What Does Jeff Hafley Want to See from Malik Willis at Minicamp?

The Miami Dolphins kicked off one of the most important parts of their offseason Tuesday with the start of their mandatory three-day minicamp.

There are always more eyes on the quarterback than any other position as is the nature of the sport.

That's especially true when the quarterback is new and relatively unproven. Malik Willis is both of those things. He's new to Miami, and has only started three games in the last two years. The Dolphins and their regime saw enough in those starts to give Willis a chance to grow into their franchise quarterback.

The Dolphins are excited about Willis but there are still a lot that he has to prove in Miami.

What can realistically be learned in a minicamp where not all drills are going to be done at full speed, and the team is not wearing full pads? That's one of the hardest parts of evaluating offseason work, but there is still value in building good habits.

Willis Needs To Master The Basics

"He's got to play quarterback right now. There is no, there's not a lot of team in any practice setting, right? I mean, anytime we practice, whether it's team run, team pass, just move the ball periods two minute in practice, I want to see him go through his progression, get rid of the ball on time, and at the same time," head coach Jeff Hafley said.

Of course, he does not want Willis to play like a robot on the field either.

"If it's not, then I want him to play the game like he would in a game. Don't just stand there in the pocket, take five hitches, and let guys run by you, because any quarterback who does that is going to get sacked in a game. And I think you create really bad habits."

Habits are created in practice and then eventually can carry over to the game. In these situations, coaches and players alike are trying to simulate a game as much as they can. As Hafley mentioned, holding the ball for seven seconds at a time would not be beneficial to Willis, the receivers, or the defenders because plays like that are going to be incredibly rare if they ever do occur.

Of course, one of the benefits of having Willis is that he does have the ability to extend plays and make plays with his legs.

Now, Malik's got the ability to sit in the pocket, go through his reads, and if things break down, and he should work outside the pocket, because he's going to put stress on the ends. He's going to make sure our pass rush lanes are good, because if you don't have good pass rush lanes against him, and you have a huge B gap or A gap, he's going to step up and he's going to be gone. So, he puts stress on the defense, and he needs to practice like that, right? So I think it's, I think there's a fine line when you don't want to do too much of that, but I want him to play the game within the game a little bit. Seven on seven, not a huge fan of seven on seven, because I don't think it's real football," Hafley said.

Hafley is right, there are 11 players on the field at a time for each side of the ball, which inherently makes that drill a different, but there are benefits for his defense, but also keeping his quarterback within the structure of the offense.

No Pads, No Problem?

"I think from a defensive standpoint when you're playing some. Busy when you're playing some vision and break coverages, and you're just kind of setting as a linebacker, and you're anticipating a throw, a lot of times you can feel the rush and break. So, I think I don't think it's real for defense, and I don't think it's real for the timing and the pressure of the offense. But seven on seven is a really good time for him, or stay in the pocket and get rid of the ball on time, and there is no rush, so it's kind of like part to whole," Hafley said.

The good news is while it is just the offseason program, the Dolphins are seeing growth with Willis in practice, and seeing Willis grow into his own as the team's quarterback. Now, Hafley wants to see Willis grow from what has already been installed and execute the offense at a high level.

"I thought Malik had a really good practice on what did we practice last Friday. Yeah, we practiced Friday. I thought he had a really good practice Friday. He looked really confident, he stepped into his throws, the ball came out on time, he hit some big throws in the red zone. I thought it was one of his best days, and I think what you're going to see, and I know I won't be along with you right here, but I think what you're going to see is we've been really heavy on the installs, and we're starting to come back to like install one and two now, so it's a second time through, so you can see the confidence almost to what he's stepping up and thrown, because he's in it better, right. We've installed a lot just to try to get it in, and you know, have film of it as we get into training camp in the season, but I think you can see the confidence building now that we're kind of going back through it again," Hafley said.

With just three practices left before training camp after this week, the Dolphins are hoping to finish on a high note. That starts, as most things usually do in the NFL, with the quarterback.

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 10:02 AM.