Malik Willis: I Thought I Was Done
Liberty quarterback Malik Willis talks like someone who believes he’s destined for NFL greatness, but it wasn’t always that way.
In fact, Malik Willis didn’t even enjoy football until he got to high school. “I didn’t even watch football like that until high school.” Willis said. “I used to think it was boring.”
The 22 year old only took an interest in the sport ‘when I started getting better at it’. Malik Willis still didn’t think he was NFL bound while he played for Auburn.
“I thought I was done,” he said. “I thought I was finna go have fun and play my last two or three years, but I’m here now, so I’m happy.”
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Instead, he transferred to Liberty and enjoyed a fantastic 2020 season in which he threw for 2,250 yards, 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. As well as that, he had 944 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns.
Now, there is a swagger about Willis. He even believes he deserves to be the first quarterback to be selected in the upcoming draft. He’s not fazed by that prospect, either.
“[Teams] always are going to let you know how big your position is,” he said. “I mean, you’re the face of the franchise, literally. You’re the face of the city. So, you’ve got to understand everything that comes with that and making sure you’re doing all the right things and making sure you’re doing your job.”
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However with a 6.1 completion percentage for 2021, he undoubtedly has work to do on his accuracy. Willis says he’s been working on his footwork to address the shortcoming.
“Somebody’s always going to think [you’re] trash,” Willis said. “That’s just the way the game goes. It is what it is. I’m going to just keep on going. I’m not playing for their approval.
“That’s where some of the flaws in my game come from, maybe some inaccuracies,” he said.
“It’s just from footwork. It’s not from just being inaccurate. They can just say I can’t throw, whatever.”
