Malik Willis is the Best Backup QB in the NFL

It took Malik a quarter of the season for him to rid himself of the Titans stink that surrounded him after he was traded away from Tennessee to Green Bay late in the preseason. Since then, all he has done is seize the most of his opportunity and prove to the league that he is a starting QB. Reading that sentence might seem like a stretch but let’s take a look at week one starters across the league this year. You can comfortably argue that Malik is better than eight week one starters and they are:

1.      Daniel Jones

2.      Will Levis

3.      Gardner Minshew

4.      Bryce Young

5.      Anthony Richardson

6.      Deshaun Watson

7.      Jacoby Brissett

8.       Russell Wilson

In nine quarters of action Malik has completed 74.4 percent of his passes for 380 yards and 3 TDs with 0 interceptions with a rating of 130.3 (highest in the NFL). On top of that Malik has also rushed for 137 yards and one touchdown proving that he is a playmaker with his arm and with his legs. Stats aside, he has just made winning plays, for example the 51-yard completion to Reed against the Jaguars to set up the walk off field goal. After one game with limited passing that focused heavily on the run LaFluer has opened the playbook and allowed Malik to showcase his arm and playmaking ability. Against the titans he was able to air the ball out and the offense looked dynamic and coming in cold against the Jags he led the two-minute drill effectively and got the team in a position to win the game. Looking at his play and poise behind center shows that he can be a starter in the NFL. More importantly, looking at the play within the NFL at quarterback show the importance of having an elite backup QB. The only two arguments against Malik are Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston and the counter argument for that is that they are not backups. Objectively speaking both those QBs should be the starter but because of the use of a draft pick on Richardson and 230 million dollars spent on Watson those two have to start even when they are inferior to their backup. Aside from those two the other backups that have seen action are Skylar Thompson, Spencer Rattler, Aidan O’Connell, Tyler Huntly, Drake Maye, Justin Fields (kinda), and Marcus Mariota. Not the most impressive list of names and in the action they saw none of them (aside from Mariota who played the Panthers) have been put in a position and performed like Malik has. Malik has rejuvenated his career and escaped a dumpster fire down in Nashville and continues to highlight the importance of having an elite backup.