{"id":11883,"date":"2024-11-24T11:44:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T11:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11883"},"modified":"2024-11-24T11:44:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T11:44:06","slug":"why-malik-willis-could-help-solve-the-packers-red-zone-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11883","title":{"rendered":"Why Malik Willis Could Help Solve The Packers\u2019 Red Zone Woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis (2) is 2-0 as a starter this season and also rescued the … [+]<\/span> Packers during a come-from-behind win over Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Red zone.<\/p>\n

Dead zone.<\/p>\n

The Green Bay Packers rank just 27th<\/sup> in red zone offense this season, scoring touchdowns on a paltry 48.7% of their trips inside the 20-yard line.<\/p>\n

This is nothing new for a Matt LaFleur team either.<\/p>\n

Green Bay finished 17th<\/sup> in red zone offense in 2023 (53.4%), 23rd<\/sup> in 2022 (51.8%) and 18th<\/sup> in 2021 (57.5%). In fact the Packers have gotten worse in red zone offense every year since 2020 under LaFleur, and this marks Green Bay\u2019s poorest season of the six-year LaFleur-era.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have to do a better job,\u201d said LaFleur, whose Packers host San Francisco Sunday at 3:25 p.m. CST. \u201cThat\u2019s the emphasis and we\u2019re working hard at it. It\u2019s just we haven\u2019t gotten the results that we\u2019d like right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaFleur has tried several things when Green Bay\u2019s gets inside the 20, with largely subpar results. So it\u2019s time he tries something \u2014 or someone \u2014 new.<\/p>\n

Malik Willis.<\/p>\n

Willis, of course, is the Packers\u2019 No. 2 quarterback who went 2-0 starting for an injured Jordan Love earlier this season. Willis also replaced an injured Love and led the Packers to a 30-27 win over Jacksonville in Week 8.<\/p>\n

Willis doesn’t have the passing skills of a player like Love. But Willis is one of the NFL\u2019s premier dual threat quarterbacks and would provide a run\/pass option inside the 20 that isn’t always there with Love.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can always count on him picking up yardage with his legs,\u201d LaFleur said of Willis on Oct. 28. \u201cHe does a great job, he’s super athletic, and explosive.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 6-0 \u00bd\u201d, 219 pounds, Willis is built more like a running back than a quarterback. Willis didn\u2019t participate at the NFL Combine in 2022, but he was timed at 4.37 in the 40-yard dash during his sophomore season at Auburn in 2019. Love, on the other hand, ran a 4.74 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine.<\/p>\n

Former Virginia Tech standout Michael Vick holds the fastest time ever by a quarterback at the NFL Combine at 4.33 seconds. Lamar Jackson didn’t run at the Combine in 2018, but did post a 4.34 at his Louisville Pro Day that year.<\/p>\n

Not only does Willis rank among the fastest quarterbacks the game has ever seen, he\u2019s typically one of the fastest players on the field \u2014 regardless of position. And when you\u2019re operating in tight quarters inside the 20, speed most certainly kills.<\/p>\n

Right now, those speedy legs are wasting away on Green Bay\u2019s bench.<\/p>\n

In the 10 quarters Willis played earlier this year, he averaged 8.6 yards per attempt on his 16 carries and had one rushing touchdown. For his career, Willis is averaging 5.9 yards per rush on 48 carries.<\/p>\n

What make Willis an intriguing goal line option, though, is how far he\u2019s come as a passer.<\/p>\n

Willis struggled mightily throwing the ball his first two years in the league with Tennessee, where he had just a 49.4 passer rating. This season, though, Willis has completed 29-of-39 passes for 380 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and has posted a 130.3 passer rating.<\/p>\n

Teams would be forced to respect Willis\u2019 arm every bit as much as his legs, giving defenses a much different look than the one Love presents. Think of Willis as Green Bay\u2019s version of Taysom Hill, who has made a career out of being a Swiss-army knife for the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n

Willis could be just the jolt Green Bay\u2019s inept red zone off needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve really got to focus on finishing, whether it\u2019s the third downs or in the red zone, finishing with touchdowns or at field goals at least,\u201d Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to be better in those situations for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without Willis subbing admirably for Love earlier this season, there\u2019s virtually no way Green Bay would be 7-3 today.<\/p>\n

Willis completed 12-of-14 passes for 122 yards and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks in a 16-10 win over Indianapolis in Week 2. Willis also had six carries for 41 yards and didn’t throw an interception that day.<\/p>\n

Willis was 13-of-19 for 202 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in a 30-14 rout of Tennessee the following week. Willis also ran for a team-high 73 yards and a TD that day and finished with a passer rating of 120.9.<\/p>\n

Then in Green Bay\u2019s Week 8 win over Jacksonville, Willis hit Jayden Reed for 51 yards to set up the eventual game-winning field goal from Brandon McManus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean we\u2019ve been blessed with having a backup that can come in and really be the guy in there, really be able to create things like that,\u201d Packers running back Josh Jacobs said of Willis.<\/p>\n

Now, LaFleur should start letting Willis create inside the red zone.<\/p>\n

By no means would this be an indictment of Love. Although Love has struggled at times in his second season as a starter, he remains one of the more promising young quarterbacks in the game.<\/p>\n

And LaFleur wouldn’t need to swap quarterbacks every trip inside the 20 \u2014 just a couple times a game to give defenses something else to prepare for.<\/p>\n

Might this be a blow to Love\u2019s ego? Perhaps.<\/p>\n

But LaFleur\u2019s job is to find ways to win, and if that means massaging egos along the way, so be it.<\/p>\n

As former Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson was fond of saying: \u201cIt\u2019s a big boy league.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, LaFleur should heed that advice and do whatever he deems necessary to fix Green Bay\u2019s ongoing red zone woes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Green Bay Packers have gotten worse in red zone offense every year since 2020 under Matt LaFleur, and this marks Green Bay\u2019s worst season of the six-year LaFleur-era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Malik Willis Could Help Solve The Packers\u2019 Red Zone Woes - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=11883\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Malik Willis Could Help Solve The Packers\u2019 Red Zone Woes - 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