When Dolphins offensive quarterback Bobby Slowik was asked at a Tuesday press conference about the things that excite him about quarterback Malik Willis, he began his answer by saying Willis “can spin the ball all over the field.”
Slowik eventually made his way to mentioning Willis’s ability to impact games as a runner and that topic came up again later in the session. Slowik was asked about the stress that Miami will be able to put on opposing defenses by pairing Willis with running back De’Von Achane.
“I’d say anytime you have a quarterback who has the ability to run, it’s not something that you are going to do down-in, down-out in the NFL; but the threat of it makes it 11 versus 11, as opposed to 11 on 10,” Slowik said, via a transcript from the team. “I think that’s what can get tough sometimes when you get a guy that maybe isn’t as mobile at quarterback is, they have eleven guys and aside from throwing the ball, you’re really playing with ten. So it just lets you equalize some advantageous situations. Outside of that, really the mobility these days shows up more in off-schedule situations than it does anything. So it’s definitely a weapon and it’s a threat and it’s something you want a defense to think about, but I think no one in the NFL is coming out and just living in that world.”
The Dolphins may not want to be living in that world, but there’s little reason to think they would have made such a big bet on Willis while overhauling their receiver room if they didn’t think of his legs as an asset to the offense. Seeing how that plays out will be one of the big things to watch in Miami this season.
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