The NFL never sleeps. It’s been a wild offseason, highlighted by many star players such as Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill changing teams. Every day it feels like there’s a major move going down.
Don’t expect the league to slow down anytime soon. We’re just over a month away from the NFL draft, which is a key date on the league’s calendar and always sparks excitement across the league’s 32 fanbases. One draft eligible prospect in particular is generating a lot of interest.
Malik Willis is ascending
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a quarterback prospect has come out of nowhere to push himself into the discussion at the very top of the draft.
We see it almost every year. Whether it’s guys like Kyler Murray, Zach Wilson, Baker Mayfield or Trey Lance, there’s almost always a quarterback that goes from decent prospect to top-5 draft pick.
It wasn’t too long ago where people questioned whether any quarterback prospect in this draft was even worth a first-round pick. Now, a lot of draft experts have up to four quarterbacks being selected on the first day of the draft.
While Kenny Pickett, Matt Corral, Desmond Ridder and Sam Howell are intriguing prospects, the quarterback prospect at the top of mind for everyone right now is Malik Willis out of Liberty. In fact, oddsmakers currently have Malik Willis as the co-favorite to be the second player taken in the draft.
Analyzing the draft odds
The second overall pick currently belongs to the Detroit Lions, with the Jacksonville Jaguars owning the first pick.
Jacksonville is expected to take Aidan Hutchinson, who is a -350 favorite to go first overall. The Jaguars franchise-tagged Cam Robinson and signed Brandon Scherff, so offensive line no longer seems like a pivotal need to address. With Hutchinson likely off the board, these are the players oddsmakers expect to be in play at No. 2:
Willis is a dual-threat quarterback out of Liberty who is currently -200 to be the first quarterback taken in the draft. Walker has passed Kayvon Thibodeaux in many experts’ rankings as the second best edge-rusher in the draft behind Hutchinson. Hamilton is a do-everything safety, but that position is not one that many people deem worthy of an early pick investment.
Two options at No. 2
As mentioned earlier, the Lions currently own the No. 2 pick in the draft. Would they be interested in drafting a quarterback? Yahoo Sports’ Eric Edholm looked into the question a few days ago.
Currently, the team’s starting quarterback is Jared Goff. Goff is still decently young, but over the course of his career, it’s become more evident that he’s more of a game-manager rather than a difference-maker. He’s good enough to start in the league, but most franchises will probably want more from the quarterback position.
There are questions for the Lions to ask. Are they ready to invest in the quarterback position? Goff is still under contract. Next year’s quarterback draft class is supposed to be better than this year’s. CJ Stroud of Ohio State and Bryce Young of Alabama are expected to be at the top of next year’s class. Are they better off having another bad season under Goff in 2022 and then filling their quarterback need in the 2023 draft? Most would agree that Stroud and Young are much better prospects than Willis.
However, Detroit does not need to be the team to draft Willis at No. 2. Could the Lions trade down, accumulate more picks and allow another team to take the Liberty quarterback second overall? Teams like the Panthers, Seahawks, Falcons and Steelers seemingly seem very interested in drafting a quarterback.
Whether it’s the Lions or any other team, there seems to be growing momentum in regards to Malik Willis going very early in the 2022 draft.