NFL Draft Top 100: Where the Wildcats Rank ahead of NFL Combine

Super Bowl LVII officially ended the 2022-23 NFL season, but it’s not the offseason for NFL front office officials. In just two weeks hundreds of players will travel to Indianapolis to be evaluated by coaches, general managers and scouts at the NFL Combine.

Like all of the pre-Draft events, the Combine is just one of many tools used evaluate players. Individual interviews, workouts, pro days and showcase games like the Senior Bowl, factor into the equation. The primary tool is the tape. You are what you put on film. Now that a few months have passed since the end of the college football season, the pros have watched the tape and developed a pecking order.

To officially turn the page from football on the field to draft season, this week outlets are releasing their pecking order of NFL Draft prospects. It is not based on the position the player plays or a team’s needs in the draft order. It’s simply recruiting rankings for NFL Draft prospects.

Pro Football Focus is a believer in Will Levis, not just because he’s a quarterback. PFF ranks Levis as the No. 4 overall draft prospect, trailing only Will Anderson, Jalen Carter and Bryce Young. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler recently picked Levis to go off the board at No. 2 overall, but ranked the Kentucky quarterback as the No. 10 player overall. Here’s why:

Will Levis struggled to live up to expectations as a senior in 2022, but I think there are more reasons than excuses behind his inconsistent play. There is no question that he needs to see things more quickly, but he is physically built for the pro game with impressive tools, intelligence and toughness worth developing.

The Athletic

Wildcats Outside of NFL Draft Top 100 Rankings

Will Levis was the only Wildcat to make the cut for either Top 100. That doesn’t mean he will be the only former Wildcat picked in the first two days of the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City.

Carrington Valentine, Chris Rodriguez and Tashawn Manning may each improve their stock at the combine, although it’s unlikely the latter will make a dramatic leap up big boards. It’s also hard to see a scenario for a team to use day two draft capital on a short-yardage power back like Rodriguez. However, Carrington Valentine could end up being a big riser. He played in a big-play prevention system that is used often in the NFL. As Adam Luckett notes, there’s a ton of variance for the former cornerback and if he tests well he could be at the high end of that wide range in the third round.

Only 72 days until the NFL Draft.