The Tennessee Titans will be without durable starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill for the first time in 49 games on Sunday when they face the Houston Texans on the road.
Rookie Malik Willis will make his first NFL start as Tannehill deals with an ankle injury and illness. The veteran — who started the last 11 regular-season games in 2019, all 16 regular-season games in 2020 and 17 in 2021, and Tennessee’s five playoff games during his tenure — will not travel with the team.
Willis previously played in Tennessee’s blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 2 (including one snap last week when Tannehill got hurt), going 1-for-4 for six yards and adding 16 on the ground.
Here’s what you need to know about the Titans’ rookie.
How did Willis end up with the Titans?
Willis, 23, was drafted by Tennessee in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft at No. 86 overall. He was the third quarterback taken in the 2022 draft class behind Kenny Pickett and Desmond Ridder.
Where did Willis play in college?
After transferring from Auburn, Willis graduated from Liberty University and became the ninth player in program history drafted into the NFL. He accounted for 65.9 percent of the team’s offense in his final season and led the Flames to their third straight bowl win as MVP of the LendingTree Bowl. Willis saw playing time in 15 games across his first two college seasons (2017 and 2018) with the Tigers.
He racked up 5,176 passing yards (48 touchdowns) with 18 interceptions and 2,131 rushing yards (29 touchdowns) over four seasons.
Scouting report on Willis entering the NFL
Dane Brugler, NFL Draft writer prior to 2022 draft: With his escapability and body strength, the backfield was Willis’ playground, but he struggles to recognize pressures and takes too many sacks (he was equally responsible for Liberty finishing No. 1 in the FBS with 51 sacks allowed in 2021). Willis needs time to mature his anticipation, vision and placement, but he has the potential to be a dynamicNFLplaymaker because of his natural athleticism, arm talent and intangibles. He will likely need a redshirt year before seriously competing for an NFL starting role.
What to expect from Willis on Sunday vs. Houston
Joe Rexrode, Titans writer: This will be a fascinating glimpse at the progress of Willis, who looked exactly like a project in the preseason. He has a massive arm and is a speedy runner, but consistent accuracy and pre-snap diagnosis are both areas that need a lot of work. He did make some big plays in the preseason, though, and Titans OC Todd Downing figures to lean heavily on some of the read-option stuff that he occasionally sprinkles in with Tannehill. Think Patriots last year in that windy game against the Bills, just without the weather.
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What is Willis’ fantasy outlook?
Nando Di Fino, Fantasy and Sports Betting managing editor: Willis starting may ultimately be more of a “real football” than a fantasy football story. I love him and have been suggesting players in 2QB and SuperFlex leagues stash him for a couple of weeks. The Titans are an unexciting team in a terrible division — Willis makes them exciting in a division that is very winnable. For pure fantasy purposes, he’s a talented runner who can get you 80 yards on the ground (which is the fantasy scoring equivalent of 200 passing yards, at 8 points). But will they let him pass? My hunch is they’ll try to control the game by running a lot of Derrick Henry and complementing him with Dontrell Hilliard in the short passing game. Treylon Burks is on IR, but Robert Woods is healthy, and backups often come in with built-in “backup rapport,” so Willis may look to someone like Nick Westbrook-Ikhine or Chris Conley throughout the game. Rookie QBs also tend to use their tight ends a lot, so expect a healthy amount of Austin Hooper and Geoff Swaim.
Willis’ fantasy upside is a mystery because we don’t know how much the Titans are going to try and control the game by running and how willing they’ll be to let their third-round draft pick (who many pundits thought could goas early as sixth overall— and this is just a mock I picked off google, there were plenty with him going early in the first round) play his game and pass 30 times.
As for the future? Tennessee could emerge from this game 5-2, and most of that was on the back of Tannehill, so my hunch is that they stay the course and Willis retreats to the bench until he’s needed again. So view this as a one-week gambit with massive upside, but also scary downside. Don’t bench Justin Fields or even PJ Walker for him, but 14 fantasy points seems like a safe bet for a SuperFlex play, and if you’re feeling risky, there’s an unlikely-but-entirely-possible 27-30 point game in here if things break juuuust right.
(Photo: George Walker IV / USA Today)
