Malik Willis

Willis' potential to be a starting quarterback in the NFL has seemingly come and gone. In addition to drafting Will Levis in 2023, the Titans also added Mason Rudolph as a free agent this offseason. That puts Willis in the position to be inactive as the third quarterback in most games in 2024. In order to stick in the league beyond his rookie contract, he'll need to improve a number of areas in his game, most importantly his accuracy from the pocket.

It would be drastic to say that Willis' chance to be a starter in the NFL is already gone, but his rookie season wasn't positive. After being projected as a first-round pick in the 2022 draft, he slipped to the third round before Tennessee selected him. Willis spent much of his rookie campaign as the backup to Ryan Tannehill, though he did appear in eight games and made three starts. In those appearances, he averaged only 4.5 yards per attempt and had three interceptions with no touchdowns. Even his significant rushing ability didn't translate, as he accrued 123 total rushing yards with only one TD. Willis is now in danger of slipping to third on depth chart after the Titans selected Will Levis early in the second round of April's draft.

A third-round pick in this year’s draft, Willis is a dual-threat QB with a rocket arm and elite speed for the position. It's because of those attributes that some pegged Willis as a first-rounder. He fell, though, because scouts questioned his inconsistent mechanics and processing issues, which led to inaccuracy (61.1 completion percentage) and interceptions (12) in his second of two seasons at Liberty. Willis will have time to refine those skills this season as the backup to Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee. If the rookie is forced into action, the outlook isn’t great. Not just because he needs time to develop, but because the Titans traded A.J. Brown and released Julio Jones and replaced them with Robert Woods (coming off an ACL tear), rookie Treylon Burks and TE Austin Hooper. Any hope for Year 1 fantasy value likely requires Tannehill missing time and Willis taking a bunch of carries in an extremely run-heavy offense.