Hafley: Willis may run more ‘when we need him to’

While we are happy to see Willis practicing in full, we are slightly unhappy to see that he has a new injury. The Dolphins’ quarterback has already dealt with toe and right thumb injuries this season. Willis remains a viable QB2 starter against the Patriots, but this is worth monitoring.

Willis also added 37 yards and a touchdown on eight rush attempts. It was, by far, his best performance as a Dolphin. It was also the first win for both Willis and first-year head coach Jeff Hafley. Willis picked apart the Jets for chunk play after chunk play. His biggest play of the day was a 63-yard completion to Caleb Douglas, though nearly all of those yards came after the catch. He had already connected with Douglas earlier in the game for his first touchdown of the day. Things will be a lot tougher for Willis and the Miami offense when they take on the Patriots next week. Despite the strong showing today, Willis will remain buried in the QB2 ranks for Week 8.

ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques reports that Willis received treatment for his thumb injury on his right, throwing hand, though he did not share what exactly the injury is. Hopefully, it is nothing serious. If his ball placement is impacted, the Jets’ D/ST would benefit. Willis is a volatile QB2 against them this week. Willis underwent surgery on his left thumb in August 2025.

“Malik needs to be better, but that’s not the headline -- we all need to be better ... everything in the pass game has to be better.. It’s the receivers, it’s the tight ends, it’s the protection,” Hafley continued. Willis is by all statistical measures one of the weakest quarterbacks in the league with his arm, but at least he’s skimping some superflex QB2 value with his legs. There’s not much reason for the Dolphins to bench him either way, as they have nobody they pressingly need to evaluate. Willis should return after the Week 6 bye.

Willis had a poor passing day, finishing the first quarter completing 0-of-4 passes. He threw a pair of second quarter interceptions to Jordan Battle, the first coming off a tip and the second on a cross-body throw and poor decision. He also fumbled and recovered a snap in the two-minute drill while a potential third interception was dropped in the endzone in the second half. Willis recovered with a touchdown throw to Kevin Coleman in the fourth quarter but fumbled deep in the Dolphins’ own territory late in the game. He capped off his day with a quick goal-line rushing score at the end of the game but it was too little, too late. Between his decision-making and lack of ball security, Willis had a poor game but good fantasy production due to his rushing output. Willis is a fantasy QB2 heading into a Week 6 Dolphins bye week.

Willis’ biggest plays of the day are the ones that didn’t count. Willis rolled out of the pocket, escaping pressure, on the Dolphins’ third drive and hit Chris Bell downfield for what could have been a 68-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, the officials determined that the tiniest edge of Bell’s right cleat grazed the sideline pre-catch, during the scramble drill, negating the play altogether. Heartbreaking. Willis also had a 10-yard scramble called back due to holding on the Dolphins’ fifth drive. He attempted a running fadeaway pass 25 yards downfield to Bell on 3rd-and-8 on the Dolphins’ ninth drive, but the catch was contested and ultimately fell incomplete. He is a QB2 against the Bengals next week.

Willis also lost a fumble late in the second quarter. Willis made some of his best throws of the season this afternoon, though the two turnovers were also his first of the year. He also missed impressive rookie Chris Bell on what could have been a pair long-ish touchdowns. He was at least running more after combining for just eight carries between Weeks 1 and 2. That is going to remain a must, especially now with De’Von Achane being waylaid with a serious knee injury. That will further change the face of this undermanned offense, and make things even harder for Willis in this no-win setup. Despite his intriguing young wideouts, he will be difficult to trust as a superflex option vs. the Vikings’ blitz-happy defense in Week 4.

Willis was also held to just six yards on the ground as the 49ers’ defensive line was in his face all game long. 77 of Willis’ 197 passing yards came on one busted coverage pass to Ryan Miller in garbage time against defensive backups. There was a belief that Willis would provide fantasy value because of his talent as a runner, but the Dolphins offense has been so bad through two games that we’d find it hard to recommend playing Willis outside of the deepest two quarterback leagues.

Willis practiced in full all week, so his toe injury should not be an issue against the 49ers. The Dolphins’ quarterback told reporters this week that he is focused on taking fewer sacks moving forward. As his team fell farther behind on the scoreboard last week, Willis began holding onto the ball for far too long. Getting the ball out quickly or throwing on the run could help.

Willis stood in the pocket, holding onto the ball too long when trailing the Raiders in the second half last week. He is currently nursing a toe injury, though scrambling faster, or at least throwing on the run, might help him achieve his new goal. Checking down to explosive RB De’Von Achane would also be smart, but the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s David Furones instead highlighted Willis’ strong connection with rookie WR Caleb Douglas in his article on the subject. Getting the ball out of his hands quickly to either player would be a smart move. Willis’ Dolphins will likely be trailing often in the second half. Developing go-to responses to this situation would help out all involved for fantasy purposes.