Obligatory Reminder Not To Overreact To Preseason, BUT...Titans QB Malik Willis Looked NICE In His NFL Debut

Rob Carr. Getty Images.

Malik Willis made his unofficial NFL debut for the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night, and after an inauspicious opening possession, the rookie third-round pick outta Liberty let 'em know he was HERE in Baltimore.

Below is the fist of possibly many touchdown runs for Willis deep in the red zone. I know Ryan Tannehill is a rather excellent athlete at the quarterback position, but if you gave Willis a package once you get inside the 10, opponents will be hard-pressed to stop the Titans from scoring when they're in conflict with Willis and Derrick Henry at the mesh point of a read-option play.

My favorite plays of Willis' night came from that bazooka he has attached to his right arm, though. First he flung a straight-up BOMB on the Ravens secondary…gave me deja vu of Joe Burrow going off for a combined 941 yards through the air in his two starts vs. Baltimore last season but I digress…

Then…may I interest you in a Patrick Mahomes-esque arm angle on this one by Willis rolling to his left?

I agree this year's quarterback class wasn't a good one. However, Willis was my QB1 and did rank in the mid-20s on my big board. Some of that is due to the inflated value of the position he plays. Much of it is his dual-threat playmaking abilities, and the sheer arm talent he has in spades.

OK so let's dial back a bit. I know it's preseason. Vanilla schemes. Second- and even third-string players in action. But let's be real, the Ravens have one of the most loaded secondaries in the sport. Even their backups are pretty damn good. Did Willis bail from the pocket a little early a couple times? Yes. Did he misfire on some of his passes? Yup. But still, he showed some good discipline, the ability to work through progressions, and good poise for the most part. Even when his protection broke down, which happened several times, Willis stayed composed and really, honestly, exceeded my expectations.

Once he fell to the third round in the draft and Tennessee got him, I thought the Titans might just bury him behind Tannehill and Logan Woodside on the depth chart in 2022. Pretty sure Willis showed more tonight than Woodside has in his career.

I imagine Willis won't be supplanting Tannehill as the starter any time soon, yet his Day 2 draft status means he can take his time developing. So far, so good for the rook. In his first half of NFL action, Willis went 6-for-11 passing for 107 yards, and carried the rock four times for 21 yards and a score. Then he added a 17-yard scramble in the third quarter before bowing out. Well done!!

Aaaaaaaaand with this from Defensive-Minded Hardo Head Coach Mike Vrabel after the game, maybe Willis will, unfortunately, be relegated to QB3 duty behind Woodside since he was, um, using his athletic ability too often?

Between Vrabel being a typical dinosaur about offensive football — I think we can all grasp Willis has a ways to go as a pure pocket passer — and Tannehill going out of his way to publicly state he'd not be an awesome teammate, sounds like Willis is being set up for success in Nashville. I know the Tannehill mentor thing was a tad overblown. Still, like I wrote a while back…it's the principle of the thing. Same here with Vrabel to a degree. Why the coach thought the move was to yank Willis instead of giving him the extra reps he needs is beyond me. Then Woodside goes in and throws two picks. LOL.

Twitter @MattFitz_gerald