The Dolphins have become the Packers South this offseason, first hiring Jon-Eric Sullivan (former Green Bay VP of player personnel) as their general manager, then Jeff Hafley (Packers DC) as their head coach, and now signing Malik Willis to be their quarterback. Miami gave Willis a three-year deal worth $67.5 million with $45 million guaranteed — actually a pretty good deal given some of the rumors flying at the NFL Combine that he could go for $30 million or more. Willis will be the starter for Miami in Week 1 barring something unforeseen, and his legs make him an appealing fantasy option. Let’s break this one down fantasy-wise.
MALIK WILLIS
- Willis is a prolific runner, in the top echelon of NFL quarterbacks in that regard. He had nine-plus carries and 44+ rushing yards in both starts for the Packers in 2025 and totaled 12 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown in two starts in 2024. It’s well established by now that running is a cheat code for fantasy quarterbacks, and Willis will flirt with QB1 production in fantasy as a result as long as he remains the starter.
- Willis has frankly been unbelievable in a limited sample size thus far, with the obvious caveat that it’s an incredibly limited sample size. In 141 plays over the past two seasons with Green Bay, Willis easily ranks first among all quarterbacks in EPA/play and completion percentage over expected. His average depth of target (8.7 yards) ranks 11th among all QBs with 100+ plays as well, and he displayed incredible deep passing accuracy in 2025 with the Packers. With that being said, the fact that he signed for $22.5 million APY as a QB displays the league still isn’t fully sold on him being a long-term answer at quarterback, but the efficiency numbers have been silly.
- Going from Matt LaFleur to Bobby Slowik is basically as big a downgrade at offensive play-caller as you can have, at least based on Slowik’s unceremonious tenure as Houston’s offensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024. The Dolphins will also be one of the worst teams in football in 2026, and De’Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle will be the subjects of trade rumors all offseason as a result. Achane and Waddle currently salvage an otherwise dreadful skill-position corps, but there’s certainly a scenario in which Willis’ pass-catcher cupboard ends up barren. Still, he’s going to run so much and will be a legit fantasy starter as a result. We’ll see whether Miami adds another QB in the draft or if Willis is locked in as a 17-game starter in 2026.
DOLPHINS PASS CATCHERS
- This is a devastating blow for the Dolphins’ pass catchers. Even if Willis ends up as a good passer, his offenses have been ridiculously run-heavy with both Tennessee and Green Bay. Draft Sharks’ Jared Smola pointed out that the Titans passed 36% of the time in three Willis starts, and the Packers threw at a 37.1% clip. Willis has scrambled on 13.4% of his career dropbacks and gotten sacked on 12.0%. That’s more than a quarter of his dropbacks that haven’t even turned into a pass attempt. The Dolphins will be in negative game script a lot, but even that likely won’t be enough to save the pass volume here to sustain multiple fantasy-relevant pass catchers. And even worse: What if Willis is good enough to keep the Dolphins competitive? In that scenario, Miami likely easily boasts the lowest pass volume in the league.
