"Went where they were supposed to go"- John Middlekauff suggests Malik Willis lucky to be drafted by Titans
When Malik Willis was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the third round of the NFL Draft, it was a bit of a surprise. Willis fell further than many expected him to and few had envisaged him landing with the Titans at pick no. 86.
: 2022 #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC
With the No. 86 overall pick in the 2022 @NFLDraft, the @Titans select Malik Willis!
📺: 2022 #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC https://t.co/cGlNpHN9Jf
John Middlekauff spoke on the Herd and suggested Willis should perhaps be thankful he got drafted by the Titans at all. Middlekauff said:
" I struggle with the word dropped. A lot of teams viewed him as a first-round player, he had some first-round attributes. Huge arm athletic guy, but as a player, he was not very good."
He went on to say:
"And this notion though, Josh Allen is huge he was six-five and a half, ran like Cam Newton and could throw the ball out of the stadium. I mean, he's a pretty unique case, right."
Then he said:
"I think both he and Desmond Ridder went where they were supposed to go. There's we act like there's something wrong with going to the third round. Most humans that play the sport of football, never sniffed the NFL, let alone gotten drafted. Going in the third round is still pretty impressive as a quarterback."
Ryan Tannehill said it isn't his job to mentor Malik Willis
When the Tennesse Titans drafted Willis, Ryan Tannehill was asked if he would be his mentor. Tannehill responded by saying it wasn't his job to be his mentor:
“Part of being in a quarterback room, in the same room, we’re competing against each other, we’re watching the same tape, we’re doing the same drills. I don’t think it’s my job to mentor him. But if he learns from me along the way, then that’s a great thing.”
The video went viral and many people had their opinions on Tannehill's statement. One person who felt strongly about it was former NFL Hall-of-Fame quarterback Kurt Warner.
Warner responded by saying:
"I will never understand the [I'm not here to mentor the next guy] mentality.. so for all you young QBs that need a mentor, DM me and I'll be that guy, happy to help in any way I can."
Kurt Warner did not like Ryan Tannehill saying he doesn’t think it’s his job to mentor Malik Willis.
Thoughts? https://t.co/7h6LzMjZdp
Some analysts understand where the quarterback is coming from. On the Herd, Colin Cowherd defended the quarterback:
"Ryan Tannehill is fighting his career... It's not his job to develop his replacement... I'm not developing you to steal my job."
The debate is clearly going to rage on and an interesting quarterback relationship seems to be developing in Tennessee. Will Willis reach out to Warner for advice, or will Tannehill step up when required? It will be interesting to see how this unfolds when the season kicks off.