It's a new era for the Miami Dolphins under the leadership of Jeff Hafley. And the man they've tapped to lead the charge at quarterback during the Hafley experiment, former Green Bay backup Malik Willis, looked every bit an NFL starter during his debut with the franchise on Friday. The Dolphins battled the Washington Commanders on Friday to open their preseason slate, and while Miami lost, Willis looked ready to take on the starting role in his limited action. He led the Dolphins on a 93-yard scoring drive, went 4-of-5 passing for 43 yards, and added two carries for nine yards.
Malik Willis has led the Miami Dolphins to a 93-yard touchdown drive on his first action as starting QB. Willis was 4-for-5 and had two rushes. Willis demonstrated, arm strength, accuracy, mobility, leadership and confidence. A perfect way to begin the Malik Willis Dolphins era. — Joe Schad (@schadjoe) August 14, 2026 While you never want to take too much away from the limited snaps in the preseason, it's encouraging to see Willis step up and look the part of a starting quarterback. After earning three starts as a rookie and going 0-3 in those efforts as a rookie in Tennessee, he went 2-1 in three starts over the past two seasons in Green Bay, but mostly served as a backup. It appears that his time as a second-string quarterback may have served him well. And the Dolphins are probably going to need Willis to keep up his strong performances, because a big part of the reason why the Dolphins lost on Friday was due to the rest of the team's quarterback play during the game. Preseason games are primarily a time to get inexperienced players and backups action to help develop them and determine which players are good enough to make the final roster. That meant a lot of playing time for Cam Miller and Quinn Ewers, and neither looked great. Ewers was a dismal 1-of-8 passing for 27 yards, also tossing one interception. Meanwhile, Miller managed just a couple more completions, going 3-of-11 for 39 yards. But he also tossed two interceptions. So Dolphins fans will want to cross their fingers that Willis's strong first impression is not an anomaly. This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Malik Willis makes strong first impression in Dolphins' debut