Will Levis Scouting Report
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Will Levis, #7 QB for the Kentucky Wildcats, has been widely considered the fourth-best quarterback in the class by most people in the media. At 6’4” 229lbs, he has the ideal size and frame that scouts are seeking for the position. He spent his first 2 years at Penn State and transferred to Kentucky where he was the starter for his last 2 years. He’s an older prospect for the class as he will be 24 when his rookie year starts.
Before I get into what I like and think Levis could improve on, I’d like to provide some context to his situation this past year. Scouts like Levis, as he played in a pro-style system at Kentucky in 2021. However, after that season where he experienced much success, he lost his offensive coordinator to the Los Angeles Rams and lost his center and best wideout in the draft. The new offensive coordinator was let go after one year as he failed to build on what Levis showed in 2021. So if you look at his stats and his record this past year and wonder why he’s mocked as a first-round guy, it is my belief scouts are looking at the two years of work he showed are giving him some grace because of his situation.
The first thing I like is how quick Levis's release is. The moment he decides to throw the football to when it’s out of his hand is lightning fast. In this clip, you can see how comically fast the ball comes out of his hands. His release is the quickest in the class and will allow him to fit in a system that uses RPOs (Run-Pass-Options)
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He has lots of velocity on his passes when he wants to. He really can drive balls into tight windows and hit receivers in the intermediate range. He flashes this relatively consistently with strikes over the middle of the field.
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He displays the ability to throw with nice anticipation. In the clip below, you see when he decides to throw this ball the receiver is completely covered. However, sensing the receiver will get some separation, he leads him and drops it in the bucket.
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He flashes high-level deep accuracy. The clip below displays how he can use his strong arm in the downfield passing game. The ball is just placed in his lap but unfortunately wasn’t brought down.
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He flashes some high-level stuff, but I just struggle with some of the things on tape. The first thing I noticed was how he drifts whenever there is pressure. Some of the best QBs in the game step into throws knowing they are going to get hit, while Levis routinely drifts backward and tries to rely on his arm too much. This gives him poor mechanics and leads to inaccurate passes.
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His mechanics in the quick game can be relatively poor. He will miss high at times on guys who are just about 5 yards away as he doesn’t always stand tall and delivers a clean throw.
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He also runs like he’s Derrick Henry. He plays as if he can just run over anyone and everyone, and it didn’t even work that well at the college level. He needs to learn to get down and save himself rather than trying to just power through. Levis said he played hurt in 2022 and I don’t think his running style was helping him much.
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I think he sometimes is afraid to commit to throwing the ball. Agaisnt Tennessee this year he would just pump fake over and over again as he wasn’t trying to throw into windows that he probably could’ve.
I’d also like to see more pocket awareness of where pressure is coming from and seek ways to avoid it. He had an extremely high sack rate this past year which is concerning, though his offensive line was not good.
Overall, Levis is a pretty risky prospect to me. He does flash the high-level stuff but there is going to be a learning curve with him. He is my QB4 on this list, but I think he has the potential to be an everyday starter in this league. He has stuff that you cannot teach, and I think the situation where he lands will be critical.
Expect to hear this guy’s name called earlier than you would think. Everything that has been coming out about him is teams are obsessed with him and the betting markets reflect this. The NFL is seeing something the media and myself are not seeing, but I struggle to justify taking him over the other 3 top quarterbacks in this draft.
I think getting him into a system that Baker Mayfield got to run early in his career in Cleveland would be beneficial for him. He could benefit from a good running game and getting some opportunities on play-action rollouts. I’m very much looking forward to seeing which team will take him and how he will fit into their system.
Teams that could target him:
Houston Texans: He is now the odds-on favorite to go number 2 overall to the Texans. I think he is the QB2 on their board behind Bryce Young. Levis would step in and have the pressure of starting Day 1 and being the guy that was picked over CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson.
Indianapolis Colts: Reports are the Colts like him more than Stroud and I believe they feel that way in the building. I think this would be a nicer landing spot as he would get the offensive-minded coach in Shane Steichen and some solid weapons in Johnathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr. The Colts may not even get their wish though depending on what happens ahead of them.
New England Patriots: Levis recently had a visit with the Patriots, and I mostly believe they are just doing their due diligence. However, there has been reported tension between Mac Jones and Bill Belichek after last year. If Levis begins to slide and they fell in love with Levis during the pre-draft process, they could make a move to snag him and flip Mac Jones.