It’s December 11th, 2023, and the Miami Dolphins are in the midst of their winningest season since 2008 and are coming into their Monday night contest with a 9-3 record. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is having the best season of his career. The Tennessee Titans have come to town, and they are almost the inverse, with a record of 4-8. Rookie quarterback Will Levis has had a rough season after winning the starting job in the preseason. Miami seemingly puts the game away when Raheem Mostert scores one rushing touchdown with 5:34 left in the game and then another one just 1 minute later. All is good in South Florida.
Now, imagine you were at the game. Picture the person sitting next to you pointing towards the Titans’ sideline as you both watch the Miami Dolphins blow a 13-point lead in the final 3 minutes, as quarterback Will Levis has the best game of his career and his only 300+ passing yard performance as of 2026. He’s pointing at the backup quarterback for Tennessee, and he says, “That guy is going to be the starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins in 3 years.”
This is a very long-winded way to say that Malik Willis being the projected starter entering the Miami Dolphins training camp would have been unbelievable just 3 years ago. At that point, Miami had just paid Tua Tagovailoa the big bucks, and Willis lost his projected starting position when Tennessee selected Will Levis in the 2023 draft. It took a change of scenery for Willis to blossom into an interesting dart throw at quarterback after he found his way as Jordan Love’s backup and occasional spot starter for the Green Bay Packers. Now, new general manager and head coach Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley brought Willis along with them from Green Bay to South Florida.
Willis’s Way to Miami
Malik Willis was a 2022 3rd-round draft selection by the Tennessee Titans coming out of Liberty. His physical gifts were undeniable, which led to him being overprojected, as many quarterbacks are, to being a potential first-round selection. Willis’s college tape clearly showed that he needed time to learn and develop at the pro level to better read defenses properly. Unfortunately, the Titans at that point were a bit of a mess, and Willis saw the field in 8 games with 3 starts in his rookie campaign. It did not go well for Willis.
In his 3 starts, Malik Willis went 25/49 on pass attempts (51%), had 234 passing yards, and threw 3 interceptions to zero touchdowns. He ended the season with a 42.8 passer rating. For context, Tua Tagovailoa had more than double that rating last season. This coincided with a 2023 NFL Draft class that seemed to have 4 solid quarterback prospects at the top. And when one of them falls out of the first round, why not trade up? The Titans did so when they drafted Will Levis with the 33rd pick in the draft. That put an end to the Malik Willis era in Tennessee before it truly ever began.
After toiling away on the bench for the 2023 season (including the aforementioned Miami Dolphins game), the Green Bay Packers traded away a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Unsurprisingly, the pick didn’t amount to much, but Willis certainly did. He showed great strides in his smaller sample size in Green Bay. In 3 starts during his 2 years in Green Bay, Willis produced 972 passing yards, a 78.7 completion percentage, 261 rushing yards, and 9 total touchdowns. The rushing ability was always expected, but his passing ability really began to shine through.
Due to these small-sample-size stats and the upside, Miami jumped at the chance to keep Malik Willis in a Packers-esque system. In his deep dive on the Miami Dolphins, NFL analyst and Packers fan Marcus Whitman said, “The game he had against [the Baltimore Ravens] last year… if [the Miami Dolphins] get 80% of that on a week-to-week basis, that’s a top 10 quarterback in the NFL.” Despite the loss in that game, Willis went 18 for 21 with 288 passing yards, 60 rushing yards, 3 total touchdowns, and a passer rating of 134.6. Not bad for a quarterback who struggled so mightily just 4 years ago.
Short-term Situation
Last year’s Miami Dolphins struggled in many facets, but most fans will point the finger at the poor quarterback play throughout the season. Even with massive roster flaws, constant injuries, and inconsistent passing, the Dolphins still clawed their way to 7 wins. While this will be Willis’s first time in his career where he is expected to start for a team, he is generally expected to do a decent job at the very least after seeing the strides he made in Green Bay. His rushing ability alone raises the floor of this team. With him and De’von Achane, Jeff Hafley and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik will have one of the best potential option attacks for the Miami Dolphins offense.
Teams with more rushing-oriented offenses tend to win games that they otherwise shouldn’t have. This would explain the Miami Dolphins’ wins down the stretch last season after focusing more on the run game. Now with one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league, don’t be surprised to see Malik Willis and the Miami Dolphins win a few games that they otherwise wouldn’t have. In their 7 wins last season, Miami averaged 168.3 rushing yards, which is almost double their 86.6 average in losses. This year will most likely be no different in that regard, especially with Malik Willis behind center.
Long-term Outlook for Malik Willis
Malik Willis’s contract with Miami only goes through the 2028 season, and the contract’s first 2 years are the only ones guaranteed, so the Miami Dolphins can opt out of Willis’s contract after the 2027 season if they so choose. This puts Miami in a predicament: they aren’t expected to compete this season due to questions surrounding the roster and staff, along with a brutal schedule, which would most likely mean a high draft pick. This coincides with what is expected to be a very good quarterback draft class.
In a way, even after getting a sizable contract to be the starting Miami Dolphins quarterback, Malik Willis is basically playing for his job in the 2026 season. Miami would feel much better about selecting a quarterback in the draft if Willis weren’t fantastic. Heck, even if Willis shows promise, the Dolphins may still end up selecting towards the top of the draft and opt for a quarterback. It’s a tough position. Even though a quarterback class like this one projects to be, the hope for the Miami Dolphins and Willis will probably be for Willis to look great, and Miami selects a top-tier prospect at another position of need, like receiver, cornerback, or edge rusher.
That is still a year away, however. Right now, Malik Willis and the Miami Dolphins have to focus on training for the 2026 season. Willis has already begun entrenching himself in the locker room and trying to earn his newfound leadership role. “I’m just trying to take it one day at a time and do what I can to put the work in and try to hold others accountable, as well as let them hold me accountable.”
Main Image: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
