Ryan Willis
| No. 19 – Chicago Bears | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | September 28, 1996 Overland Park, Kansas |
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight: | 211 lb (96 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Roeland Park (KS) Bishop Miege |
| College: | Kansas (2015–2016) Virginia Tech (2017–2019) |
| Undrafted: | 2020 |
| Career history | |
| |
| Roster status: | Active |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NFL statistics | |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Ryan Willis (born September 28, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies. In 2019, Willis finished his senior season at Virginia Tech.
Early life and college[]
Willis came out of high school as a three-star prospect, as rated by Rivals.com. He chose to play for Kansas over Wyoming, Illinois, Kansas State, and Tulsa. In his first start at Kansas, a Big 12 conference game versus the Baylor Bears, Willis broke his career high in passing, throwing 158 yards, on 20 completions and 36 attempts, and one touchdown. In a near win versus the 15th ranked TCU Horned Frogs, Willis threw 20–41 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown.[1] He started the final 8 games of the season for the Jayhawks in 2015, completing 164 of 315 passes for 1,719 yards, 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.[1][2]
He played in seven games, starting two, in 2016, completing 72 of 117 yards for 811 yards, 3 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.[1][2]
In January 2017, it was announced that Willis was transferring to play for the Virginia Tech Hokies.[3] At Virginia Tech, Willis joined the team as a walk-on with no guarantee that he would make the team; but he did and spent the 2017 season sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules.
In 2018, Willis has appeared in two games and made his first start at Virginia Tech at #22 Duke in Durham after an injury to incumbent starter Josh Jackson.[4] Virginia Tech won the game 31–14, and Willis was 17-of-27 for 332 yards and three touchdown passes.
Professional career[]
Willis signed with the Linemen of The Spring League in May 2021.[5] He was the MVP for The Spring League Megabowl in 2021 playing for the championship team.[6]
On December 18, 2021, Willis was signed to the Chicago Bears practice squad.[7] On December 25 he was "flexed" to Bears’ active roster to back up starter Nick Foles against the Seattle Seahawks.[8] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bears on January 11, 2022.[9]
References[]
- ^ a b c "Ryan Willis". kuathletics.com. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ a b "Ryan Willis". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ Bitter, Andy (January 11, 2017). "Kansas quarterback Ryan Willis transferring to Virginia Tech". roanoke.com. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
- ^ Niziolek, Mike (September 25, 2018). "Ryan Willis fulfills unique family tradition in wild ride to starting role at Virginia Tech". roanoke.com. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
- ^ WIKI