Malik Willis Review: Dolphins QB Performance Through Four Weeks
Malik Willis’ first four games with the Dolphins have been a mixed bag of flashes, growing pains, and inconsistency. While the young quarterback has shown enough potential to suggest he can become a capable starter.
I will be the first to say that these first four weeks were sadly what we expected.
This is unfortunate because it starts with the QB play, which for us is Malik Willis. Malik was picked up at the beginning of the year.
The expectation for some, was that he would play like a veteran, and we will evaluate him that way. For some, it was that he doesn’t have the players around him; therefore, we cannot fully evaluate him this year. For others, it was that this is a second chance for him to show he is a starting-caliber QB. I personally fell somewhere in-between all of them, although I still believe he will be the MVP of the Dolphins. Before we get into the review of his game and final thoughts. Here is some history and stats to help us better evaluate his play and provide some context.
Malik was drafted in 2022 to Tennessee in the third round.
Malik is currently 27 and has started 10 games: three for Tennessee, three for Green bay, and four for Miami, and the total record for those is 3-7. Per Football Reference. I choose to evaluate Malik as a player who has 10 starts, is with his second team, and is in a position where the decision makers want to see if he can elevate the team around him.
One more thing before we start I want to evaluate on direction instead of wins and losses. The reason for this is that the team is doing this as well. So I will try to keep this all-in context of what Kupobeer said, which is, “Judge it on the direction.”
My evaluation of the 2026 season (SO FAR):
Malik has played like a rookie; the decisions and throws he makes are inconsistent. He has made some wow plays but not enough to win, however, enough to show that with four starts he can be average. I do see his improvements, but the bad still outweigh the good. He does seem to elevate the team, but not enough to lead to wins just enough for the games to not be catastrophic. He clearly has the intangibles; he can launch the ball with fire and run for a ton of yards.
With each game, except one, it does seem to be getting better, but on a microscopic level.
Ultimately I believe Malik was showing great improvement from games one to three. Last week, there was not an improvement. I believe that is because the game forced him to do things he was not comfortable with, which was clearly the game plan so for now that is the set up game.
Lasty, I believe Malik will continue to build off these games.
I believe the beginning of the season and end will be completly different. Growth and process can be huge for young players and this is the team for it. Malik will be the starter for the remainder of the year barring catastrophic injury; his play has shown he can do enough to be a starter but not elite (for now). For me, for comparison, I would say he plays like a younger, smaller, and less decisive Josh Allen. The more he develops, the more I hope he can become someone who can lead this team toward a Super Bowl in the near future.
