How Malik Willis of Liberty became one of the hottest QB prospects for the NFL Draft (2024)

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Tucked in an old Virginian town between the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the banks of the James River, on a campus light on football tradition, the NFL Draft’s most electric quarterback prospect is redirecting the spotlight.

Malik Willis has become a superstar at Liberty University and a must-see showcase on the scouting circuit. He’s got a chance to run the fastest 40 time at the combine for a quarterback in years, and he’ll have one of the strongest arms in the NFL from the moment he’s drafted.

Yet Willis was hardly recruited in high school. He barely played at Auburn for two years before transferring, and no one from the Power 5 conferences showed any interest before he chose Liberty.

His rise has been as unpredictable as it is spectacular.

Willis helped head coach Hugh Freeze turn Liberty into an overnight sensation. Now he has a chance to be the first quarterback selected in the 2022 draft.

MALIK WILLIS FILM ROOM: Dane Brugler breaks down the prospect

His stock is boiling, and it could explode Saturday when Liberty visits Ole Miss and Matt Corral, who is viewed as Willis’ top competition as the draft’s best quarterback. The game won’t make or break Willis’ draft qualifications, but the stage could do wonders for his profile, perhaps placing the exclamation point on his meteoric ascension.

“I was just doing what I thought I could do,” Willis told The Athletic during a wide-ranging conversation from Liberty’s football facility. “I just went out there and played and had fun. I feel like that’s what I’ve got to continue to do. I can’t focus on what people think.”

‘I needed to take it more seriously’

Willis’ patience was tested as a high school recruit in Atlanta.

He was stuck behind upperclassmen until midway through his junior season at Westlake High, a famed football powerhouse and Cam Newton’s alma mater. After Westlake dropped to 3-2 in 2015, the coaches finally rolled with Willis, who ripped off seven consecutive wins.

Heads began to turn, ever so slightly.

That spring, Willis committed to Virginia Tech as an athlete – he’d either play quarterback, receiver or cornerback. Jackson State was the only other program with an offer.

“I wasn’t highly recruited, but it’s all good,” Willis said. “I used to get mad. I used to be like, ‘I’m making all these plays. Where are my (recruiting) stars?’ Everything happens for a reason.”

He transferred across the county to Roswell High, which vowed to prominently feature him in the offense to magnify his recruitment. It worked, as Willis passed for 2,562 yards, rushed for 1,033 yards and accounted for 37 touchdowns for a team that lost in overtime of the state championship due to a missed field goal.

“Sick to this day,” Willis interjected.

After that, Auburn went all-in on Willis as a quarterback, so he flipped his commitment to the Tigers. He’d have a chance to play at the program where Newton won the Heisman Trophy and a national championship.

Willis’ time had come.

Until it didn’t.

He was relegated to mop-up duty for two seasons and was only allowed to run a bare-bones version of the playbook. In that time, Willis was 11 of 14 for 69 yards and a touchdown, and he ran 28 times for 309 yards and two scores.

Nevertheless, Willis has since become accountable for his lack of playing time. He understands it was on him alone.

“I focused so much on my development physically that I just leaned on all my talents too much,” Willis said. “I wasn’t working as hard as I could outside of football. I wasn’t caring about school because I was just trying to go to the league. I wasn’t caring about watching extra film. Whatever I do, they’re going to have to stop me regardless. But that’s not how you play the position. That’s not a true leader and a true quarterback. I just had to figure out that stuff for myself. People are going to say what they want. I needed to put in more effort. I needed to take it more seriously.”

Reality didn’t hit until Auburn’s 2019 spring game, when Willis was 9 of 10 for 85 yards and a touchdown against the starting defense.

First, a coach told him it was a nearly perfect performance. Next, Willis was informed the starting competition that fall would come between freshman Bo Nix and redshirt freshman Joey Gatewood.

Willis was going to be a third-stringer as a junior.

“I was like, ‘You just said I had a perfect game. You feel me? What just happened?’” Willis said. “But I wasn’t doing the little things properly. It’s more than what you do on the field. How are (my teammates) going to be behind somebody who is not going to be in there watching the film and holding other people accountable more than themselves? I’m just like, show up and do your job. That’s what I was thinking. I was more of a ‘me’ person. I just needed to grow into a ‘we’ person.”

That was essentially the moment Willis realized a quarterback’s responsibilities extend far beyond the field. To get his journey back on track, he’d have to transfer.

‘That might be the dude right there’

Liberty, tucked halfway between Washington D.C. and Charlotte, N.C., became a full-time FBS member in 2019 and had been investing major resources into the program. At that point, Liberty had one FCS playoff appearance and seven NFL Draft picks (with a single first-rounder) since its inception in 1973.

Liberty was also in the process of a $25 million renovation to its facility when it hired head coach Hugh Freeze in December 2018. Freeze had a long history of running a successful offensive system at his prior stops, but he had been out of college coaching for nearly two years since resigning from Ole Miss due to NCAA and internal investigations into impermissible benefits and personal misconduct.

With Willis in the transfer portal, Freeze called his close friend, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, to learn why he hadn’t yet reached his potential. Malzahn raved about the quarterback – his humble personality, his energy, his beaming smile – so Freeze and Liberty offensive coordinator Kent Austin evaluated as much tape as possible on Willis.

But it was a chore.

“I didn’t have any film,” Willis said. “I wasn’t a highly recruited guy. People just thought I could run the ball, I guess. They didn’t let me throw it much at Auburn. I don’t know why. Anytime I got in, I got the same play. I got like three plays. It’s all good, though. … But I did used to want to throw it.”

Freeze and Austin studied Willis’ 14 passes and 28 runs in garbage time. They scoured the internet for workout videos. They pulled his high school footage.

They recognized the common denominator.

“You’re either naturally talented or you’re not,” Austin beamed.

Willis was worth it, so they pressed to get him to Lynchburg. Liberty competed against Georgia State, Troy and Western Kentucky, but the Power 5 schools weren’t interested in the quarterback who was loaded with athletic ability but lacking in evidence that it would come to fruition.

Willis, who wears No. 7 because that’s how many days it took God to create the earth, checked his Bible verse of the day during the morning of his visit to campus. It included, in part, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Coincidentally, he later spotted that verse on the wall of Liberty’s football facility and decided on his destination.

Freeze and Austin took Willis and his father to a restaurant in downtown Lynchburg that night, and they were stunned to see Willis brought a notebook. He jotted down everything Freeze said during dinner and the remainder of the visit and studied it upon his return home to Atlanta. Unbeknownst to Freeze, just by that visit, Willis had already mastered the first two days of offensive installation by the time he enrolled at Liberty.

“I was trying to get a head start,” Willis shrugged.

Austin added, “That’s when I knew this guy was going to pay the price to prepare.”

Willis had to sit out in 2019 due to NCAA transfer rules, but he needed the break.

“I was just so immature,” Willis said. “I just needed a smack upside the head to kick me into gear. I had a whole year here to redshirt. That was me maturing as a leader, me maturing as a quarterback, watching that film, dissecting and seeing what I need to do, understanding what defenses are trying to do to us, their responsibilities, and still homing in on my body and mind and trying to get right physically, mentally and spiritually.

“I had to overcome some of my deficiencies. I always relied on talent, so I was a bad practicer. I hated practice. Then when I got here, I was just trying to focus on trying to get better at practice every day. I just had to learn how to practice and what it’s really for. I used to feel like games got you more experience. Everybody is always talking about experience. But at the end of the day, you have to hone those things, so when the bullets start flying, you rely on what you practice. I had to learn that. I was trying to do that. I love practice now.”

Willis used the redshirt year to master Freeze’s system and, more importantly, get his fundamentals in check. While Freeze and Austin evaluated Willis as a naturally accurate passer, they noticed his hips fell out of whack in certain situations, and that impacted his arm motion and release point, particularly on throws to the left side of the field. Plus, Willis had to improve his movement behind the line, as his explosive jump cuts tended to affect the integrity of the pocket, which could sabotage the whole play.

“He is unbelievably coachable. He’ll try anything you ask him to,” Austin said. “Malik is very self-aware. He doesn’t mask stuff. He doesn’t hide behind excuses. He is very honest about himself.”

Through it all, Willis offered glimpses of the future. He was a terror as the scout-team quarterback, with the coaching staff telling him to take it easy on the starting defense.

“Every week,” Willis laughed.

Willis danced through the defense with ease, creating highlight after highlight at practice. They couldn’t get near him when he ran, and they couldn’t believe the velocity of his passes.

“I would hear the defense come back to the locker room like, ‘This boy is tough,’” Liberty wide receiver Kevin Shaa said. “We knew we had something cooking up over there.

“I didn’t want to say anything too early, but that might be the dude right there.”

Willis missed the games. He craved the competition. He so badly wanted to feel the stadium atmosphere.

But he got his fix from tearing up his own defense and his coaches’ positive feedback. Willis felt like he was building toward 2020.

“That’s the best thing ever,” Willis said of lighting up the defense in practice. “Some days, coach was like, ‘Can you stop? We need some confidence going into this game.’ That was funny. It was fun going against them.”

It was a necessary step in Willis’ evolution – one that he called “the best-worst time of my life.” He grew as a person and a quarterback, and by default, as a leader.

Willis shook out the bad habits from Auburn. As Liberty prepared for the 2020 QB competition, the sentiment from the coaching staff could best be summed up in three words.

“I can’t wait,” running backs coach Bruce Johnson recalled thinking.

‘Did that really just happen?’

They were hopeful, even eager.

But Willis’ coaches couldn’t have truly been prepared for what was to come. After all, Willis still had to beat out Johnathan Bennett and Chris Ferguson for the starting job, and the fall-camp competition lasted for a couple weeks until Willis distinguished himself in the team scrimmage.

The athleticism was obvious. The passing was improving with his quick, compact and effortless throwing motion. Willis just needed to prove that he could be consistent in that area.

“Did I hope he could be (the starter)?” Freeze said. “Because of the way he could run around and do things, yes. But you still have to prove you can be an adequate passer to win college football games.

“I witnessed him do a few things (as a runner in the scrimmage) and said he’s the guy. There’s no doubt. We’re going to have to make him a passer because he can do so many things with his legs. Once we made that decision, his confidence (improved) in throwing.”

There was one more test. Just before the season opener, Willis’ father texted him about an article that ranked the nation’s 130 starting quarterbacks.

Willis was No. 123.

“Are you going to prove them wrong, or are you going to prove them right?” his father texted.

“I was like, all right, let’s go,” Willis smirked.

Willis’ first start was a statement. He rushed for 168 yards – still a career high – and three touchdowns in a 30-24 victory against Western Kentucky.

Malik Willis was ready for launch.

“As the season went on, we’re like, hold on, we might have a Heisman candidate right here,” Shaa marveled. “To be honest, it caught me off guard. I knew he was good, but how he did last year just caught me by surprise.”

Willis completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,250 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2020. He led all quarterbacks with 944 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns despite missing a game with a dislocated elbow in his left, non-throwing arm. (Willis would have played through it, but Freeze opted to rest him against FCS opponent North Alabama.)

And with six consecutive wins to open the season, Willis led Liberty to a national ranking for the first time in program history – in just its second full-time FBS season. They finished 10-1, including a 37-34 overtime victory against No. 9 Coastal Carolina in the Cure Bowl, where Willis was 19 of 29 for 210 yards and two interceptions with 137 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

“It was a surreal year, one of my favorites in coaching,” Freeze said. “Malik is a huge part of it. You don’t win those 10 games without him. He definitely put himself on the map.”

Word spread through the coaches’ offices last offseason. Their 6-foot-1, 225-pound quarterback was a likely first-round draft pick. In a wide-open 2022 quarterback class, Willis’ physical tools stood alone.

Freeze and Austin conducted video calls with a host of NFL teams last year. This season, Freeze said every team’s scouting department has been through campus at least twice.

Willis opened the season on a tear, completing 71 percent of his passes for 1,105 yards, 11 touchdowns and no interceptions plus 418 rushing yards and six scores. The final game of that stretch was against UAB, as Willis had 144 rushing yards and two touchdowns along with 287 passing yards and a score.

Then he hit an uncharacteristically poor stretch with three interceptions in back-to-back games, including a stunning loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

Willis, sitting at a round table with two chairs inside a private room at the football facility, detailed all six interceptions. He used the air as his whiteboard – the coverages, the routes, what he could or should have done better. The mistakes consumed him.

The sixth pick hurt the most, as it thwarted a potential game-winning drive in the final two minutes against ULM. He knew there were two other open targets, but he gasped as he just missed a bigger play by several inches.

“That sucked,” Willis said. “That hurt. I missed him by about six inches, man. Just a little high. I could have thrown it to the tight end or running back, but I learned from that. Each one, I’m going to learn from. I’m never going to blame it on somebody else. I threw them. It’s all good. I’ve just got to learn from it. It’s over. It’s in the past. It just so happened they got thrown in clusters. That sucks. Yeah, I’ve got to take care of the football. That’s how you win and lose games, the turnovers.”

Willis responded from the slump with a performance Oct. 23 at North Texas that his team will never forget. He was sacked midway through the second quarter, and his tackle landed on his foot. It felt numb, and they feared it was broken.

Complicating the matter – or to add to the legend of it all, however the Malik Willis Reed story is told – the X-ray machine at the stadium was broken, so Willis was taken to the hospital across campus for an evaluation. Some of his teammates watched him walk out of the stadium, so they feared a disaster for their leader and NFL Draft hopeful.

Doctors determined it was a sprain, so Willis hustled back to the stadium and ask Freeze to get back in the game. Liberty trailed 26-14 with 7:27 remaining in the third quarter.

“Once they said it wasn’t broken, I was like, ‘Let’s go play,’” Willis said. “They wrapped it up, and I was all good. I would feel so bad if I was just worried about myself and decided not to finish the game. I would feel so terrible if we would have lost that game if I didn’t go back in there, so I had to go back in the game and see what happens. My adrenaline started pumping. I didn’t feel anything.”

Willis was 12 of 18 for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Liberty prevailed, 35-26.

“It gave us a boost of confidence,” Shaa said.

“Our main dude is coming in, so we’ve got to go 10 times harder because we see what he’s doing.”

Add it to the list of highlights. Everyone has their favorite. Austin once counted eight defenders who missed a tackle in the red zone and ribbed Willis for not finding a way to scoot past the other three. Shaa actually dropped his favorite pass because he was so shocked Willis found a way to rope it through three defenders.

The list goes on as long as the internet highlights will allow.

“He does some freakish things,” Freeze said. “You just look, like did that really just happen?”

Austin added, “Malik has made three or four plays since I’ve been here that I’ve never seen anybody make. Nobody else in the country can make those plays.”

‘I’ve still got so much in front of me’

Quincy Avery, who runs QB Takeover in Atlanta, has trained some talented quarterbacks, including Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, Trey Lance and Justin Fields.

Last offseason, Avery conducted a workout at Georgia Tech’s indoor facility and wanted to test Willis’ huge arm in a different way. They marched out to the 50-yard line to see if Willis could rocket a ball straight up into the 65-foot roof.

“He goes to the middle of the field at the highest point, leans back, launches one and it slams into the top of the ceiling,” Avery said. “It could have gone 10-15 yards farther.”

Avery has tried the exercise with others and never seen anyone else come close.

“I worked with Mahomes (for one weekend) going into his last year in college,” Avery said. “I can say this very confidently: Malik has the strongest arm of anybody I’ve ever seen.”

As for the speed, Willis ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash as a sophom*ore at Auburn.

Is he faster now?

“I think so,” he grinned.

Michael Vick and Robert Griffin III, who each ran a 4.33, are the only quarterbacks who have run a sub-4.4 40-yard dash at the scouting combine since 2000. So Willis has a chance to make history if he decides to run.

He’ll undoubtedly dazzle with his arm. His personality will win over coaches and executives. And his accountability – why Willis left Auburn for Liberty and took the unconventional route into first-round consideration – will absolutely win over skeptical evaluators.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” Willis said. “I try to be honest with myself. If not, it’s going to eat me up. I’ll be like, ‘Dang, they’re going to believe that.’ I don’t like lying, for real. It just makes me feel bad. My conscience talks loud. I just try to tell the truth. It made me who I am.”

With the potential to be the first quarterback off the board, Willis by default has a chance to be the No. 1 overall pick. He’ll be competing with Corral, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder, Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett and North Carolina’s Sam Howell, and it’s too early to project how the next five months will unfold.

Willis, who has one more year of eligibility, also won’t commit to the draft just yet. Even if he’s leaning in one direction, it’s possible for something to happen over the next few games that causes him to change his mind.

Willis doesn’t feel the need to be impulsive.

“I’ve still got so much in front of me,” Willis said. “You just can’t be stuck on what can happen or what might happen in the future, or what had happened in the past. You learn from the past and try to put it in the present. You can’t do anything with the future. It’s too far away. We’ve got to see what happens after the year. What you put on tape is the truth at the end of the day. If I don’t have any tape, how can I say I’m going to do this or that? I don’t really think about it. It’s cool that we’re talking all this stuff about it.”

“All the conversation stuff, it is what it is. That’s people talking.”

And Willis is the one playing. So frequently, it’s been at such a high level that the NFL can’t help but gush over his talent.

They’re flocking to gaze at the league’s next big prospect at Liberty – an unconventional spot for a player who traversed an unconventional path.

The NFL has found Malik Willis. He showed them the way.

(Top photo of Willis: G Fiume / Getty Images)