Penn State QB Will Levis is a name you need to know in the Transfer Portal
[caption id="attachment_336048" align="alignnone" width="2274"]
PSU Athletics[/caption]
Transfer portal season is not slowing down anytime soon. As Kentucky finishes the first week of classes for the spring semester, an intriguing college football player has entered the busy portal.
Quarterback Will Levis revealed late Thursday night that he is leaving Penn State's football program. He will graduate this spring with three years of eligibility.
https://twitter.com/will_levis/status/1354932750847979521?s=20
The Madison, CT native was a three-star prospect in high school, ranked as the No. 28 pro-style passer by 247 Sports in the 2018 recruiting class. A redshirt when the Nittany Lions lost to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, he started one game the following season and served as Sean Clifford's backup in 2020. As the starter struggled, he received some significant snaps as a running option that provided a change of pace for James Franklin's offense.
Filling in for Clifford while trailing by 21 in the first half at Nebraska, Levis threw for 219 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth. He also rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries but could not carry Penn State all the way back, ultimately falling 30-23 to the Huskers. The following week he earned the start, completing 13-of-16 passes for 106 yards in a 20-point loss to Iowa. Levis finished the 2020 season 33-of-55 (60%) for 421 yards and one touchdown in four games.
Why does this matter to the BBN? Sources tell KSR that Levis is on Liam Coen's radar. Whether he will actually make the move Happy Valley to Lexington is currently unknown. Even if Levis does not join the BBN, it sparks the question, "Why would UK seek out another quarterback?"
Beau Allen and Joey Gatewood are billed as the top candidates in Kentucky's impending quarterback competition, followed by Nik Scalzo and true freshman Kaiya Sheron. Four quarterbacks sound like enough, but if the 2019 season taught us anything it's that you can't have too many quarterbacks.
Bringing in another quarterback adds more insurance and it gives the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach a chance to bring in a player on his own. It's not an indictment on UK's current quarterbacks. It's just a fact that they were all recruited by Gran and Hinshaw. The new coach should be able to bring in at least one of his own (this one happens to be from Coen's neck of the woods) to see how the passers stack up against one another.
The transfer portal is a fluid, intangible college football entity. There will be plenty of names that come and go over the next few months. Will Levis is one name to keep an eye on that could soon be forgotten, or he could end up becoming the Wildcats' starting quarterback.
To get a better idea of what Levis can do, this YouTuber does a good job breaking down the film from his Nebraska game in simple terms. Keep on scrolling if you'd like to see what he did as a high school senior in 2017.
https://youtu.be/8R8x39B86O4?t=45
https://youtu.be/7w05In-mo64
PSU Athletics[/caption]
Transfer portal season is not slowing down anytime soon. As Kentucky finishes the first week of classes for the spring semester, an intriguing college football player has entered the busy portal.
Quarterback Will Levis revealed late Thursday night that he is leaving Penn State's football program. He will graduate this spring with three years of eligibility.
https://twitter.com/will_levis/status/1354932750847979521?s=20
The Madison, CT native was a three-star prospect in high school, ranked as the No. 28 pro-style passer by 247 Sports in the 2018 recruiting class. A redshirt when the Nittany Lions lost to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, he started one game the following season and served as Sean Clifford's backup in 2020. As the starter struggled, he received some significant snaps as a running option that provided a change of pace for James Franklin's offense.
Filling in for Clifford while trailing by 21 in the first half at Nebraska, Levis threw for 219 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth. He also rushed for 61 yards on 18 carries but could not carry Penn State all the way back, ultimately falling 30-23 to the Huskers. The following week he earned the start, completing 13-of-16 passes for 106 yards in a 20-point loss to Iowa. Levis finished the 2020 season 33-of-55 (60%) for 421 yards and one touchdown in four games.
Why does this matter to the BBN? Sources tell KSR that Levis is on Liam Coen's radar. Whether he will actually make the move Happy Valley to Lexington is currently unknown. Even if Levis does not join the BBN, it sparks the question, "Why would UK seek out another quarterback?"
Beau Allen and Joey Gatewood are billed as the top candidates in Kentucky's impending quarterback competition, followed by Nik Scalzo and true freshman Kaiya Sheron. Four quarterbacks sound like enough, but if the 2019 season taught us anything it's that you can't have too many quarterbacks.
Bringing in another quarterback adds more insurance and it gives the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach a chance to bring in a player on his own. It's not an indictment on UK's current quarterbacks. It's just a fact that they were all recruited by Gran and Hinshaw. The new coach should be able to bring in at least one of his own (this one happens to be from Coen's neck of the woods) to see how the passers stack up against one another.
The transfer portal is a fluid, intangible college football entity. There will be plenty of names that come and go over the next few months. Will Levis is one name to keep an eye on that could soon be forgotten, or he could end up becoming the Wildcats' starting quarterback.
To get a better idea of what Levis can do, this YouTuber does a good job breaking down the film from his Nebraska game in simple terms. Keep on scrolling if you'd like to see what he did as a high school senior in 2017.
https://youtu.be/8R8x39B86O4?t=45
https://youtu.be/7w05In-mo64
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard