Todd McShay explains how Will Levis fell out of the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft

When the Carolina Panthers went on the clock at No. 1 at the start of Thursday night’s 2023 NFL Draft, Will Levis was the second favorite to be taken first behind Bryce Young. Four hours later, there Levis sat, swallowing the reality that the Panthers, along with the 30 teams who picked after them on Thursday night, all called different names than his. It’s about the worst feeling imaginable for an athlete, being invited to the draft and having cameras in your face as your draft stock plummets and millions of dollars fly out the window.

Following the shocking free fall, NFL Draft expert Todd McShay joined Scott Van Pelt’s late-night SportsCenter to explain why he’s hearing that the Kentucky star dropped so far:

“Listen, he’s physically gifted, he’s a flamethrower, he’s got mobility, he’s built sturdy, he’s tough as nails. He’s an ultimate competitor. There are so many good things about Will Levis. But there were some negatives. I mean, you look at the 23 interceptions the last two years, only two guys were worse than him and they had at least 300 pass attempts. So the percentage of turnovers was a big problem.”

McShay pointed specifically to his lack of comfortability inside the pocket as a major concern.

“I think inside the pocket — the biggest thing studying tape, is inside the pocket when he was bottled up a little bit and pressure started to come, I don’t think he trusted his eyes and he didn’t quite see the whole field.”

McShay also noted that Levis’ interviews may not have gone so great for him. Apparently NFL teams are no longer into quarterbacks to display any sort of brashness or confidence.

“And then, listen, there’s some reports and I don’t even know who to trust this time of year. But apparently, he came off as kinda not having ideal personality and maybe some arrogance and some cockiness in his meetings. But ultimately, the turnovers and style of play is an issue. Because he played the quarterback position like a linebacker and we saw the toll it took on his body last year. A lot of teams are worried he’s going to be a Carson Wentz case when it’s all said and done.”

Kentucky fans will be surprised to hear some of that. Will was always a confident and somewhat cocky player, but arrogant? Not a single coach or teammate of his has ever even hinted at any arrogance from Levis. Ask the UK staff and you hear that he’s the best dude in the world and not a soul on that campus has a bad word to say about him.

Luckily, Levis has a whole career ahead of him to prove all the pre-draft nonsense surrounding him wrong. He’ll feel this drop in his pocketbook over the course of his rookie deal, but that’ll be peanuts if he plays well and earns a second contract. Time for him to show those 31 teams — especially the Colts — what a blunder they made on Thursday evening.