A backup quarterback is like a good lawyer. You never know that you need one until you really need one.
The Green Bay Packers have neglected the backup quarterback position over the years.
If it was not a first round pick like Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love, chances are that the backup was a journeyman or a late round draft pick the Packers were hoping to develop.
Occasionally that worked with someone like Matt Flynn, but more often than not the backup situation has been a point of contention.
Brian Gutekunst neglected the position a season ago with Jordan Love taking over as the team’s starting quarterback.
Sean Clifford was the team’s backup. A fifth-round pick that was a rookie.
Clifford never had to play as Love was able to start all 17 games in his “rookie” season.
Michael Pratt was added in the draft last offseason to compete with Clifford for the backup role.
Both Clifford and Pratt were lackluster in the preseason, which led to Gutekunst making a trade as training camp ended.
He traded a seventh-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for Malik Willis.
Willis did not have much time to get acclimated. He was on the team for less than a month when Love went down with a knee injury that would impact the next two games.
Willis was asked to help save the season of a team that had already fallen to 0-1 on the year.
Backup quarterbacks are hoping to keep teams afloat when they are asked to play.
Losing is not unexpected. Backups are, in fact, backups for a reason.
Willis could not afford to lose the games he was asked to play.
An 0-2 start would put the Packers in a large amount of trouble, and 0-3 could end the season before it even began.
Instead, Willis was efficient, confident and calm.
Those are not words used to describe him during his time in Tennessee.
Sometimes a situation is what makes all the difference for a young quarterback.
Willis’ first start as a Packer was a 16-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Willis was asked to make two big plays in the passing game, and he made them.
The following week in his revenge game against his former team, he did more against the Titans, as the Packers won in a rout.
“I just cannot articulate the job that he’s done in this short period of time,” LaFleur said after the game. “People can’t fathom it. I promise you, you guys don’t get it. I know you think yougot it, but you don’t get it. What he’s been able to do, I’ve never seen something like this.
“Hats off to him, hats off to everybody around him, guys rallying, having his back. I think Tom Clements does a great job. And I’d be remiss to say Connor Lewis and Sean Mannion, just the help they’ve given him, the support. Jordan Love has been instrumental, as well, giving him the tips and hanging right by his side and helping him out all along the way.”
Willis would win a third game against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a big throw late to Jayden Reed to set up a game-winning field goal.
Willis would play most of the season finale against the Chicago Bears, and helped lead a go-ahead drive for a field goal before the Bears orchestrated a game-winning drive of their own.
Getting the Packers to 3-1 in the four games he was asked to play had to be more than what the Packers ever could have hoped for.
The Packers will have Willis under contract for the 2025 season and would be wise to keep him, because you never know when you’ll need a good backup quarterback.
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