Dolphins Training Camp: Malik Willis Holds QB Edge Over Quinn Ewers as Malik Washington Emerges as Fantasy Sleeper
Miami’s offense looks nothing like it did a year ago, and the clearest signal of that is under center. Through the first stretch of padded practices at the Baptist Health Training Complex, Yahoo Sports reported that Malik Willis delivered another productive outing on Day 6 of camp while Quinn Ewers continued to struggle with turnovers.
Ewers still flashed plenty. He connected with Tahj Washington for a score, hit Theo Wease Jr. in the back of the end zone, and pushed the ball downfield to Donaven McCulley. But the interceptions kept piling up. Miami Herald reporter C. Isaiah Smalls II posted on X that Ewers “continues his streak of at least one pick a day” — https://x.com/stclaudeii/status/1952317998925549958 — a pattern that’s becoming hard to ignore.
The financial commitment tells its own story. Willis signed a three-year, $67.5 million deal this offseason, reuniting him with head coach Jeff Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, who both worked with him in Green Bay. Athlon Sports put it plainly: it’s Willis’ job to lose entering camp, though Ewers still has the deep-ball accuracy and mechanics to make things interesting if his mistakes catch up with him.
Hafley isn’t slamming the door on competition, even with Willis in front. “I want Quinn to continue to get better and battle and compete and do everything he can to show us that he’s the best quarterback on the field,” Hafley said, according to Athlon. There’s no official Week 1 starter yet — but every camp report so far points the same direction.
What a Willis-Led Offense Means for Fantasy Managers
The difference between these two quarterbacks isn’t subtle from a fantasy perspective. Willis’ legs change math that Ewers’ don’t. Zone-read looks get more dangerous with him in the game, and play-action passing windows open wider when a defense has to respect the run. If Willis locks down the job, he becomes one of the more interesting late-round quarterback bets in fantasy drafts — the rushing floor alone separates him from most pocket passers at that price.
Ewers, for what it’s worth, isn’t a lost cause. He completed 66% of his throws across three rookie starts last season, averaging 7.5 yards per attempt with three touchdowns and three picks, per the team’s own training camp preview. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said this week that Ewers has taken what he learned as a rookie and applied it: “I really think you’ve seen Quinn take the next step of, ‘All right, I’m owning what this is right now.'”
Malik Washington Building a Case as Willis’ Top Target
Jaylen Waddle’s trade to Denver left a real hole, and nobody on Miami’s roster is walking in to replace that kind of production alone. But someone has to be the guy Willis looks for first — and right now, that appears to be Malik Washington.
Palm Beach Post Dolphins reporter Joe Schad wrote on X that Washington is “clearly Malik Willis’ #1 target in the Miami Dolphins offense at this time,” adding it could become more of a 1A/1B split once third-round rookie Chris Bell returns — https://x.com/schadjoe/status/1951953294141308959. With Waddle gone and most of the rest of the room lacking NFL experience, Yardbarker noted Washington has been working heavily with the first-team offense as a result.
He backed that up with a big day downfield. Washington caught a 60-yard bomb and added a 45-yard catch-and-run, both from Willis, according to PhinPhanatic. That’s notable because it’s not really his profile. Washington has caught 72 passes over two seasons but has been inefficient doing it — tied for third-lowest yards per target among players with at least 101 targets over that span, per Stathead Football data cited by PhinPhanatic. Showing he can create chunk plays, not just check-downs, is exactly the kind of camp development that moves him up draft boards.
| Receiver | Career Games | 2025 Receiving Yards | 2025 TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malik Washington | 31 | 317 | 3 |
| Jalen Tolbert (2024, DAL) | — | 610 | 7 |
He’s not unopposed. Jalen Tolbert arrives after a 49-catch, 610-yard, seven-touchdown season with Dallas in 2024. Tutu Atwell brings the kind of vertical speed Washington’s 5-foot-8 frame can’t fully replicate outside the numbers. Rookie Caleb Douglas has flashed on contested catches. But target share is target share, and right now the camp reports keep circling back to one name.
The Fantasy Bottom Line
None of this is settled. Miami still has preseason games left before Hafley names a starter, and camp buzz has burned fantasy managers before. But the pattern through the first two weeks is consistent across multiple outlets: Willis is pulling away from Ewers, and Washington is pulling away from a crowded receiver room. If both hold, Miami’s offense goes from an afterthought to one of the more interesting sleeper landing spots in the league — a mobile, contract-backed starting quarterback throwing to a receiver who just found a level of his game nobody expected from him.
