How should Dolphins QB Willis be judged after 4 games? Not nearly good enough

Miami Dolphins admin October 5, 2026 0 Comments

How should Dolphins QB Willis be judged after 4 games? Not nearly good enough

The first four games of Malik Willis’ audition to become the Dolphins’ franchise quarterback can be summed up thusly: Not nearly good enough — and yet, during fleeting moments, tantalizing enough to not totally rule out the possibility that he could become one.

There have been moments, some snapshots, where you see the dynamic arm strength, or the escapability, or the high-end athleticism, or the ability to throw on the run — NFL-specific skills that make you resistant to give up totally on the hope of Willis becoming a franchise quarterback.

You can’t determine anything definitively after four games, particularly when several of the players around Willis are underperforming or simply not good enough.

But we’re still waiting for the game where the Dolphins have reason to emerge saying “we have our guy!” Or at least “I think we do.” A month in, that game hasn’t happened.

It certainly didn’t happen Sunday, when Willis completed just 9 of 17 passes for 85 yards in a surprisingly competitive 15-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings and their vaunted defense, dropping Miami to 0-4 on a day their defense played valiantly.

Willis’ accuracy and decision-making, his performance against the blitz and his shaky ball security aren’t at the level that makes you think he’s the long-term solution, even though it’s premature to say he definitely isn’t.

Sunday was a microcosm of the Willis experience in Miami.

There was the Dolphins’ play of the day that ultimately wasn’t — a nimble escape from pressure and a feathery jumper type pass to Chris Bell, who would have scored a 68-yard TD if one of his toes hadn’t grazed the sideline. Willis deserves credit for that play, even though it didn’t count.

On an 8-yard run a bit earlier, Willis deftly escaped being tackled 1 yard short on a third-and-5, displaying the type of second effort that earns respect from everyone.

He threw two beautiful pinpoint passes, minutes apart, to Malik Washington for 17 yards and 16 yards, contorting his arm to complete the first with a Vikings pass rusher in his path. That set up Ollie Gordon II’s TD run late in the third quarter, ending Miami’s 15-possession touchdown drought.

But like the first three games, there were too many moments that don’t meet the standard set by above-average NFL starting quarterbacks.

Miami’s first possession was foiled when Willis threw high and missed Bell, who was open. The second ended when Willis was sacked on a play where he again held the ball too long.

The third died with the unfortunate Bell out-of-bounds play; he ultimately was ruled an ineligible receiver because he was the first player who touched the ball after stepping out of bounds.

The fourth concluded with Willis’ second costly lost fumble in two weeks, after Dallas Turner beat Austin Jackson. And the fifth ended when Willis threw incomplete on third-and-7 to Kevin Coleman Jr., who was open.

“It’s tough when you go out and play a game like that, the defense battles like that – and we shoot ourselves in the foot on drives, and don’t convert,” Willis said. “It’s unfortunate.”

After a 53-yard run by Gordon put the Dolphins deep in Minnesota territory on their first drive of the second half, Willis made another poor decision on third-and-8.

Instead of trying to squeeze in a high degree-of-difficulty pass in the end zone to Coleman — who couldn’t snag it in bounds — Willis might have been able to run for the touchdown or thrown to Washington, who shook loose in the end zone while Willis was zeroing in on Coleman. Miami had to settle for a field goal.

And finally, there was the most important possession of Willis’ young Dolphins career, the one that separates franchise QBs from JAGs (just a guy).

Down 15-10, with the ball, with 6:41 left, Miami went three-and-out. Gordon gained two yards on a first down run, and Willis then threw errantly on a pressured throw to Jalen Tolbert that would have gone nowhere even if it had been completed.

On third-and-8, Willis got the ball to Bell downfield, but Harrison Smith knocked it away. But Coleman was wide open on the play and Willis apparently didn’t see him.

Bell “wasn’t the primary read” on that play, Willis said. “It turned into a scramble drill once I got outside the pocket.”

Miami punted and never got the ball back.

Teammates, at times, are doing Willis no favors. Right tackle Jackson has been an immense disappointment through four games. Left tackle Patrick Paul committed three penalties, which had a role in torpedoing two drives.

Will Kacmarek dropped a catchable 12-yard pass on the first play of the second half. And generally, Dolphins receivers — aside from Washington — don’t seem to be getting enough separation.

Losing De’Von Achane, Miami’s only Pro Bowl caliber offensive playmaker, to a season-ending knee injury will make it even more difficult to fully judge Willis. But that cannot be used as an excuse because the Dolphins scored just 13 points in each of the games that Achane finished.

The dynamic snapshots that you see from Willis, once or twice a quarter or so, make you wonder what he could do with an elite wide receiver (Jeremiah Smith, anyone?) and a Pro Bowl tight end. But here’s what concerns me:

Willis seemingly has regressed in areas that became strengths in limited work as Jordan Love’s backup in Green Bay the past two years. Last season, he was 7 for 7 on passes thrown 20 or more air yards. This season, he’s now 4 for 14 (in the bottom third of the league) and Miami couldn’t seize on Vikings blitzes to complete any deep shots.

After a poor start to his career in Tennessee, Willis became more fundamentally sound with his footwork in Green Bay. But on several throws this season, including a couple errant ones on Sunday, Willis didn’t correctly set his base. In layman’s terms, that means keeping his feet under his frame (or slightly wider than shoulder-width) so he can vertically align his head, knee and back foot.

This, too, is worrisome: Willis entered Sunday with a dismal 46.4 passer rating in the face of a heavy pass rush, completing 15 of 34 passes for 142 yards and an interception. That’s 31st in the league and 23rd among starters.

He entered Sunday 9 for 23, for 93 yards, when blitzed the previous two weeks.

He also began Week 4 ranked 29th in passer rating at 74.1, ahead of only two other QBs who started the first three weeks (New England’s Drake Maye, who redeemed himself in Sunday’s win against Buffalo; and the Chargers’ Justin Herbert). Willis posted a poor 67 passer rating Sunday.

Willis also entered Sunday ranked 29th in completion percentage at 57%, ahead of only one starter who hasn’t missed time due to injury (Love).

None of that is nearly good enough.

Is it time to completely give up on the idea of Willis as a franchise quarterback? Absolutely not.

But is it reasonable to expect much more? Absolutely.

A franchise QB must orchestrate more than four touchdown drives in four games. He also must lift the players around him. In both regards, Willis continues to come up short.

Here’s what Jeff Hafley had to say after Sunday’s game.

This story was originally published October 4, 2026 at 7:32 PM.