Scott Trafford
16.7K posts

Scott Trafford
@Traff
Massive Stoke and Miami Dolphins fan who loves sport in general and having a good laugh! 🐬🏈⚽️
Staffordshire Katılım Ağustos 2011
2.7K Takip Edilen1.5K Takipçiler

@neilreynoldsnfl Neil do you think we will hold on to Achane, surely we have to keep him?
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Big trade. The rebuild in Miami is going to be a complete one from the ground up. All about the Draft for the next few years. Denver on a different timetable... Super Bowl window officially open !
Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter
Broncos are trading for Miami WR Jaylen Waddle, per source. Denver receives: Waddle and Dolphins’ 4th-round pick (11th in round) in this year’s draft. Miami receives: Broncos’ 1st round pick (30th overall) along with their late 3rd and 4th round picks (30th in each round) in this year’s draft.
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@ckparrot Really enjoyed reading this post. Great to get this insight for a fan based in the UK.
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There's a fundamental misunderstanding of what Malik Willis is as a QB projection, and it reminds me of the people who evaluate college players by their helmet/jersey rather than evaluating the players themselves.
Malik Willis is not a "low ceiling" prospect. Complete opposite.
You think he's a low ceiling projection because you've been conditioned over years of NFL watching to believe backup QBs have less gross talent than starters. It makes sense in your head, and so you leave it at that without even really examining the player.
But in Willis's case he has, and has always had, a monstrous amount of gross talent.
He has the athleticism, elusiveness, strength, build, and toughness of a running back. He's been posterizing defensive players since he was at Auburn in 2017 under Gus Malzahn. But he also has an absolute cannon for an arm, which he got more chances to show after transferring out of Malzahn's system over to Liberty.
That's is his DNA as a player. It's why he has been so dangerous scrambling in Green Bay, and also why he's been so dangerous stabbing defenses deep up the field.
You can compare his circumstances (being an NFL backup) to the likes of Matt Flynn, but again that is like lumping all Indiana quarterbacks together to say that Fernando Mendoza will be a crap pro. It's not valid. It's not a thing that is tethered to reality, or any legit comparison of the players.
But the arguments against Malik Willis as a FA signing tend to orbit around the idea that Miami would have capped potential with him at QB. "I hope you like 8-9," etc.
The "ceiling" on him as a QB is that he simply does EXACTLY what he's already done for the last two seasons in Green Bay, except on 4x the snaps. And if he does that, he's in the running for league MVP. That's the ceiling. You're not even asking him to show something he hasn't already shown.
Malik Willis's QBR in 2024 was 77. That's where Drake Maye is this year. And as if that weren't enough, Willis now has a QBR in 2025 of 93, which is a figure that no QB has produced over a full season in the last 20 years. His EPA per play is off the charts. He hasn't turned the ball over since he was a rookie in 2022. His accuracy in 2024 was already on the extreme end, and then somehow he surpassed that in 2025.
He was forced onto the field in Green Bay only weeks after the Packers traded for him, and right away he won two games against the Colts and Titans in Weeks 2 and 3 of 2024. He took over for Jordan Love in Week 18 that year, down 7-3, led a remarkable 4th quarter comeback scoring a TD with 4 minutes left and then leading what should have been a game-winning FG drive, taking the lead with only 58 seconds left in the game.
In 2025 Willis was forced to come into the game against the Giants during a drive, scrambled 16 yards to move the chains on a 3rd & 8 and then threw a ridiculous TD pass to Christian Watson, before Jordan Love returned to the field on the next drive. Green Bay won that game by that TD Willis scored for them. He dueled the Bears into overtime in Week 16 and brought the team into borderline FG range before a bad snap on 4th & 1 opened the way for the Bears to win that game.
Malik was having an absolutely ludicrous game against the Ravens in Week 17, dueling Derrick Henry as he ran 36 times for 216 yards and 4 TDs, until a shoulder injury forced Malik out midway thru the 4th quarter and QB3 Clayton Tune just couldn't keep up.
The shame of all this is because people have this fundamental misunderstanding of the risk/reward on Malik Willis (mostly out of laziness), we aren't able to talk about the actual risks.
This isn't a 'low ceiling' issue. This is a 'low floor' issue.
While Malik's 314 snaps with the Packers over the last 2 seasons represents 314 more pro NFL reps than you've ever seen any of your favorite college football QBs take, it still leaves a lot of unknowables.
Yes, the Dolphins run a similar system as Green Bay. But it isn't the same offensive coordinator, isn't the same play-caller, and isn't the same surrounding cast. Would he make decisions the same way he did in Green Bay? And what about his virtually unerring accuracy up there? Was it the equivalent of a shooter going on a hot streak? Would 4x the snaps expose latent consistency or durability issues that were hidden by a smaller sample?
These are valid questions, but they're generally not being asked because people are shortcutting everything, and not actually examining the player.
Funny thing is, if the alternative that captivates the crowd's imagination is waiting until 2027 to draft one of the passers who may or may not go in the 1st round in that draft, Malik Willis's "high ceiling, low floor" characterization meshes perfectly with that stratagem.
Either you come out of 2026 seeing the same ridiculous, Lamar Jackson-like player that he was in Green Bay for two seasons, or you discover that there were a lot of durability/consistency issues hidden by small sample size and strong system. And if the latter ends up being the case, you are likely in a good position to draft one of the QBs in 2027. What have you lost? Money that was never yours in the first place?
Either way, taking a stab on a QB prospect with THIS caliber gross talent (arm & legs), with 300+ pristine caliber film reps in YOUR system against real NFL defenses, and with a Head Coach and General Manager who can personally vouch for ALL of the things that other teams can't possibly know about the player from his time in Green Bay (e.g. practice reps, locker room comportment, etc.)...is absolutely worth a shot!
It is, frankly, a no-brainer.
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@Traff Thank you Scott. Had a bit of a hiccup as the hackers were still in my account! Did you get a dodgy dm this morning?
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@dharvey4 Its only a few idiots not many. Robins is the future of our club
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@stevenhambo Could not agree more. 7 managers have failed, he is the first to get a grip on not much budget. Hope he is here for the long term
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@JoshLaurent29 Always gave everything for us in a Stoke shirt i am sure claret fans can see that when you pull on their shirt. Pleased you are getting this Prem time now in your career. Good luck Josh
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@neilreynoldsnfl Fantastic stuff from you and the team Neil as always this season. Just a shame the NFL season is so short, well it is for us Miami fans
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This video from the concourse in the away end yesterday is absolutely first class, I bet the poor lad thought wtf is going on 🤣🤣 #stokecity #scfc #awaydays
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