Will Levis: What People are Saying about his Monday Night Football Heroics
Another riveting chapter was added to the Will Levis story on Monday Night Football. The former Kentucky quarterback was the most scrutinized player throughout the pre-Draft process. The football world took a victory lap when he was passed over on Draft night. He proved his haters wrong in his debut and did more of the same during a miraculous comeback victory on Monday Night Football.
The Miami Dolphins had a clear path to the one-seed in the AFC. Playing in front of a home crowd, the 13.5-point favorites were prepared for a coronation. The Titans hung tough, until they were ready to give it away. A muffed punt and a fumbled toss to Derrick Henry appeared to be the dagger for Tennessee.
Instead of crumbling, Levis shined. He led back-to-back scoring drives and converted a two-point conversion to erase a 14-point deficit with less than three minutes to play, something an NFL team had not done since 2016.
“He’s resilient,” Henry said about Levis. “Anybody else would probably get flustered being a rookie. Stepping up, being a leader, having that will, having that drive to still believe and lead us just speaks a lot to his character . . . Will’s an intense guy. I knew he’d be ready for the moment and he showed it.”
DeAndre Hopkins likes his Quarterback
A week ago many were questioning if Levis had the chops to command the huddle after he was spotted in a sideline altercation with DeAndre Hopkins. The future Hall of Famer made it clear after the game — one where Hopkins caught seven passes for 124 yards and a touchdown — that he’s on the same page with his quarterback.
“I saw a dog, I saw a dog out here today. That kid is going to be great,” said Hopkins.
“I’m always in his ear trying to help him read defenses and be better. I know he’s still got a lot in his tank. I know he can improve. Even though he came out here and beat these guys today, but I’m gonna still be on him Monday when we go back and let him know that there’s certain things that he can improve on. But man, Will showed heart, and I love competing and playing with him.”
Orlovsky: Levis is “everything you want from a franchise quarterback”
As the former Kentucky quarterback celebrated with his teammates in the Miami locker room, Dan Orlovsky joined Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter. The ESPN analyst was blown away by Levis’ performance.
“(He’s) Everything you want from a franchise quarterback. I know it’s a small body of work, but if you’re Tennessee you gotta sit back and go, ‘We think we have our guy.’ The start of the game, he throws a pick six on a screen pass to a defensive tackle on Monday Night Football. That’s a tough start for a young man on the road.. Never flinched and just kept going and going,” said Orlovsky.
“You saw some third down conversions, you saw toughness — he tried to run over Jalen Ramsey, he tried to run over (cornerback Kader) Kohou, he tried to run over basically everybody on that Miami defense. In the second half he was unbelievable.”
We’ve seen Levis use his size and strength to overpower opponents before. In the improbable comeback he proved that he’s not just a freak athlete.
“The thing that you love is we know he’s physically talented and he’s got this big, strong arm, but some of these touch throws that he made were awesome. The crosser to DeAndre Hopkins, some of the playmaking. It’s funny Scott, sitting with him yesterday, you’re having this conversation, as a young player, team struggling, I asked him straight up, ‘Do you think you belong?’ He looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘I absolutely do and I’m going to prove it everyday to myself and everyday to this organization.’ I think he did that tonight. He was the best player on the field.”
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