[AustinScottistheone]

Morelli OnLion: Squeezing the Orange

Malcolm Willis is our final featured
member of the Class of 2009. (Photo
courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).

Willis, the No. 68-ranked strong safety prospect in the country by Rivals.com, is a versatile athlete, racking up a team-high 454 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground at the running back position at Lackey his senior season.

On the defensive side of the ball, Willis also led Lackey with 99 tackles (66 solo) and three interceptions.

For his efforts, he was named to the Washington Post’s honorable mention all-Metro team, was selected to the first team all-conference and all-county teams, and was invited to play in Maryland’s Crab Bowl in December.

For all of Willis’ versatility, he will begin his career at Penn State as a safety, a position that his head coach, Doug Lamb, seemed to think would fit him well.

“He plays safety for us, and I think that’s where they like him right now,” he said. “The kid has played inside backer, he’s played outside backer for us. He’s one of those hybrid guys, because of his height and his weight. He’s kind of a tweener — he plays safety but he hits like a linebacker.

“With a lot of teams playing spread, and more and more teams in the Big Ten, like Michigan and Rich Rodriguez playing the spread, he’s a good tweener in nickel situations where he can come in and cover and also be comfortable in space with open-field tackles. How they’ll use him, I don’t know, but they’re getting one heck of an athlete and one heck of a student of the game. He’s definitely one of the smartest kids I’ve coached in the classroom and on the field.”

With Penn State’s coaching staff extending the first offer to Willis, he said it played a big role in his decision making process, much like teammate and close friend Darrell Givens, who ultimately ended up picking Penn State as well.

“Really, what played a major part, was that they trusted in me enough, or believed in me enough, that they would be my first offer. I really took that to heart,” Willis said in April. “I know, from talking to Darrell Givens, because his first offer was Ohio State, he was telling me that after Ohio State offered, then everybody else wanted to offer.

“So Penn State, when they were the first ones to offer, that gave them points in my book because they know what they want, and they’re trying to go get it before anybody else. They weren’t going to wait until someone else offered.”