this play begins and you see it's it's working pretty well actually I mean the edge rusher definitely did kind of get fooled a little bit and for Willis he can try and get by him how how long can he try and get by him well for your average Quarterback you kind of assume it's just for however long this play goes on that's something you're going to have to pay attention to but watch how really Willis just explodes here with the ball in his hand and picks up a ton of yards I mean the the mobility that has is a real thing it's legit and it definitely it can uh can wow you at times it certainly can like even in lesser ways like something like this you know that last one was kind of a highlight reel type play this one not so much but it still just goes to show how having someone like Malik Willis just what the benefit that brings to your team it's going to be a designed run towards the quarterback's left that's the way to play is assign to work you see the blocking concept on the screen a tight end's going to flash over and kind of be a lead blocker here and so when Willis fakes the handoff runs towards his left you can definitely see this is well blocked by Tennessee for sure right because of that Willis is able to pick up as many yards as possible before kind of getting pushed out of bounds there towards the end this is a good job by uh Malik Willis in my opinion to be able to pick up that many yards you can definitely say like well this wasn't that difficult it was well blocked but again you have to always keep in mind with this stuff when you have someone like a Malik Willis uh you it's easier to block cuz you get an extra blocker you're not wasting a player just handing the ball off you can now use that player to run at the football meaning the guy who was usually getting the ball is now blocking or creating a diversion like what happened on this one and going over here I mean Willis really can make some impressive throws he really can something like this it's a Zone coverage play it's going to turn into a one-on-one matchup with the route you see towards the bottom of the screen watch how when Willis takes the snap he does run a play action he looks in that direction he fires in that direction and right here is there a big window absolutely not this is a small window really but I mean and it's far down the field I mean this is something you're not really expecting him to be able to hit on but watch that perfectly accurate throw that far down the field I mean again his highlights are really impressive and well yes he will give you some negative plays I mean again uh I do I just it's a thought I have of you do kind of have to make the comparison with him and with Jordan love Jordan love another guy who was a very raw Prospect coming out of college but was able to learn and get better and you know now has gotten a lot of money from the Green Bay Packers like this plays another example of what uh Malik Willis can do where it's a one-on-one matchup this is a third down and 10 situation single safety deep so this outside route this deep shot definitely is a you know good good area for Malik Willis to look towards especially game situation getting a touchdown here to take the lead when you're down four points would be very helpful for the Titans so Malik Willis does take the snap he looks in that direction and fires in that direction and right here again this is not a wideopen situation at all these are difficult throws to make far down the field but look at the throw again could it have been a touch further perhaps but still good enough to get a touchdown right there and that's really good stuff and again yes there are some negatives but there are some real positives I thought he showed a lot of flashes in preseason to be honest so yeah I mean as a whole it's really hard to talk about Malik Willis without bringing up Jordan love right like absolutely I I really think that that is part of the logic right here is Jordan love is someone who was very similar to mik Willis I think Jordan love was a better Prospect he was drafted earlier right uh he was the first round pick U you know uh Malik Willis wasn't um so that that's definitely a big shift there but again there is the similarities in play style and these similarities in what their weaknesses were and if the Packers feels though hey we were able to get you know sort of quote unquote fix Jordan love maybe we can do that with Malik Willis as well now um I I think that some people might say well what's the point in that you have your quarterback you've paid him big money you know why go out and try to get another high upside guy you don't need a high upside guy just get a decent backup well for one thing I I think they you know the guys in the room that they had maybe weren't necessarily cutting it either that that was a position of weakness the backup quarterback position but also I mean I think I guess there's three points point two being that you never do know with this stuff obviously when the Eagles drafted Jaylen Herz they weren't expecting Carson Wentz to fall off a complete Cliff they wanted Jaylen Herz to be able to be a tesm hill type player who was also a capable backup and it just so happened that you know Wentz fell apart and then her ended up uh being their starter so there's that and there's the other thing of like well what if you know Jordan love goes down for a season and you fix Malik Willis he looks awesome well then you can trade Malik Willis for a bunch of draft picks right so you have several benefits to doing it or maybe it's just a decent backup and then next year or in two years you figure something else out who knows probably that last one but it's still an interesting move by the Green Bay Packers and again I get why the Titans moved off of him as well didn't touch on that too much but I mean you know uh I do understand the Titans want someone who's just going to be a bit more consistent uh and you know Malik wasn't wasn't that guy so I do understand it but yeah those are my thoughts what are yours let me know in the comments below always love hearing from yall and of course as always thanks for watching [Music] [Music] pap [Music]