The Green Bay Packers are getting ready for a new type of life. While Jordan Love recovers from an MCL injury , the team will have to pivot to backup Malik Willis for the next few weeks, starting on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts .
"Malik is on the roster, he's our number 2 quarterback. That's the way we're gonna roll," Matt LaFleur said on Monday. "I think he's put a lot of time and effort into this. He's grinding, he's learning the terminology. We got confidence in him. If he gets a full week of preparation, a full week of practice, I've got confidence in him to go out there and perform at a high level."
Green Bay acquired Willis from the Tennessee Titans two weeks ago for a seventh-round pick, and there are certainly more reasons to be concerned than there are to be optimistic about the quarterback play.
There's no evident he's a good thrower
Packers fans were optimistic because Willis had some good plays in preseason for the Titans, which ultimately motivated general manager Brian Gutekunst to trade for him. However, Willis had had decent preseason showings, and it has never translated to regular season games.
Willis has appeared in 12 regular season games, and he's had a 30% success rate throwing the football, completing just 52.2% of his passes. The quarterback started three games for the Titans as a rookie and is yet to throw a touchdown pass.
Check out the difference between preseason and regular season grades, via PFF:
- 2022: 63.3/51.9
- 2023: 76.8/45.9
- 2024: 77.1/42.5
Adjustment in style
Jordan Love is a relatively aggressive thrower. Last season, his first as a full-time starter, he had a 9.0 average depth of target. Against the Philadelphia Eagles in week 1, it was 9.8.
Malik Willis is more conservative, and it will probably affect how the Packers attack the Indianapolis Colts in week 2.
The quarterback was relatively aggressive as a rookie, with an 8.2 ADoT, but he got progressively more conservative in smaller sample sizes over the last couple of years. Last season, with only 12 dropbacks as Will Levis and Ryan Tannehill's backup, he averaged 7.6 yards per target. On Friday, he had only two dropbacks and one pass, and the target was three yards down the field.
The sample size is obviously too small at this point, but it's the information we do have at this point.
Ability as a runner
An obvious positive trait for Malik Willis is his ability to run the football. As a rookie, the ability with his legs was what kept him afloat for three starts. While his pass grade in 2022 was 39.9, his run grade was 75.6, which is well above average for quarterbacks.
Willis finished that season with 276 passing yards, but also 123 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. The success rate jumped from 30% to 44.4%, with 4.6 yards per carry.
That's probably an area where Matt LaFleur can lean on. Read options and RPOs are the easiest way to use what Willis does well, and at the same time they are protecting him from doing too much for a player who's so new to the offensive system and his teammates.
Time to throw and pressure to sack
The Packers will have to be careful with their offensive linemen, because there's a good chance you will leave Malik Willis' experience thinking they are worse than they really are. Well, good quarterbacks usually make their offensive linemen look better, but the difference in style between Love and Willis is huge.
Last year, Love averaged 2.72 seconds per play to throw the football. Against the Eagles, his time to throw was 2.61. Malik Willis' time to throw year after year is: 3.52 in 2022, 3.55 in 2023, 3.05 in those two snaps last Friday.
Willis is an overall slower processor. The fact that he runs the ball more obviously makes this number go higher, for sure, but anyway it exposes more the offensive line, giving it more demanding tasks.
More concerning than that is how frequently Willis ends up sacked when he's pressured. That's a really important trait for competent quarterback play, and Willis hasn't developed that in the NFL. Jordan Love, for example, has been sacked in only 14.2% of the plays he is pressured. With Willis, the number is 33.3%.
It's hard enough to find one top quarterback, so it is unrealistic to expect a backup to come in and play at a high level. But for a player the Packers traded for and possibly believe in, the stats aren't great.
Green Bay expects an improvement in year 3. However, it's important to temper expectations and try to face the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans with as much help as possible from the rest of the team — something the Packers might not be that used to do.
Related: Packers make telling decision about Jordan Love's short-term future
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