Malik Willis

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Can he be the guy? I'm excited about Bo Nix but I really don't like the idea of putting all our eggs into a true freshman's basket. 

I'd like to see Willis be able to take over the offense because I think he fits it very well. Here's hoping...

[atl-tiger 655]

No, I don't think he can.  He played QB for 1 year in high school and was a project coming in.  Hes gotten no significant reps and we know he hasn't been developed.  The thing he was supposed to be successful at, the zone read, he struggled with this year. 

[Auctoritas 2,828]

Every time I've seen him play, I get the feeling that he's not actually running the play that was called. I do not know why, but it always looks like he has this moment after the snap where he thinks "I can do it better if I do it myself" and then he improvises something, loses a yard, and then has to go back to the sideline.

Entirely speculation, mind you, it's just the feeling I get with the body language as he comes off the field.

[fortworthtiger 34]

7 minutes ago, Auctoritas said:

Every time I've seen him play, I get the feeling that he's not actually running the play that was called. I do not know why, but it always looks like he has this moment after the snap where he thinks "I can do it better if I do it myself" and then he improvises something, loses a yard, and then has to go back to the sideline.

Entirely speculation, mind you, it's just the feeling I get with the body language as he comes off the field.

He looks basically like he either got not attention from the coaches or conflicting messages from the coaches.

[auskip07 930]

His throwing worries me.  any garbage time throw he has made (all his throws came in garbage time)   the receiver has never once been hit in stride.    Always underthrown

[Swamp Eagle 5,134]

18 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Can he be the guy? I'm excited about Bo Nix but I really don't like the idea of putting all our eggs into a true freshman's basket. 

I'd like to see Willis be able to take over the offense because I think he fits it very well. Here's hoping...

Without Gus, all things are possible.

[Zeek 16,649]

At no point have we really seen him throw the ball enough to make a decision. We know he's a Marshall-like runner who looks a tad bit slower.

Lots of overthrows and short passes.. so Stidham but with better running ability! lol

[Sully to Beasley 643]

The QB position will be interesting to follow next year. IMHO we have 4 guys that each have the ability to make plays. Who steps up his game...the dual threat young freshman sensation; the strong armed big fella who received no playing time in '18; the lefty who is a former baseball player; or the second teamer who can run it some but is an unproven passer?

Goodness knows we need a talented OC and QB coach at the Loveliest Village on the Plains to sort out this mess!

[twilli13 600]

26 minutes ago, Auctoritas said:

Every time I've seen him play, I get the feeling that he's not actually running the play that was called. I do not know why, but it always looks like he has this moment after the snap where he thinks "I can do it better if I do it myself" and then he improvises something, loses a yard, and then has to go back to the sideline.

Entirely speculation, mind you, it's just the feeling I get with the body language as he comes off the field.

I think the whole thing with Malik is he is not showing development throwing in practice so Gus wont let him throw in games. Gus is so paranoid about giving game film to opposing teams, I think he feels like he can hide Maliks deficiencies if he doesnt allow him to throw much in games. The whole thing is weird to me but I cant see any other explanation why you wouldnt give your backup QB meaningful reps. 

[WDEDothan1976 2]

He reminds me of Nick Marshall, but I wonder if Gus is just holding him back so he doesn't expose what talent he really has.................

Can he run.........yes

Can he throw....yes

Can he read a defense................???????????? don't know

Can he be a leader on offense.............????????????? don't know yet, we will just have to wait and see

 

 

[I_M4_AU 7,801]

53 minutes ago, WDEDothan1976 said:

He reminds me of Nick Marshall, but I wonder if Gus is just holding him back so he doesn't expose what talent he really has.................

 

 

Was this sarcasm?

[AURealist 2,185]

1 hour ago, WDEDothan1976 said:

He reminds me of Nick Marshall, but I wonder if Gus is just holding him back so he doesn't expose what talent he really has.................

Can he run.........yes

Can he throw....yes

Can he read a defense................???????????? don't know

Can he be a leader on offense.............????????????? don't know yet, we will just have to wait and see

 

 

Been a while since I've seen a "Gus is playing 3 dimensional chess" post.  I do so love the classics.  Well played.  

[autigeremt 6,600]

Cord is the wildcard. He looks like someone who has that “it” factor.

[triangletiger 1,599]

I think it will depend on who Gus brings in as an assistant to fill the void left by Lindsey leaving.

[AUFriction 1,179]

After rewatching film, I don’t know what to think of MW. He’s clearly electric as a runner. As a passer, his film shows a lot of overthrows, which could be poor arm control or it could be something cognitive (nerves, being to amped, etc.). I was actually surprised by how smart he looked with the football in the spring game. He seemed to go through his progressions and dump off underneath when needed. Mostly, I’m concerned with the throw inconsistency. But, Zeek is right. We really haven’t seen much from him throwing outside of the spring game, and that’s really not enough to write him off.

I also agree with whoever it was above that mentioned him trying to do it all himself. This season, it seemed like he always wanted to make a big play even when it was the wrong move for him to do so. That’s something you didn’t see out of him in 2017. I wonder if that means someone else (cord or gatewood) is on his heals. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

6 minutes ago, autigeremt said:

Cord is the wildcard. He looks like someone who has that “it” factor.

Ignoring several circumstances for the moment, I could see him being the kind of guy who isn't particularly fun to watch, with people clamoring for Nix every week, and then all of a sudden it's late October and we realize that we have an outside shot at Atlanta because the offense has been really efficient and balanced and we have some games where we win by throwing for 300+ and others where we throw 9 total passes. 

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

4 minutes ago, AUFriction said:

He seemed to go through his progressions and dump off underneath when needed.

That stood out to me as well. But those passes looked bad.

Well... Let's hope Khalil Tate announces his transfer and maybe we could land him. 

I just don't see Willis ever being the man at Auburn.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

9 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Ignoring several circumstances for the moment, 

Can we get the league office to make that permanent?  You crack me up...every time.

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

21 minutes ago, autigeremt said:

Cord is the wildcard. He looks like someone who has that “it” factor.

Agree! Outside of Bo he looks the best IMO. It's just hard to determine since ShortBusGus will not allow our QBs to throw in live games. Again..i'll say..that the heck is going on with Gatewood. I see so many that have just written him off and i don't understand why?? To say any of our QBs are not showing promise in practice doesn't carry much weight with me since we know Gus can't develop a QB to save his life. The Qbs that have looked "great" in practice really have not proven to look good on game day. 

[SumterAubie 3,031]

52 minutes ago, autigeremt said:

Cord is the wildcard. He looks like someone who has that “it” factor.

I WOULD really like see some extended playing time for Sandberg in the bowl game. Running all the offense he is capable of running. Not just handing off on dive plays.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

I personally would like to see a Joey Gatewood outside of the Gus M doghouse.  I may never get my wish.  We all forget for his size what a great athlete he is.

[Tiger 8,822]

Just now, NorthGATiger said:

I personally would like to see a Joey Gatewood outside of the Gus M doghouse.  I may never get my wish.  We all forget for his size what a great athlete he is.

He could be great. He could be crap. Gus' doghouse doesn't care. 

Bad part of this is even the Cam Newton did not start to really start to reach his potential until 2-3 years of college. This year was a complete waste for Gatewood considering he could've gotten some real live snaps and still retained his redshirt. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 minute ago, NorthGATiger said:

I personally would like to see a Joey Gatewood outside of the Gus M doghouse.  I may never get my wish.  We all forget for his size what a great athlete he is.

I haven’t forgotten. 

[SumterAubie 3,031]

3 hours ago, atl-tiger said:

No, I don't think he can.  He played QB for 1 year in high school and was a project coming in.  Hes gotten no significant reps and we know he hasn't been developed.  The thing he was supposed to be successful at, the zone read, he struggled with this year. 

I can't read an offense for squat, but I have the notion Malzahn has not allowed a qb to run a true zone read since Marshall's first year.

[gr82be 14,423]

One thing that might help is to make the ADay game an actual game and give these guys a chance to compete. Let's see some actual blood, sweat and tears. Let them all go "live" and give Willis and Sandberg the full offense and go at it, no orange jerseys. Then let Gatewood play a quarter too (hopefully he's still around). I understand wanting to avoid injuries but Gus has to take the gloves off and determine who is going to lead this team and get the reps needed to give us a fighting chance in the fall. Gus being Gus makes me not believe in what I just typed. Just wishful thinking on my part.