Everyone knew the Miami Dolphins would be bad in 2026. However, when they traded away wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, the roster’s only dangerous outside threat, they practically folded their hand for the upcoming season, leaving newly signed quarterback Malik Willis to pick up the pieces.

Unsurprisingly, Willis hasn’t been able to become their savior and overcome their glaring roster issues, but analyst and longtime Dolphins fan Dan Le Batard isn’t throwing him under the bus.

What Did Le Batard Say About Malik Willis’ Play?

Speaking on his self-named show for DraftKings Network, Le Batard said, “That team is not good, and what surrounds Malik Willis makes it impossible to make an evaluation because this isn’t what he looked like in Green Bay.”

“Green Bay surrounded him with confidence. This is people learning how to play football on South Florida’s dime, and there is no circumstance that any quarterback in football would be good with what surrounds Malik Willis on the Dolphins. Better, yes, good. There’s not a player in the sport who can do it.”

Le Batard makes a great point on the two situations.

When breaking down the comparison, it’s easy to see why Willis hasn’t had great success in Miami.

When Willis was flourishing in Green Bay last year, he was protected by one of the best offensive lines in the league, had much more competent weapons around him, and had one of the better playcallers in Matt LaFleur dialing up the offense for him.

Miami isn’t fortunate enough to have the same support surrounding Willis this season.

As mentioned, they dealt Waddle, the only reliable outside receiver threat, and lost star running back De’Von Achane to a season-ending ACL tear, leaving Willis with Malik Washington and Ollie Gordon II as his most dependable skill players.

Respectfully, neither of those players would start on most NFL rosters.

On top of that, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik hasn’t been able to bring back the same playcalling magic that developed rookie C.J. Stroud into one of the league’s best quarterbacks in 2023.

All of this — not just Willis’ effort — has contributed to Miami’s 0-5 last-place standing in the AFC East.

Whether it’s Willis’ fault or not, PFN has assigned him a 64.2 Quarterback Impact Grade, ranking 30th in the league below quarterbacks like Bo Nix and Jameis Winston.

For the season, he’s thrown for 849 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions through five games.

Thankfully, Willis could get rookie receiver Caleb Douglas back next week, who showed flashes in week 1 but has missed time with a right ankle injury.

In the meantime, Willis and the Dolphins will get a chance to reevaluate their play this Sunday while they’re on bye.