playMarcel Louis-JacquesOct 6, 2026, 06:00 AM ETCloseMarcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsMIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Before Miami Dolphins fans got their first opportunity to see quarterback Malik Willis play inside Hard Rock Stadium, he showed his teammates why he was brought in to begin with.The Dolphins scheduled a stadium practice to mark the official end of training camp, and the night before, Willis spoke to his offensive teammates — not because he saw anything that bothered him but to set a tone for the remainder of the summer.”I just wanted to talk to the offense and just have a man-to-man conversation,” Willis said. “We got to understand this is a business and we got to take what we do personally. We got to take pride in it, and we got to do it to the best of our ability, regardless if we’re calling plays to beat the defense or not.
We’re not calling plays to beat the defense. We’re calling plays that we want to use throughout the year, and we’re trying to get better.”In short, he encouraged his teammates to believe in the process. It’s a lesson he has learned himself in his time as a professional.While most of the Dolphins’ offseason involved saving as much money as possible, first-year general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan made exactly one splash in free agency — Willis, whom he signed to a three-year, $67.5 million contract that made him the only free agent to receive a multiyear deal from the Dolphins this offseason.Knowing 2026 would be a rebuilding year, the Dolphins identified the player they’d like to build around. Even one of the biggest moves they made in the spring, sending wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a first-round pick, was done with Willis in mind.”We’re in a position with our roster where we need to get younger and cheaper — and I just thought it was in the best interest of the Miami Dolphins to get two rookie players,” Sullivan said after the trade.
“If I do my job right … they’ll be on rookie contracts that we can grow with Malik. That’s why we got [Willis] on a three-year deal, so we can put guys around him over the course of numerous draft classes. Next year, we’ll have a little more flexibility in free agency, as we will in 2028, to grow this thing.”Willis learned from an underwhelming start to his career with the Tennessee Titans, used a fresh start with the Green Bay Packers as an opportunity to fine-tune his game and ultimately showed enough in two seasons to convince Miami to build around him.For the first time since college, he entered this season as a starting quarterback and is now tasked with balancing his own development with the responsibility of leading the youngest offense in the NFL.”He’s one of the leaders on our team. I mean, he’s our quarterback,” Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said.
“Just imagine yourself in the huddle with three rookie receivers, a rookie tight end and a rookie fullback. And you’re starting for the first time, and you got [six rookies] — he’s got a lot on his plate. I think he’s handled that really well. Really well.
And I don’t think that’s easy.”The Dolphins aren’t expected to win many games this season. Hafley has said repeatedly that success in 2026 will be defined more by players’ development than wins and losses.There are multiple quarterbacks who have been deemed worthy of a high pick in the 2027 draft class, and fans could clamor for one of them if the Dolphins end up atop next year’s draft order. But Willis isn’t worried about whether his audition with the team lasts longer than one season. He has worked for this opportunity, and he and the Dolphins believe he’s ready for it.
And for now, they’ve handed him the keys to their franchise.”I think when I came into the league, I wasn’t prepared, and that’s not a knock toward my coaches or myself,” Willis said. “That’s just what it was coming from the system I came from, and I’ve had a chance to learn the last four years since I’ve been in the league.”I went through four different offenses and seen a bunch of different defenses, and I just think I’ve grown a lot and I’m grateful for the opportunity once again.”‘My first year didn’t go great’The Titans took Willis in the third round (86th overall) in the 2022 NFL draft after he threw for more than 5,000 yards and 47 touchdowns at Liberty.While he was considered by many draft pundits to be a potential first-round pick, his numbers at Liberty masked a raw quarterback prospect who often got by on his athleticism more so than fundamentals.”He was very much a compensator,” said Sean McEvoy, a private quarterback coach who has trained Willis since he was in high school. “Where his natural athletic ability made up for the things mechanically that weren’t as sound as most quarterbacks were at that time.”McEvoy said it’s not uncommon for athletic quarterbacks to rely on that athleticism in their developmental years.But doing so isn’t sustainable.”You’re going to hit your ceiling at some point when you play the position that way — and it’s just a matter of when you hit it,” McEvoy said. “Some guys hit it as soon as they get to college, and some guys hit it when the pressure’s put on them when they become a starter.
And then some guys when they get to the league.”Willis made six extended appearances as a rookie in 2022, completing 31 of 61 passes for 276 yards and three interceptions. After the season, he realized he could no longer purely get by on his athletic tools; as he put it to McEvoy, “I got my opportunity and I wasn’t good enough.”That offseason, he worked with McEvoy, Jacksonville-based quarterback coach Will Hewlett and arm-care coach Tom Gormely to refine his mechanics.”My first year didn’t go great, so I went to figure out things that might help me,” Willis said. “Using my hips and this lower body that I have, this strength that we work for, right, instead of just using all arm all the time — it’s just less consistent and it’s more strain on your body, right?”So it’s just working that over the last four years. I think it’s been super beneficial.
It’s helped me become way more accurate and consistent.”Hewlett described their work with Willis as a “controlled, monotonous, repeatable process” that centered around breaking his old movement patterns. They used motion capture and video analysis to break down each rep, focusing on the process instead of immediate results.Plyometric throwing, Hewlett said, was an “accelerator” for Willis and allowed him to practice his mechanics without worrying about hitting a target.”It’s like you’re throwing a little round tennis-ball-sized ball that … it hits a wall and the only thing you have to go on is ‘How did that feel?'” Hewlett said. “It was a process with very continuous feedback with video, like, ‘Here’s how much further forward your hips got on this, but your rotation was much greater based on your last rep.'”Willis’ offseason work didn’t stop the Titans from drafting quarterback Will Levis in the second round in 2023. Willis attempted five passes that season in just three appearances, and Levis finished the season as the team’s full-time starter.Tennessee ultimately traded Willis to the Packers after the season, severing their faith in him after 11 appearances and three starts..’There’s just no way this guy’s a backup.
There’s no way.’Packers quarterback Jordan Love suffered a sprained MCL in the 2024 season opener, paving the way for Willis’ fourth and fifth career starts. In those opportunities, Willis completed a combined 25 of 33 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns with 114 yards and another score on the ground.When Love returned, Willis ran the Packers’ scout-team offense — and some
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