Washington Football Team: 3 takeaways from Matt Corral-Malik Willis weekend showdown

1. Character and toughness won’t be an issue

This might not seem like a big deal, but character and toughness are two must-haves in franchise quarterbacks in today’s NFL. Take a look around the league and rattle off some of the best QBs. Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Josh Allen, Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford. We obviously omitted a couple names there, but you can’t have any questions about those superstar’s persona and backbone.

On Saturday, we learned that Corral and Willis have both attributes.

Corral, for starters, has 10 rushing touchdowns this season and continues to be heavily involved in the Rebels’ running game despite not being fully healthy. He was seen walking around the field with a clear limp, but he stayed in the game and delivered some crisp passes despite having to adjust his footwork.

Willis, meanwhile, loves himself some smash-mouth football. He rushed the ball 27 times (a game-high) against Ole Miss and finished with 71 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t an efficient afternoon on the ground for Willis, but he was sacked nine times and popped right back up after taking some big hits.

The Rebels’ defense gave Willis fits, but he was as cool as a cucumber in the face of adversity, which lasted almost the entire game.

In sum, Corral and Willis taught us that they’re the kind of quarterbacks teammates will fight tooth and nail for. It might not show up in the box score or at the combine, but that’s a huge box to check and they passed with flying colors.