NFL Network draft analyst thinks Malik Willis, Matt Corral could be QB options for Steelers

NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah has seen enough of Malik Willis to predict he could be a good fit for the Pittsburgh Steelers with the No. 20 pick in the NFL Draft.

Jeremiah, who attached the Liberty quarterback to the Steelers in his most recent mock draft, also knows such a high selection isn’t without risk for a team trying to replace Ben Roethlisberger.

In Willis’ case, though, he believes the potential reward is worth the gamble.

“There is risk involved with any of these quarterbacks,” Jeremiah said Friday in a conference call, “but he’s the one with the most upside.”

At 6-foot-1, Willis isn’t the tallest quarterback in a class that includes Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Mississippi’s Matt Corral, North Carolina’s Sam Howell and Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder as the top five passers. His 61.1% completion percentage is the lowest among those prospects, and he competed against just two Power 5 schools in his senior season.

Roethlisberger overcame the stigma of playing at a small school to carve out a Hall of Fame career with the Steelers. Jeremiah, who has been scouting prospects for the past decade for NFL Network, isn’t predicting similar success for Willis but thinks he can blossom in the right situation.

“He’s got a huge arm,” Jeremiah said. “He’s not real tall … but he’s built. He’s a powerfully built guy who can drive the ball. At the Senior Bowl when it was raining and everyone else was struggling, he didn’t have any issues whatsoever. This guy can really power the football. He can make all the throws, he can create and you can use the designed run game with him.”

From team president Art Rooney II to general manager Kevin Colbert to coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers have pressed the importance of Roethlisberger’s successor having mobility. Colbert said last week that the Steelers would open the season with Mason Rudolph at quarterback if necessary. Dwayne Haskins, a former No. 1 pick, is the other option already on the roster.

Neither has the type of mobility Willis would bring. In 13 games, he rushed for 878 yards and 13 scores while averaging 4.5 yards per carry. In five games, he ran the ball at least 20 times and had 197 attempts for the season.

“If you’re going to take a quote unquote flyer in the bottom of the first round, you’d like to have as big of a payoff as possible,” Jeremiah said. “He’s that guy. … You can look at some of the other guys and say, ‘OK, they have a chance to be starters.’ I don’t know if anyone says they can be high-end starters. With Malik Willis, while there is plenty of risk, there is also the potential of a big payout.”

The traits that could scare off the Steelers are Willis’ completion percentage and his 12 interceptions, which are tops among the top five prospects. While Willis threw three touchdown passes and no picks against the ACC’s Syracuse, he had no touchdowns and three interceptions later in the season against the SEC’s Mississippi.

“I think if you study quarterbacks over history, accuracy at the collegiate level is usually a great indicator of accuracy at the professional level albeit in a different game,” Colbert said earlier this week. “A lot of the college game is leaking into our game, so there are more similarities than there have been in recent years. I think that’s the one trait of a quarterback — they are all going to be different sizes, they are all going to have different arm talent, they’re all going to have different athletic abilities — but it you ask me one thing that can identify a potentially tough quarterback, it would be accuracy.”

If the Steelers covet a more accurate college passer at No. 20, it could lead them to Ole Miss’ Corral, who also stands 6-1 but had a 67.7 completion percentage and threw just five interceptions against 20 touchdown passes. Corral also rushed for 614 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“He’s intriguing,” Jeremiah said. “A little undersized but really athletic. He has quick feet, a quick release, quick eyes. It looks like he can give them some of the athleticism they are after. But that is also why you hear Willis’ name mentioned. Corral is not big, not strong, but he can probably throw it a little more consistently at this point in time.”