- January 19th, 2022, 4:45 pm
#638951
For those who don't subscribe to ESPN+, here is the narrative from Mel Kiper, Jr.'s 1st 2022 mock draft on Malik:
11. Washington Football Team
Malik Willis, QB, Liberty
Time for the first quarterback off the board. You might be surprised that it's Willis, but you really shouldn't be. He was in the QB1 mix all fall before he faded a little bit in the last stretch of the regular season. The more tape I watch of his past two seasons and the more I talk to evaluators in the league, the more I like him. Put simply, Willis is the most talented quarterback in this class. He didn't always get to show that at Liberty, which didn't have much NFL talent around him. (He was sacked an astounding 51 times in 2021.) This is a dual-threat signal-caller -- he rushed for 1,822 yards and 27 touchdowns over the past two seasons -- with a powerful arm. I'm really excited to see him compete against the other top QBs in the Senior Bowl in a couple weeks.
Like Denver, Washington could be in the veteran QB market, but I like the fit with Willis. Washington can't go into the season with Taylor Heinicke as the starter.