The Tennessee Titans second-year quarterback Malik Willis had ups and downs in his 2023 preseason debut. Take a look at the good and the bad in this film breakdown.
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00:37 - Welcome to another Tic Tac Titans film breakdown.
00:41 I'm Tyler Rowland.
00:42 Let's take a look at Malik Willis' performance
00:44 against the Chicago Bears to open the preseason.
00:47 What I want to look at first for Malik Willis
00:49 is his quick timing throws.
00:51 This was probably the biggest improvement
00:53 that he needed to make.
00:54 Just getting the ball out quick
00:55 within the timing of the offense.
00:57 And we saw him do that on multiple occasions
00:59 against the Chicago Bears on Saturday.
01:01 Here, gets to his back foot,
01:03 looks at his outside option.
01:05 It isn't there.
01:06 So just quickly dumps it off to Chris Moore over the middle.
01:08 Should have been an easy completion,
01:10 a good gain on first down.
01:11 Chris Moore drops it,
01:12 but we're looking at Malik Willis here.
01:14 And Malik Willis, within the timing of the offense,
01:16 made good decisions and made a good throw.
01:18 You'd like to see Chris Moore bring that down.
01:20 We see that again here.
01:21 Malik Willis hitting his back foot,
01:23 getting the ball out.
01:24 Is my initial read open?
01:26 He looks over the middle.
01:27 He doesn't see his guy.
01:28 Okay, if that's not there,
01:30 then I'm throwing it to the sideline.
01:31 And this has to be not only an accurate throw,
01:34 but a strong throw too.
01:35 So a great job there by Malik.
01:36 This is a boring throw.
01:38 This is a simple throw on first down,
01:40 but a good gain.
01:41 Hey, what do I got?
01:43 Easy drag route over the middle.
01:45 This is NFL quarterbacking right there.
01:47 Easy, simple throws.
01:48 Here's a nice bang route from Malik Willis,
01:50 a little bit of a hospital ball to Reggie Roberson,
01:52 but a great catch there.
01:54 And here, I really love this play.
01:56 You see the two over the middle guys
01:58 take up the two defenders
01:59 and Reggie Roberson slides right behind the linebackers.
02:03 And look at this anticipatory throw from Malik Willis.
02:06 He's letting go of that ball
02:08 when Reggie Roberson is on the other side of the linebacker.
02:11 Hits him perfect, turns into a run after catch play.
02:13 This might be my favorite play
02:15 from Malik Willis for the entire day.
02:17 This is beautiful quarterback play, right?
02:20 Look where he let go of that ball and where he put it.
02:22 That right there is fantastic.
02:25 But it wasn't just the quick throws and the timing throws.
02:28 Malik Willis showed some special flashes
02:31 on Saturday as well.
02:32 And it's hard to ignore kind of his playmaking ability here.
02:36 Nothing open, he could dump it down underneath,
02:38 but instead extends the play,
02:40 makes a beautiful throw to the sideline.
02:42 I mean, watch this throw and the placement of this throw.
02:45 This is an incredible delivery by Malik Willis.
02:49 And he just looks, look at that.
02:51 He just looks comfortable out there and that's huge.
02:53 And here, obviously he's got the mobility,
02:56 nothing open under the middle.
02:58 He throws this, it's probably gonna be deflected.
03:00 Takes off, uses his natural ability and his mobility,
03:03 shakes a defender and gets the first down.
03:05 This is on third and six in the red zone.
03:07 This is a big play for the Titans offense
03:10 to get that first touchdown.
03:12 He looks one way to sell the fake.
03:14 Look at that movement.
03:16 Okay, that's special.
03:17 That's just special from Malik right there.
03:19 So here, we gotta talk about some of the bad
03:22 with Malik Willis as well,
03:24 'cause there was some bad in there.
03:26 And some of it is just late throws again, the timing.
03:29 He's gotta work on that.
03:30 This is third and three.
03:31 Look at the first down marker.
03:32 Get the ball out right now.
03:34 Get it out, take the first down.
03:37 Go, and he doesn't, he holds it,
03:39 and it turns into a strip sack and a turnover.
03:41 Like those are big moments.
03:42 Just take what's there right here.
03:44 Get the ball out.
03:45 Drill it in there, but waiting, taking his time,
03:49 turns into a turnover.
03:50 So those are some of the problems.
03:52 Here, dump this ball down to either of the guys underneath.
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03:58 Just dump it off instead.
04:00 It turns into another sack.
04:02 I mean, I know this is quick timing here,
04:04 but right here, you gotta know that I'm in trouble.
04:07 Just dump it off to two guys underneath who are open.
04:10 Tough play, but that's what you gotta do.
04:12 Another one here.
04:14 This is going to be wide open on the crosser.
04:16 There is so much space there,
04:18 and Malik doesn't let go of the ball.
04:20 Is he getting pressured?
04:21 Yes, but there's a chance he could've got it out there.
04:24 So missed opportunity.
04:26 Now, outside of late throws,
04:27 there were just some bad throws too.
04:28 I mean, this is way behind Mason Kinsey.
04:31 Will Levis threw a terrible pass on this play as well,
04:33 but that's just a bad throw.
04:35 And here, you cannot do this backed up
04:37 in the shadow of your own goalpost.
04:39 This ball is high.
04:41 This ball is late.
04:42 And honestly, you just can't throw it there.
04:44 So that's just a bad throw.
04:46 Here, this has been overly dissected.
04:48 I've said my piece before on Twitter.
04:51 Take away the result of the play should he have caught it.
04:54 That's a high throw.
04:55 That's not a good throw,
04:56 and Malik Willis, in his own mind,
04:58 would want to throw a better pass there.
05:00 And this one, this could be a potential game winner
05:04 to Mason Kinsey.
05:05 This is a tough throw.
05:07 It is a tough throw, no lie,
05:08 but Malik definitely sailed that,
05:10 and that ball could've been a little lower
05:13 and given Kinsey a chance.
05:14 But with that being said,
05:15 that's my breakdown of Malik Willis' performance
05:17 against the Bears.
05:18 Some really good, some bad in there as well.
05:20 We'll see him continue to improve this preseason.
05:23 Make sure you guys subscribe
05:24 to the Locked on Titans YouTube channel
05:26 and follow me @TicTacTitans on Twitter.