Malik Willis was a major sleeper for some during fantasy football drafts.
Now it’s time to see if the new Miami Dolphins QB can back up that hype with some legitimate performances in the NFL regular season, starting with Week 1 on Sunday.
Willis came to the Dolphins in free agency from the Green Bay Packers. He had never quite panned out with the Tennessee Titans, but his time as a backup in Green Bay helped him grow into a better player.
He also got to start a few times for the Packers when Jordan Love was injured, and Willis showed enough in those flashes for the Dolphins to pursue him to replace Tua Tagovailoa.
Willis brings that intriguing combination of arm talent and running ability that can make a player a very productive fantasy football quarterback. Some players like that also are real-life winners, while others happen to just get the stats that are big for winning fantasy matchups.
For the purposes of fantasy players, the points are what matters. As long as Willis keeps his job and puts up points, the Dolphins’ outcomes aren’t as key.
In Week 1, the Dolphins go to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders.
Should you start Willis? This is what some of the experts say.
Malik Willis Fantasy Ranking Week 1
ESPN is one of the logical places to look for opinions on this matter, and they actually compile rankings from eight of their experts to put together a composite rank.
In ESPN’s total ranking, they have Willis as the No. 24 QB this week, which would only put him in range of being a starter in 2-QB leagues or Superflex leagues.
The highest that any of their rankers have him is No. 20, which is where Eric Karabell has him.
Footballguys is another ranking and projection service, and they have Willis just a tiny bit higher, at No. 22.
In the Footballguys rankings, Willis does slot two places above his former QB1, Love, who is in Minnesota to take on the Vikings in the Packers’ season opener.
Willis is in the same ballpark in these rankings as Saints second-year QB Tyler Shough, another mobile quarterback with an intriguing fantasy skillset. On ESPN, Shough is the spot directly above Willis, and on Footballguys, he’s two spots above.
Malik Willis Fantasy Projection Week 1
Footballguys also shares a points projection for standard scoring for each QB in its rankings.
For Willis, they project him for 16.37 fantasy points in Week 1.
That’s about two points behind the QB they project as No. 10 for the week, Trevor Lawrence (18.36).
The thing to remember with Willis is that his rushing creates variance, and it’s hard to know how much the Dolphins plan on letting him run.
If you believe Willis will run for 60 yards and a TD (in addition to all his passing stats), he’s worth playing. If you think he’ll only run three times, it’s probably better to wait and see what he looks like in Miami before doing anything drastic.
Malik Willis Fantasy Ranking, Projection for Week 1 as Dolphins QB