Todd McShay hypes up skillset of Will Levis, frustrated with tape

The 2023 NFL Draft is only a few short months away and the lead-in begins in short order with the NFL Combine. Who will manage to work their way up draft boards? Could the skillset of Will Levis help earn him some credibility in the eyes of analysts and NFL scouts?

That’s a question at the front of mind for ESPN’s NFL Draft experts, and Todd McShay made a case for Levis near the very top of the draft on ESPN’s First Draft.

“The turnovers were maddening. Some of the mistakes and his eyes dropping, frustrating,” McShay said. “But there are two things that you’ve got to know about him. One, when he goes out to the Peyton Manning camp, who’s the most talented quarterback there? Will Levis. And then when you talk to every single person on campus at Kentucky, I’m talking like the lunch lady and gentleman, every single person swears by this guy.

“His leadership, his character, what he’s going to bring to an organization, the way he loves ball. It’s hard not to bet on Levis despite the fact the tape wasn’t great.”

If you take a close look at Kentucky’s 2022 season, things didn’t go quite the way the Wildcats would have hoped, which could in part be traced to Levis getting banged up during the campaign.

The veteran quarterback, a former Penn State player who transferred to Kentucky, finished 185-of-283 passing (65.4%) for 2,406 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also ran for two scores but was more limited as a runner in 2022.

Todd McShay hypes up skillset of Will Levis

Levis’ ability as a runner wasn’t showcased in 2022, in part because the Wildcats were looking to protect him from injury after he’d already gotten banged up.

But Levis can certainly run when he needs to. In 2021 he ran for 376 yards and nine touchdowns.

“We’ll get to AR later, Anthony Richardson from Florida, because he’s the most talented player in the draft,” McShay said. “But when it comes to Will Levis he’s more advanced, but he is the most talented of the top three quarterbacks we’re talking about from an arm strength, mobility standpoint. And he has that great character, but there’s so much on tape you get frustrated with.”

Where Levis fits in among the quarterbacks in a deep class at the position will be interesting to find out come draft time.

“You said it earlier, Mel (Kiper),” McShay said. “This draft class is not as good as the last couple years, but this quarterback class is fascinating to me.”