Malik Willis is off to a rough start. Three starts into his NFL career, he’s still looking for his first touchdown pass – and his first 100-yard passing game.
Willis has thrown for only 55, 80 and 99 yards in the three games he’s started, with 3 interceptions and 10 sacks. It’s been pretty brutal.
It’s not surprising in that everyone knew Willis was a project coming in. He did, after all, slip to the end of the third round. He was selected more for his potential. He’s got a strong arm, and as a runner might not be much different than Jalen Hurts. On that front, he’s shown a little, with 8 carries for 40 yards at Kansas City and 7 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown on Saturday.
Ideally, Willis would be a third-string quarterback right now, learning the offense and working on his game. Instead, the Titans likely will have to rely on him in their final two as they try to successfully defend their AFC South title. That looks unlikely.
Checking the numbers in the 32-team era, I see 16 other quarterbacks who threw for fewer than 400 yards in their first three starts. That includes one who passed for even fewer yards than Willis: Nathan Peterman.
Of those previous 16, I see three who ever had much success at the NFL level. Alex Smith for sure. Vince Young had it going briefly, and Justin Fields has had some success this year (at least from a fantasy perspective). If we want to be generous, we can maybe add David Carr and Mitchell Trubisky into that group.
To me, Willis hasn’t shown enough that I think the Titans are thinking much about him starting their opener in 2023. He’s just not ready yet (and I don’t know that he ever will be).
| FEWEST PASSING YARDS IN FIRST THREE STARTS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Year(s) | Com | Att | Yds | TD | Int |
| Nathan Peterman | 2017-18 | 16 | 42 | 147 | 1 | 7 |
| Malik Willis | 2022 | 25 | 49 | 234 | 0 | 3 |
| Kurt Kittner | 2003 | 29 | 70 | 258 | 2 | 2 |
| Tom Savage | 2016-17 | 30 | 50 | 263 | 0 | 0 |
| Brooks Bollinger | 2005 | 29 | 54 | 273 | 0 | 4 |
| Max Hall | 2010 | 29 | 59 | 275 | 1 | 4 |
| Johnny Manziel | 2014-15 | 21 | 41 | 284 | 2 | 2 |
| Kyle Boller | 2003 | 41 | 81 | 328 | 2 | 3 |
| David Carr | 2002 | 28 | 69 | 331 | 2 | 4 |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 2017 | 24 | 48 | 348 | 2 | 1 |
| • Alex Smith | 2005 | 33 | 63 | 351 | 0 | 8 |
| J.P. Losman | 2005 | 38 | 79 | 358 | 1 | 1 |
| Paxton Lynch | 2016-17 | 44 | 73 | 368 | 1 | 2 |
| • Vince Young | 2006 | 37 | 75 | 379 | 2 | 3 |
| • Justin Fields | 2021 | 29 | 57 | 388 | 1 | 1 |
| Jimmy Clausen | 2010 | 36 | 76 | 395 | 1 | 2 |
| Dennis Dixon | 2009-10 | 34 | 58 | 399 | 1 | 2 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan