Four games into the season, Bobby Slowik is taking the predictable side of the Malik Willis debate.
The Dolphins offensive coordinator defended his quarterback after being asked whether Willis has been missing open receivers and throwing elsewhere. Slowik pushed back on the idea that it’s easy to judge those plays from the outside, saying, "Anytime you sit there and use a clicker and rewind a play six times and question a decision of someone doing the hardest thing in sports, which is playing…
That defense lines up with what Jeff Hafley said earlier in the week, when he also backed Willis in terms of making decisions in the moment. And to be fair, both coaches have a point.
It is one thing to slow a play down on film and spot the mistake. It is another to process everything in real time, in a collapsing pocket, with receivers moving and defenders closing.
Still, the concern around Willis is not going away.
The numbers through four weeks are uneven, and the eye test has not done him many favors either. Willis has not completed more than 60.9% of his passes in any game, and his next-best mark sits at 55.6% in Weeks 1 and 3. His yardage and decision-making have also been up and down, and that inconsistency is hard to ignore.
The Dolphins’ wide receiver group deserves some of the blame, too. Separation has been an issue, and Dante Walker has already laid out those problems. But even accounting for that, there have been too many snaps where Willis appears to miss open targets or pass on them altogether, even when he is not under pressure.
At this stage, he still looks like a quarterback searching for the game instead of letting it come to him. He does not seem fully comfortable trusting what he sees, and that hesitation shows up in the offense. Caleb Douglas being out may be part of that equation, but it is not the whole story.
Slowik is doing what he has to do by standing up for his quarterback. Willis was not brought in to carry Miami to a Super Bowl run; he was brought in to steady things and raise the baseline for a franchise that has not had enough of that. In that sense, he has done the job.
On the field, though, the gap is still there.
Some Dolphins fans will side with Slowik and Hafley and point to the difficulty of the position. Others will look at Willis and see a quarterback who is struggling to keep up.
The broader picture is hard to miss: the top quarterbacks in this league know where the ball needs to go in a heartbeat. Willis is not there yet.
In Other News...
Dolphins Rebuild Is Putting These Two Young Guards Under The Microscope
Miamis early-season stumble has only sharpened the focus on the interior of its offensive line, and two young guards are drawing most of the attention. With the team off to an 0-4 start, the Dolphins are treating the development of Kadyn Proctor and Jonah Savaiinaea as part of the bigger rebuild, looking for signs that the group can grow into something sturdier as the season goes on. Both have flashed enough to keep the staff interested, even if the results have been uneven.
Proctor has been the more eye-catching case in terms of raw ability, while Savaiinaea has shown the cleaner trajectory after settling into his second year. The evaluations have not been uniform, but the larger view remains encouraging, with coaches and analysts seeing enough progress to believe both players can matter to Miami down the line, even as the week-to-week scrutiny keeps getting tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Willis Gave Bengals A Read Dolphins Fans Will Hate
The Bengals got a close look at Malik Willis, and Jordan Battle came away convinced there was something in the quarterbacks mechanics that helped Cincinnati sit on passes. Battle said Willis had a tell before releasing the ball, a small giveaway the defense picked up on, and the result was a disruptive afternoon for the Bengals secondary. Miami fans will recognize why that matters, because any hint that a defense can read a quarterback before the throw is the kind of thing that can travel fast.
Battle turned that awareness into production, intercepting Willis twice and helping Cincinnati force three turnovers in the game. The safety now leads the league with three interceptions on the season, which only adds to the intrigue for Dolphins observers who are watching how opposing defenses are diagnosing quarterbacks around the league. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Fans Will Love Whos Bringing The Energy Sunday
Miamis matchup with Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon will have a different feel in the booth, with FOX turning to Eric Collins and Mark Schlereth for the call. Collins, best known as the play-by-play voice of the Charlotte Hornets, has already built a reputation for bringing plenty of energy to whatever he covers, and that has made him an appealing name for fans who like their broadcasts with a little extra life.
Collins also has at least some recent NFL experience, having called a game last season, which only adds to the curiosity around this assignment. He may not be FOXs top announcing duo, but Dolphins fans have already shown plenty of interest in hearing him handle another one of their games, and this one should have no shortage of attention before the opening kickoff. [Read more 🡒]