Trading for Malik Willis

[milani]

Vikings just won with a backup

Somewhat. But Darnold has plenty of experience and a great cast of characters. And he has been on their roster the whole offseason.

 

[gopkrs]

Darnold looked very good

 

[DoURant]

Vikings just won with a backup

Aaron Jones ran for just under 100 yds and scored the Vikings 1st TD of the season.

 

[sschind]

Vikings just won with a backup

What happened to Darnold? He was going to be the starter at the beginning of the season anyway.

 

[gopkrs]

What happened to Darnold? He was going to be the starter at the beginning of the season anyway.

Darnold played very well. They probably took him out when the game was essentially over.

 

[Sanguine camper]

Darnold played very well. They probably took him out when the game was essentially over.

The Giants are probably the worst team in the NFL along with the Panthers. I'm sure Vikings fans are thinking their now going to the SB. Problem with the Packers winning any games without Live is that you can't rely on the defense or special teams. The offense has to carry the day and I don't think that's going to happen with Clifford or Willis.

 

[OldSchool101]

Teams whose strength is at QB are affected. Teams that live by their defense or running the ball not as much. Malik has some experience and a lot of arm and speed. This will look like a Michael Vick wild cat offense. Lot of improvising. Lot of RPO. Lot of broken plays. Defenses will confuse him and blitz. Stack the box. Lot of false starts, delay of games. MLF will dial it down. The fact that Malik is new to THIS offense makes this difficult. Had he been on our roster a couple years he could adjust quickly. But it could be exciting watching this kid take off and run.

Exactly what I was going to say.
The only difference would be I think Malik needed at least 4-6 weeks learning or implementing the playbook. Going out there this soon is going to be challenging.

This said. I’m not going to underestimate Malik either. He’s not as much reliant on playbook as a traditional QB. He had elite athleticism and a surprisingly good arm. He also had a little Favre in him with the rising to the occasion. If they dumb down the playbook a little, I think he’ll be fine.

 

[OldSchool101]

Malik will need adjustment time. However id rather him than Pratt. Malik was jumpy in his first 2022 season, but seems to be settling down some.
He finished the 2024 preseason
20/27 201 yards 2TD’s 1 INT.

The part that’s under the radar is his Run ability. He’s dangerous once out of the pocket. Maybe not Michael Vick or Lamar Jackson, but he’s 100% the top of the next tier behind Elite. Call him Near-Elite. Just this Preseason he rushed for 11-99 yards (9.0 per carry)
In his college career he tied Lamar Jackson for forcing the most missed tackles since the 2015 season. Malik put up ~300 yards in PS when the ball is in his hands.

So while it was Preseason, accuracy is accuracy. Now we could argue the Defense wasn’t as good, which is true. Yet he still has to land his throws to get over 70% completions on a full game worth of sample. So he’s obviously getting comfortable. Even 3 Camps and Preseasons is a substantial help. If he was a Rook I’d be sweaty palms

Let Malik sink or swim, but let’s put him in the best available packages to protect him and adapt to his strengths. He has a cannon arm so I wouldn’t be afraid to give him latitude to test it and let him lead Watson on a bomb. His first start in GB will likely be nothing more than adaptation and getting film on him. Similar to Loves KC or Detroit starts, he’ll make some mistakes. Even then it’s about shaking the nerves and becoming a Starter. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he impresses inside 2-3 weeks. We need only steal 1 maybe 2 games to stay alive. We don’t need to win the world over. We need to play field position and our D and ST and Run blocking need to step up.

 

[milani]

Exactly what I was going to say.
The only difference would be I think Malik needed at least 4-6 weeks learning or implementing the playbook. Going out there this soon is going to be challenging.

This said. I’m not going to underestimate Malik either. He’s not as much reliant on playbook as a traditional QB. He had elite athleticism and a surprisingly good arm. He also had a little Favre in him with the rising to the occasion. If they dumb down the playbook a little, I think he’ll be fine.

If you watch him even using the playbook at Tennessee he improvises a lot. You will not see him going through all the progressions. If he breaks the pocket and escapes the rush he will take off or you might see him heave a long one. I fear too many 3 and outs which puts our D behind the 8 ball. Hopefully, MLF will dial it down to just get a first down and keep our D off the field. The kid does have an arm. I was hoping Friday he would get a shot at a Hail Mary.

 

[lambeaulambo]

I want to see what he can do. Gunslinger??!! Never seen that b4...lol.

 

[LambeauLombardi]

Love's injury timeline seems pretty uncertain. I know they won't do it, but they should give up a 3rd for Jamies or Flacco. Make sure Love is healthy while not rushing him back and honestly these guys won't be much further behind on playbook knowledge than Willis who's only been here a few weeks. Especially Flacco, he's at an age he can learn the playbook and in game situations pretty quick. Unfortunately after the Deshaun Watson debacle, the Browns may not want to move on from Jamies now.

 

[milani]

Love's injury timeline seems pretty uncertain. I know they won't do it, but they should give up a 3rd for Jamies or Flacco. Make sure Love is healthy while not rushing him back and honestly these guys won't be much further on playbook knowledge than Willis who's only been here a few weeks. Especially Flacco, he's at an age he can learn the playbook and in game situations pretty quick. Unfortunately after the Deshaun Watson debacle, the Browns may not want to move on from Jamies now.

Not sure any veteran who has never been on our roster can learn or play in the MLF offense in such a short time. If it is a season ender you give it a try.

 

[Firethorn1001]

Love's injury timeline seems pretty uncertain. I know they won't do it, but they should give up a 3rd for Jamies or Flacco.

A 3rd round pick for a QB for potentially a few weeks? That reeks of desperation. They already spent a 7th a week or so ago and I very much doubt they are going to throw a 3rd out.

 

[LambeauLombardi]

A 3rd round pick for a QB for potentially a few weeks? That reeks of desperation. They already spent a 7th a week or so ago and I very much doubt they are going to throw a 3rd out.

If this is a 6 week injury, I definitely think it's worth it. I just threw out a 3rd just because I figured that'd be a deal Indy would for sure accept.
I'm also someone that is a lot more optimistic with this team/roster than others and think this team can legitimately win a Super Bowl. Wasting a year with a Deshon Kizer/Brett Hundley caliber qb for even 4 games can be potentially devastating.

 

[Firethorn1001]

If this is a 6 week injury, I definitely think it's worth it. I just threw out a 3rd just because I figured that'd be a deal Indy would for sure accept.

Why would they for sure accept? Other teams have their own goals. If I was a Packer fan and the Packers had a capable backup and they just upped and traded him in week 2, I'd be a little miffed.

 

[longtimefan]

Aaron Jones ran for just under 100 yds and scored the Vikings 1st TD of the season.

Vs the giants and 1st game of year

 

[AKCheese]

I’ll be suprised if we throw any (more) draft capital at the problem

 

[Krabs]

Vikings just won with a backup

Darnold was the starting QB for MN. That's why they brought him in. They were not going to start JJ. He might have been starting by the end of the season, but Darnold was always going to be the day 1 starter.

 

[Krabs]

The Giants are probably the worst team in the NFL along with the Panthers. I'm sure Vikings fans are thinking their now going to the SB. Problem with the Packers winning any games without Live is that you can't rely on the defense or special teams. The offense has to carry the day and I don't think that's going to happen with Clifford or Willis.

The Giants were projected at ending the season in 30th place. That is only ahead of the Patriots and the Panthers. The over under was set at 6.5 wins for the Giants. I'd actually take the under on this. With that said, MN did what they needed to do.

 

[Krabs]

Willis has been named the starter for the opener against the Colts. Man alive, a month ago I would have said that this would be a disaster. Well, I'm still saying it. I don't think we win a game with this guy as the starting QB. While I do think a change was needed at the backup QB position, I just don't think it was enough time for him to get settled. In his time in the NFL he as been extremely spiritic throwing the ball. MLF has his work cut out for himself drawing up a game plan for this one. The Colts aren't a great team, but they will do plenty enough to be the Pack on Sunday. He hasn't started a game since 2022 in his rookie year and he was pretty awful. I get that he has had 2 more years to sit and learn but this is a bad situation for the Packers. Hopefully, Love can come back in 2-3 weeks. Otherwise, this could be enough to completely derail the season.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

We need to play field position and our D and ST and Run blocking need to step up.

You nailed it.

If the Packers are going to win games while Love is out, the Defense is going to have to play better than they did on Friday. Granted, I think the Eagles have a pretty solid offense and they made some clutch plays against the Packers defense.

If nothing else, the defense now knows that games might be riding on their shoulders.

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[gopkrs]

Willis has been named the starter for the opener against the Colts. Man alive, a month ago I would have said that this would be a disaster. Well, I'm still saying it. I don't think we win a game with this guy as the starting QB. While I do think a change was needed at the backup QB position, I just don't think it was enough time for him to get settled. In his time in the NFL he as been extremely spiritic throwing the ball. MLF has his work cut out for himself drawing up a game plan for this one. The Colts aren't a great team, but they will do plenty enough to be the Pack on Sunday. He hasn't started a game since 2022 in his rookie year and he was pretty awful. I get that he has had 2 more years to sit and learn but this is a bad situation for the Packers. Hopefully, Love can come back in 2-3 weeks. Otherwise, this could be enough to completely derail the season.

I'd like to see them go play action on the very first play and have Willis make a relatively easy throw.

 

[Krabs]

I'd like to see them go play action on the very first play and have Willis make a relatively easy throw.

Not me. The less throwing by this guy the better.

 

[milani]

Not me. The less throwing by this guy the better.

I would like to see him do that and just take off and run. But the Colts will be looking for it.

 

[Krabs]

This about this. Will Levis looked pretty bad yesterday. They kept Mason Rudolph over Willis. Willis was 3rd string on a bad Titans team. We are in big trouble.