The Miami Dolphins' new regime of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley must know that Malik Willis is built different. After sharing two years with him in Green Bay, they signed Willis in free agency to be the Dolphins' latest post-Dan Marino franchise quarterback hopeful.
It sure sounds like Hafley has a sound plan in place for Willis to succeed, despite being in the midst of a massive rebuild that's bound to lead to a lot of early losses. De'Von Achane played for the peak Mike McDaniel teams and seems fully bought in on Willis' talent and leadership as well.
Whether Willis can prove his small, elite sample size with the Packers was foreshadowing NFL superstardom or not, there's no shortage of folks who are bullish on his huge potential.
Phin Phanatics, I hope you're sitting down for this bold Malik Willis prediction.
ESPN expert believes Malik Willis will outperform ex-Miami Dolphins star Jaylen Waddle's new QB
Sports Illustrated senior writer Conor Orr crafted a list of 100 NFL predictions 100 days out from the season. Some of them are literal jokes, but he had an eye-popping, Dolphins-centric projection about how Willis will fare during his maiden season in Miami:
"Malik Willis will finish with a higher EPA per play than Bo Nix. The stat, which essentially measures quarterback efficiency on a down-to-down basis, will favor the type of athletic small ball the Dolphins will try to play with their bridge quarterback in 2026, while the big-game hunting Nix will be taking more shots at new target (and former Dolphin) Jaylen Waddle."
It's no secret that the cupboard is bare in Miami at the wide receiver position. Six of the seven top projected players in that group weren't on the team in 2025. Willis wasn't exactly jazzed about Waddle being traded to the Broncos, either.
So not to downplay the impact of a weapon like Waddle joining the AFC's reigning No. 1 seed or anything, but the quarterback play matters here, too.
Now look, Bo Nix is not some world beater. He was the sixth QB taken in his draft class for a reason. Nevertheless, to his credit, Nix has capitalized (well enough) on playing for an elite head coach in Sean Payton, and capitalized (well enough) on playing behind arguably the league's best offensive line to guide the Broncos to the playoffs in his first two seasons.
Is Denver's defense also elite? Yes. Does Nix still have room to grow as a pro? Theoretically, though, that optimism should be a little more muted than with most young players, since Nix left college with the most career starts in NCAA history at the time.
OK, let's ease up on the backhanded compliments about how the rest of the Broncos' roster carried Nix to the top of the conference last year.
Nix's skittish pocket presence would be more of an issue if he weren't such a good athlete. He's proven to be an awesome scrambler, racking up 786 rushing yards and nine TDs through 34 regular-season starts.
When it comes to that Expected Points Added metric, QB runs can add a lot of value. The thing is, Willis may be the most dynamic running quarterback in the AFC this side of Lamar Jackson.
I'll hear an argument for Willis' division rivals in Josh Allen or Drake Maye, but they're not anywhere near as purely fleet-footed as Willis is. Allen and Maye are big dudes whose massive frames and, yes, great athleticism help them stride out in the open field and pick up chunk yardage. Willis is a legit threat to house it at any given moment from, say, 70 yards away.
It'll only help Willis' rushing upside — and his capacity for explosive passes, no less — that he has a touchdown waiting to happen next to him in the backfield in Achane.
Orr's analysis suggests Willis will be more conservative than Nix, but to me, he has the greater capacity for explosive plays. Whether wideouts like Chris Bell, Jalen Tolbert, Tutu Atwell, or anyone else can help him execute those is unclear. No question that Nix has the superior players as pass-catchers.
But Nix also doesn't have a back like Achane to complement him. Nor does he have the consistent precision as a passer (64.8% completion rate; 90.5 passer rating), at least thus far in the NFL, to bridge the gap between his and Willis' EPA ceiling, thanks in large part to the latter's dual-threat capacities.
Mind you, regarding the winner or loser of the Waddle trade, this is all before you factor in the pick Miami spent from that deal on rookie first-round cornerback Chris Johnson. If he winds up being a lockdown guy, and Willis is superior to Nix with an inferior supporting cast, just imagine what the Dolphins could look like by next season.
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