It has been a while since we have seen a prospect as polarizing as Will Levis. Whether you go: on Twitter, draft sites, or NFL front offices, you will have people thinking he should go top five and others that do not view him as a first-round pick. So, what makes Levis so polarizing?
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If you judged quarterbacks solely off stats, Levis would likely go undrafted. In his senior season, the Kentucky Quarterback threw for under 2,500 yards and only 19 touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions. When you break down Levis, it becomes clear that his performance was not as bad as his stats indicate. Kentucky had one of the worst offensive lines, meaning Levis had minimal time to go through his reads. The play calling for the Wildcats was also suspect (Kentucky fired their offensive coordinator immediately after their last game). Levis’s poor situation does not excuse all his shortcomings, as the 23-year-old still made some ill-advised throws and showed a tendency to struggle to pick up blitzes and coverages. These are issues he will have to clean up with the right coach.
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So, what makes Will Levis so appealing? Standing at 6’4” and weighing 230 pounds, Levis has the body type NFL front offices dream of. He has a cannon for an arm, the Kentucky quarterback claims he can throw it 80 yards. A worry for many Quarterbacks with strong arms is often their accuracy and slow release. This is not the case for Levis, who has an elite quick release and consistently hits his receivers in stride.
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The Kentucky Quarterback has shown the ability to make throws on all three levels. Levis is eerily like Josh Allen. Not only in his arm strength and build but also in his ability to make plays with his legs. Josh Allen is one of the best running quarterbacks, running a 4.75 40-yard dash during the combine. Levis’s 40 time is expected to be faster than Allen’s. With his physical traits, speed and size will make him a volatile runner.
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Levis is projected to be the third quarterback taken by oddsmakers. There is a possibility that between now and the draft, he becomes the first quarterback taken. This is not out of the question, as Baker Mayfield had a similar, unexpected rise in 2017. Levis is personally my QB1 in this draft. Josh Allen is the perfect comparison in that they both possessed elite physical traits entering the draft but were very raw. The Bills took a chance on Allen, he struggled for his first couple of years, but now he is a top-three quarterback in the league. Whatever team selects Levis, they will have a bright future.
