After watching Malik Willis the past two weeks, I can’t help but wonder what hundreds of discarded, once-highly touted quarterbacks are thinking today. The guys who were drafted in the first round, often by a lousy organization that rushed them out onto the field and fed them to the wolves.
Guys like David Carr, Heath Shuler, Tim Couch, Matt Leinart, Andre Ware, Chuck Long, and Akili Smith.
More recently, guys like Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, Bryce Young, and heck, maybe even Will Levis, once he’s inevitably shown a seat on the bench. Maybe they were all just busts, doomed to failure. But after watching Willis, you have to think many of those guys wonder what might have been had they been traded to an organization like the present-day Packers.
Willis was considered the latest bust a month ago, a wasted draft pick with one foot out the NFL door. Two emergency starts later, leading a team with a brilliant, offensive-minded coach, a talented roster, and a winning locker room, Willis has completely changed his career narrative. He now looks like a more than capable backup for a playoff contender. We may not hear from Willis again this season, but the Packers may call on him to start again next week. You never know. But knowing he’s there and ready if needed changes everything.
What Matt LaFleur and his staff have done to prepare Willis, what his teammates have done to make him feel comfortable and give him confidence, has been remarkable to watch. A backup quarterback usually shines in his first start but plummets back to earth the next week – but not Willis.
This matchup with a desperate 0-2 Titans team had me thinking that he and the Pack might be in for one of those rude awakenings. Their defensive front was off to a great start against the run, and they knew the Packers would have to lean on its running game again. While their offense is by no means explosive, they have a nice two-headed rushing attack and figured they would gash Green Bay’s porous run defense.
But LaFleur and Willis were ready for them. So was Jeff Hafley’s defense – more on them in a moment. LaFleur took the training wheels off the young QB in his second start, and he delivered every time he needed to. LaFleur trusted him on third-and-six on the first drive with a 30-yard bomb to Christian Watson along the sideline. Later, on third-and-14 from his own 21, he dropped back and hit Romeo Doubs across the middle for 18 yards, moving the chains. He kept multiple drives alive with his legs.
He looked comfortable, poised, and in charge from the start. Imagine if I told you Malik Willis would complete nearly 75% of his passes, with two touchdowns, a passer rating of 123, and zero turnovers in his first two starts in green and gold. You would tell me I should have stopped after my third old fashioned, right? How many Titans fans at the game headed to their cars, wondering if their team had gotten rid of the wrong quarterback? 90%?
And then there’s the defense. It figured that if the Pack was to pull off the small road upset, it would have to be led by the defense. However, this is a unit learning a brand-new scheme, now tasked with harassing an inexperienced QB – and one unlikely to beat you with his legs, unlike their first two foes. Were they ready to pounce on a below-average offense and make things easy for the backup QB?
From Jaire Alexander’s first career pick-six (really can’t believe that was his first one) to the eight team sacks (the most in nearly 20 years), they dominated for 60 minutes. The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman reported that their sack percentage was 19%. The Houston Texans entered the weekend leading the league with a sack percentage of just under 14%. We hoped this pass rush would feast against the Titans’ weak pass protection; who knew they’d act like it was Thanksgiving? And that run defense? They gave up 33 yards on 11 carries.
Xavier McKinney’s astounding third pick in as many games brought the team total to seven on the season, already matching what last year’s team managed all year. Young guys like Devonte Wyatt, Lukas Van Ness, and Edgerrin Cooper are standing out. Veterans like Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, JJ Enagbare, and even Eric Stokes are making big plays.
Of course, there will be far stiffer tests ahead. Still, if this defense continues to grow, gets comfortable in this system, and, most importantly, stays mostly healthy, this team has a Super Bowl contender stamp all over it.
We all hope Jordan Love is back under center for next week’s gargantuan early season divisional matchup with the surprising, unbeaten Vikings at Lambeau. The duel between masters LaFleur and DC Brian Flores will be worth the price of admission.
We’ve learned over the last two weeks that if the medical team says Love’s not ready, Malik Willis will most certainly be. And a host of failed former QB phenoms will watch and wonder what might have been.
