Panthers’ Malik Willis dilemma: The NFL Draft’s boom or bust talent
By Brian Emory
Malik Willis has the ceiling to be a successful NFL quarterback, but his skill set still poses a significant dilemma for the Carolina Panthers.
Is it still acceptable to believe in love at first sight?
Regardless of how practical you believe this phenomenon to be in the real world, in the sphere of NFL scouting, sometimes all it takes is just a handful of jaw-dropping moments for a front office to become smitten with a prospect.
The annual Senior Bowl wrapped up last Saturday afternoon, and not a single participant did more to boost his draft stock than Malik Willis. It’s not like the Liberty quarterback is a new name to NFL Draft circles and has been lauded as possessing the potential to be this draft’s best quarterback for over a year now.
Willis entered the 2021 season with enormous expectations. After emerging onto the national scene with a collection of highlight-reel plays in 2020, the hope was that he could polish his game and firmly entrench himself as the 2022 draft’s premier signal-caller.
While Willis’ junior campaign was far from a disappointment, it also didn’t result in the great leap forward scouts were hoping for either. He threw for 27 more touchdowns, but also doubled his interception total and saw a dip in his completion percentage in comparison to his sophomore production.
The moment Willis entered his name into the 2022 NFL Draft, he immediately became one of the more polarizing prospects in this class. He is considered to be the ultimate boom-or-bust gamble.
When you turn on the film, he’ll display the rare talent and playmaking ability followed by moments that make you grimace and want to seal your eyelids shut. Something that the Carolina Panthers need to decipher throughout the all-important evaluation process.