Mike Tomlin Took QB Malik Willis to Dinner on Monday Night

[Badcat]

If Willis drops down to 20 (doubtful) Mike Tomlin will not blink…

in an OJ hertz commercial sprint to the podium he will hurdle another team’s draft table and personally turn in the pick clocking a faster 40 than anyone at the combine did this year.

And we’ll all have to deal with a WR1, Dean, Penning or Davis having also dropped right into our lap just to make it really burn. Obviously, I’m kinda living in my fears over this year’s pick.

I think it's worse than that. If Willis makes it out of the top 11, the Steelers jump ahead of the Saints to grab him. 100%

 

[Drink IRON City]

With Mason who was once thought to be BEN's replacement on the roster, Turbiskey signed for immeadiate veteran presence / start..........................

Haskins in waiting.........................................

Unless the FO sees these guys as failures why would they pick a 1st round QB of a weak class. Bigger needs and if any of those 2-5 top players of need are there and we pass on any of them............................ all I can say is shitbizZle.

Current roster shows no need of a QB in this draft but FA signings show a couple positions of HUGE need WR / DL / S / OL / CB (not in order). If any of these top position players are there and we take a not sure thing QB then time will only tell if that's the right decision but us fans will know way sooner than the FO.



Salute the nation

 

[Steeltime]

I watched Willis' workout today. The kid reminds me of Duante Culpepper...grip it and rip it. Amazing talent. I think he does too many "1st read not there...oh ****!" things right now. If a great QB coach can improve his abilities to read Defenses and anticipate players getting (NFL) open he will be successful. Wouldn't touch him at 20 but I'm just a schmuck on the interwebs.

You are 100% correct, guru. Here is a really cool video of every play Willis was directly involved in either via pass or run vs. Mississippi, the only Power 5 team Liberty played last season.




Several things. First, his LT was awful. Jeez, how about you try and slow the defender down?!? Second, maybe because of the pressure, Willis tended to make his first read, then pull the ball down and look to run. Third, his accuracy was not bad at all, but the problem is the decision making. He tries to force the ball into a crowd and is picked. Fourth, he is definitely quick and elusive, but not Lamar Jackson when running the ball. He gets good yardage but does not race past defenders. I think that is why he declined to run the 40. I think we might be surprised to learn he is a 4.6 guy, not a 4.4 guy.

He reminds me SO MUCH of Kordell Stewart. Great throw followed by a terrible decision, good running abilities but a tendency to tuck and run rather than go to a 2nd receiver when the pass rush closes in, good enough that a coach is going to spend years believing he can turn Willis around and make him elite.

At 20? Yeah, not me. Too many quality players available.

 

[Steeltime]

I think it's worse than that. If Willis makes it out of the top 11, the Steelers jump ahead of the Saints to grab him. 100%

 

[Badcat]

I know...it made me ill while writing that post.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Hopefully the (insert name of ****** team here) grabs him long before we can even entertain ideas of trading up

 

[Djfan]

You are 100% correct, guru. Here is a really cool video of every play Willis was directly involved in either via pass or run vs. Mississippi, the only Power 5 team Liberty played last season.




Several things. First, his LT was awful. Jeez, how about you try and slow the defender down?!? Second, maybe because of the pressure, Willis tended to make his first read, then pull the ball down and look to run. Third, his accuracy was not bad at all, but the problem is the decision making. He tries to force the ball into a crowd and is picked. Fourth, he is definitely quick and elusive, but not Lamar Jackson when running the ball. He gets good yardage but does not race past defenders. I think that is why he declined to run the 40. I think we might be surprised to learn he is a 4.6 guy, not a 4.4 guy.

He reminds me SO MUCH of Kordell Stewart. Great throw followed by a terrible decision, good running abilities but a tendency to tuck and run rather than go to a 2nd receiver when the pass rush closes in, good enough that a coach is going to spend years believing he can turn Willis around and make him elite.

At 20? Yeah, not me. Too many quality players available.

What does he see in this guy? That was super unimpressive. Some good throws, but nothing to say "Sign him!"

Maybe he could back up Najee?

 

[SteveA]

A starting young QB on a ROOKIE contract in todays NFL economy makes a whole lotta damn sense

 

[Steeltime]

What does he see in this guy? That was super unimpressive. Some good throws, but nothing to say "Sign him!"

Agreed. That is why I try and watch entire game films for players I want to evaluate and not highlights. The Ole Miss game film shows a guy who threw two passes into a crowd that were picked, a screen pass that he threw directly to a defender but was dropped, and one pick that was not his fault when the defensive back outfought the WR for the ball. The three interception total was deserved, since the 3rd completely his fault (the easiest of the bunch) was just dropped.

 

[troymania]

I thought he had breakaway speed. He doesn't. He certainly has arm strength and I was surprised by his accuracy. His offensive line was brutal and the last interception was just desperation at the end of the game. His decision-making is awful and part of that is Freese and the one option and run approach. I would like to truly know how much of that is on Freese or Willis's inability to go through his progression. I thought Stewart was a much more dynamic athlete than Willis is. I still say to this day, if Kordell Stewart would have stayed in his Slash role or at WR he could have been All-Pro and played a hell of a lot longer.

 

[Steeltime]

I thought he had breakaway speed. He doesn't.

Yeah, exactly what I saw.

His offensive line was brutal and the last interception was just desperation at the end of the game.

No doubt, but it was 1st down with 1:09 remaining. You have several plays to score the TD, don't end the game with a stupid throw into a group of four defenders. Literally four blue jerseys in the area where he soft-tossed the ball.

 

[Troglodyte]

How do these dinners get arranged? Do coaches put in bids and the winning coach gets to have dinner with a prospect? Does the prospect pick which dinner he goes to? I just find it hard to believe top guys only have one coach who wants to take them to dinner.

The ones with the nice cars and the bad boys get the dates. What is it about bad boys?

 

[SteelBuckeye]

I see the knives are already out for the possible new QB.
Welcome to Steelernation kid. Where we'll tell you how much you suck before you get a chance to suck.
Especially if the media reports that the HC and/or GM "really, really likes" you. Because the only time we trust the media around here is when they report something we view as negative about the team.

 

[SteelerFan448]

The Steelers are going heavy on the QBs in the pro day circuit. Sent all of the big guns to watch Pickett, Willis, and Corral. They're either putting on a stellar smokescreen or are they considering forcing a QB in the first?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I notice he pats the ball when not pressured before throwing. I always heard that is a very bad trait for a QB, especially in the NFL and one that is hard to prevent via coaching. I have such a bad vibe with this guy....not since the Troy Edwards pick.

 

[topseed]

I watched Willis' workout today. The kid reminds me of Duante Culpepper...grip it and rip it. Amazing talent. I think he does too many "1st read not there...oh ****!" things right now. If a great QB coach can improve his abilities to read Defenses and anticipate players getting (NFL) open he will be successful. Wouldn't touch him at 20 but I'm just a schmuck on the interwebs.

Duante Culpepper was 6'4" and 260 pounds, bro. Malik Willis is 6 feet, 220. Short and inaccurate. I wouldn't touch him at 20 either. He's the kind of guy who will hold an NFL franchise hostage while they wait years and years for his "amazing talent" to amount to anything. And they'll end up with jack sh*t.

 

[madinsomniac]

That's fair. I saw Josh Allen as a rookie...like you said, get this kid w/ the right QB coach and the sky is the limit...

Except Allen is the exception when it comes to dramatically improving accuracy… the vast majority of guys with meh accuracy never improve… there are small college qbs tgat have turned out good, but few and far between… and the best of them like Mcnair, didn’t have the red flags this kid does

They are drafting a great arm, and those tend to mask a lot of warts in lower talent competition … he has the Kordell and edwards vibe mixed together on him.. i think he busts hard, hopefully elsewhere

 

[Badcat]

Huh...I wonder if the topic of getting the Steelers into the playoffs come up as a discussion point? Naaahh...Mike Tomlin would have choked.

 

[Omar10213245]

footage of Tomlin and Willis at the dinner:

 

[bermudasteel]

Except Allen is the exception when it comes to dramatically improving accuracy… the vast majority of guys with meh accuracy never improve… there are small college qbs tgat have turned out good, but few and far between… and the best of them like Mcnair, didn’t have the red flags this kid does

They are drafting a great arm, and those tend to mask a lot of warts in lower talent competition … he has the Kordell and edwards vibe mixed together on him.. i think he busts hard, hopefully elsewhere

How big do you consider the University of Wyoming? Big??? Berm chuckles...

And like it has been well noted. Josh had less than stellar accuracy coming out of college.

 

[ZonaBurgh]

A starting young QB on a ROOKIE contract in todays NFL economy makes a whole lotta damn sense

I completely agree, but in a normal draft year would any of these guys get a first round grade?

 

[mightyguru]

Duante Culpepper was 6'4" and 260 pounds, bro. Malik Willis is 6 feet, 220. Short and inaccurate. I wouldn't touch him at 20 either. He's the kind of guy who will hold an NFL franchise hostage while they wait years and years for his "amazing talent" to amount to anything. And they'll end up with jack sh*t.

Thanks bro.

 

[SteveA]

I completely agree, but in a normal draft year would any of these guys get a first round grade?

My eye test tells me Malik Willis has many, many of the skills of Patrick Maholmes & a young Michael Vick, both who dominated the NFL

 

[BamaSteeler52]

Why aren't the talking heads pushing Zappe in the first round...
Played well at HBC then jumped up in competition and excelled. Even games against power 5 schools he played well.
Good size
Strong Arm
Throws with anticipation
Very good accuracy
Pocket awareness
Mobile enough to by time
Historically throws TD;s and not many INT's...

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Probably because Zappe is more of a 3-5 round talent