KSR NFL Draft Profile: Will Levis
The 2023 NFL Draft is less than two weeks away. Professional football organizations are hosting final visits and making the last adjustments to their big board rankings. Personnel departments are focusing on the last weekend in April for the three-day mega-event in Kansas City that will include 259 picks over seven rounds.
For the Kentucky football program, the Wildcats might not have much action in the middle of the draft, but the program will get a ton of attention in the opening round. There are a handful of players that could end up being draft selections this month. KSR is here to get you ready after being there every step of the way — combine, pro day — during the pre-draft process.
Before KSR’s yearly draft guide publishes on draft week, we’ll be dropping profiles on all of the expected Kentucky draft picks in preparation for the event. First up could be Kentucky’s first top-10 pick since the 2019 NFL Draft.
Player: Will Levis
- Height: 6-foot-4
- Weight: 229 pounds
- Arm: 32 inches
- Hand: 10 5/8 inches
- Vertical: 34 inches
- Broad Jump: 10’4″
Will Levis was a partial participant at the NFL Scouting Combine choosing to sit out the speed testing. However, the size and leaping ability were excellent for the first round prospect.
Levis has prototypical size and good athleticism for the quarterback position.
Production
- 2019 (Penn State): 7 games, 1 start, 28-of-47 (59.6%), 223 yards, 4.7 yards per attempt, 5 total touchdowns (2 pass, 3 rush), 2 interceptions, 16.1% sack rate, 253 non-sack rushing yards, 5.5 yards per rush
- 2020 (Penn State): 8 games, 1 start, 33-of-55 (60.0%), 421 yards, 7.7 yards per attempt, 4 total touchdowns (1 pass, 3 rush), 0 interceptions, 8.5% sack rate, 286 non-sack rushing yards, 3.6 yards per rush
- 2021 (Kentucky): 13 games, 13 starts, 233-of-353 (66.0%), 2,826 yards, 8.0 yards per attempt, 33 total touchdowns (24 pass, 9 rush), 13 interceptions, 5.9% sack rate, 514 non-sack rushing yards, 6.0 yards per rush
- 2022 (Kentucky): 11 games, 11 starts, 185-of-283 (65.4%), 2,406 yards, 8.5 yards per attempt, 21 total touchdowns (19 pass, 2 rush), 10 interceptions, 11.6% sack rate, 128 non-sack rushing yards, 3.6 yards per rush
Background
Will Levis was a three-star prospect in the class of 2018 who received interest from the Ivy League and Power Five programs. Penn State entered this recruitment early with an offer in the summer before Levis’ junior season at Madison (Conn.) Xavier. Levis committed to the Nittany Lions immediately after camping at Florida State, Iowa, Ole Miss, and Penn State.
Levis took a redshirt season in his first year at State College as Trace McSorley led the Nittany Lions to a 9-3 regular season record and top-20 finish. In 2019, Levis was beaten out by class of 2017 signee Sean Clifford who would go on to start 45 games for the Nittany Lions from 2019-22. After receiving two spot starts in the 2020 COVID-19 season against Nebraska and Iowa, Levis decided to enter the transfer portal.
New Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen had a previous relationship with the transfer quarterback and immediately zeroed in on the quarterback. Levis committed to Kentucky on Feb. 5, 2021, and would enroll that summer after finishing classes at Penn State.
Levis beat out Beau Allen and Joey Gatewood in fall camp to become Kentucky’s QB1 in 2021. His career in Lexington started with a bang as the new starter threw for 367 yards (14.1 yards per attempt) and four touchdowns in a 45-10 Week 1 win over ULM. The next week, Levis posted 9.9 yards per attempt in a huge 35-28 conference win over Missouri.
The transfer then hit a rough patch with three consecutive subpar passing games but busted out of that slump in a huge performance against LSU (82.4% completion rate, 8.5 yards per attempt, 75 rushing yards, 5 total touchdowns). From there, Levis posted numerous big games to close the season flashing star power potential at quarterback.
The rocket-armed passer returned in 2022 with an offseason filled with hype. Kentucky was forced to hire a new offensive coordinator (Rich Scangarello) after Coen departed as well as taking on a gigantic rebuild on the offensive line. Add in some young receivers, and disaster followed the Kentucky offense.
Levis saw increases in yards per attempt (8.0-8.5) and explosive completion rate (17.6% to 20.1%), but there were downgrades in other areas. The veteran quarterback was forced to miss a game due to a turf toe injury and also played through a shoulder injury. The pass protection was atrocious (37.8% pressure rate via PFF) and the injuries took away his rushing ability. There were some bright performances, but outings against Tennessee and Vanderbilt were tough to watch.
After throwing for 188 yards on 9.9 yards per attempt in the regular-season finale against Louisville, Levis opted out of the Music City Bowl and entered the 2023 NFL Draft with one season of college eligibility remaining.
Scouting Report
Will Levis is a traits-first prospect with a solid floor thanks to two years spent operating an NFL offense. That is where everything begins for the Kentucky product.
As a passer, Levis owns a short and compact release that is very tight. That allows the passer to get the football out of his hand with explosion. Levis delivers line drives with good velocity allowing him to pepper the ball on intermediate windows with the potential to hit extremely small windows against zone coverage. Levis provides value as a north/south runner that can excel on QB powers and draws. The power armed passer is also an excellent sneak artist making Levis an outstanding short-yardage weapon.
When looking for some areas of improvement, Levis struggled to play with anticipation waiting for play design to consistently getting targets open, and touch was often missing on more vertical passes. Walking the fine line between fastball and layered throws was somewhat tricky for the Kentucky prospect.
Levis is a good athlete for the position with the ability to make some big-boy throws. His familiarity with an NFL scheme will be attractive to franchises as he should quickly adjust to what his next offensive coordinator wants and needs. However, the lack of touch, inefficient ball placement at all three levels, and true secondary reaction playmaking are concerns.
The Kentucky quarterback is a first-round prospect with toughness and playing experience that will need to be tagged with a good running game early in his career as he attempts to refine the skills needed to excel as a dropback passer (ball placement, anticipation, progression reads) in the NFL. Success could be found as a rookie in an efficient offense with a strong play-action plan that has QB run sprinkled in.
Draft Window
- Dane Brugler (The Athletic): No. 14 overall
- Daniel Jeremiah (NFL Media): No. 12 overall
- Mel Kiper Jr. (ESPN): No. 4 overall
- Todd McShay (ESPN): No. 15 overall
Will Levis is a clear first-round prospect that will have an excellent chance to be Kentucky’s first top-10 pick since 2019 due to positional need. The only doubt now is the landing spot.
The Kentucky quarterback has been a polarizing prospect throughout the pre-draft process, but the traits, size, arm talent, and NFL scheme experience will be hard to turn down. Levis is in the QB3 discussion and could be the guy for the Indianapolis Colts at No. 4 overall.
However, trades could tell the tale.
We could be in for a wild first-round after recent scuttlebutt that the Houston Texans (No. 2) aren’t big on any of these quarterbacks, and the Arizona Cardinals (No. 3) would very much like to trade down. The Seattle Seahawks (No. 5 overall), Detroit Lions (No. 6 overall), Las Vegas Raiders (No. 7 overall), Atlanta Falcons (No. 8 overall), Tennessee Titans (No. 11 overall), Washington Commanders (No. 16 overall), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 19 overall), Baltimore Ravens (No. 22 overall), and Minnesota Vikings (No. 23 overall) are all teams that could make a move for a quarterback on day one.
Levis will be in the middle of the discussion no matter how the first-round plays out. A professional football organization will soon be giving the keys to the Kentucky quarterback to run the show and become the face of a franchise.
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