Just How Good Was Dolphins QB Malik Willis' Work in Week 7? And How Long Does It Quiet QB Talk?

More mock drafts keep popping up every week, and we consistently see quarterback Drew Mestemaker being projected to go with the Miami Dolphins with one of the first picks.

But do the Miami Dolphins really look like they need a quarterback based on what we saw at MetLife Stadium on Sunday?

Sure, it was only one game and it was the first time all season that Malik Willis shined, but that was some kind of performance by the Dolphins' first-year quarterback in their 28-25 victory against the New York Jets.

How good?

Well, according to ESPN, it was as good as anything we've seen this season.

Based on ESPN's quarterback ratings system (QBR), Willis scored a 99.5 in Week 7, which matched the highest total of the season. The other QB who earned a 99.5 was Brock Purdy, who did against, yes, the Dolphins at Levi's Stadium in Week 2.

The QBR is different from the more often cited passer rating in that it involved factors beyond the mere result of a play, though it does contain subjective scoring. But, frankly, we prefer it because it involves running contributions, takes points away for taking sacks, whereas the passer rating is strictly about passing and completely omits outside factors that could contribute to a successful pass play, such as time to throw, catch difficulty or yards after catch.

In any event, Willis' 99.5 represented the highest score ever for a Dolphins quarterback since it began being tracked in 2006.

The previous high was a 99.2 by Ryan Fitzpatrick in a 43-17 victory against the 49ers early in the 2020 season. For those wondering, Tua Tagovailoa's highest QBR for a single game was 95.1 against the Cleveland Browns in 2022 — Tua got a 90.2 for his work in the historic 70-20 blowout of the Denver Broncos in the 2023 home opener.

For the season, Willis is at 63.7 for his QBR, which ranks 15th in the NFL, behind Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers and ahead of Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions and Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers.

As we mentioned, the QBR involves some subjectivity, which means that not everybody would grade Willis' performance the same way.

For example, Pro Football Focus gave Willis a grade of 77.3 for his performance against the Jets, far below Joe Burrow's 93.7 for his game against the Baltimore Ravens. Burrow was third in QBR in Week 7 at 91.5, behind Willis and Seattle's Sam Darnold.

For the season, PFF has Willis ranked 33rd among 36 qualifying quarterbacks, ahead only of Bo Nix, Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie free agent Jalon Daniels and Justin Herbert.

The bottom line is we don't want or need to get carried away over one performance, but it did reinforce Jeff Hafley's belief in what Willis could do as a full-time starting quarterback, and it came after he made some very revealing comments to the good folks at CBS during production meetings ahead of its telecast of the Jets game.

In our meeting before this game, #Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley told Spero, @AdamArchuleta and me of Malik Willis: “I love the guy, I trust the guy.”

He reminded us Willis is often in the huddle with six rookies, Willis himself is effectively in his rookie year as a starter, and…
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) October 25, 2026

Remember that those comments came before Willis' breakout performance against the Jets.

LET'S QUIET THE QB IN THE DRAFT TALK

Does that sound like a coach who is anxious to get a new quarterback on his roster?

The fall of the once-vaunted QB Class of 2027 always was going to be a factor in the Dolphins not needing to force the issue with their first pick next spring, plus there's always the issue of building out the supporting cast on offense (and defense) before bringing in a young player at the position.

If that's what the Dolphins eventually decide needs to be done.

Truth is, the Dolphins can go places with performances like they got from Willis on Sunday.

The trick obviously is for him to do it on a consistent basis, but for at least one game he provided a good example of what he can do, and that's plenty good enough for the Dolphins to win a lot of games and become a factor in the playoffs.

Ultimately, that's the goal for the Dolphins at quarterback.

And Willis more than met the challenge against the Jets. He not only was good enough, he was about as good as it gets — at least from ESPN's perspective.

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