Can Will Levis be the next Josh Allen? NFL combine offers chance to back up hype.
Few NFL Draft prospects will generate more conversation at the scouting combine this week than former Kentucky quarterback Will Levis.
Levis has consistently been projected as a top-10 pick in the 2023 draft for most of the last year — even drawing mention as a candidate for the No. 1 pick at times — despite middling college success.
The optimistic talent evaluator sees similar potential to Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen. The pessimist looks at Levis and asks, what exactly did he do at Kentucky to generate this kind of hype?
“It’s not one of those years where you have Trevor Lawrence,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said of the 2023 quarterback class in a pre-combine conference call with reporters. “It’s not Joe Burrow. It’s not Andrew Luck. It’s not that year where you say, OK, this is that one … it’s going to be hard to miss.
“We don’t have that. They all have warts and flaws, but I think there’s five potential solid starters in this group.”
Jeremiah includes Levis in the group of his five projected solid starters alongside Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker. In his most recent mock draft, Jeremiah projected the Las Vegas Raiders to select Levis at pick No. 7.
ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Levis as the top quarterback in the draft class. His ESPN counterparts Todd McShay and Jordan Reid rank him third and fourth, respectively.
In two years as Kentucky’s starting quarterback after transferring from Penn State, Levis completed 65.7% of his passes for 5,232 yards, 43 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. As a junior, Levis showed off impressive running ability with 376 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, but playing behind a porous offensive line while battling a foot injury for much of his senior year Levis’ rushing ability almost completely disappeared.
So, why draft Levis so high?
“I think Josh Allen is kind of what you are hoping he is going to be there,” Jeremiah said.
Levis is not the only draft prospect drawing comparisons to Allen this year. Richardson, whose 2022 college performance was even worse than Levis, is being mentioned in the same category heading into the combine.
Like Allen, Levis and Richardson boast elite arm strength and athleticism when healthy. Allen also found just middling success in his final college season, completing 56.3% of his passes for 1,812 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions for Wyoming as a junior.
Allen proved his physical tools mattered more than his college performance when he finished second in the MVP voting in just his third season with the Bills. Now, some NFL teams might be looking to make a similar gamble considering Young’s and Stroud’s physical tools are not quite as impressive even with clearly superior college statistics.
“Josh Allen, for being somebody who didn’t have the best accuracy coming out and had some turnovers, you can get in trouble when you compare everybody to that,” Jeremiah said. “I know when Drew Brees just got into the league, every undersized quarterback for the next 10 years, if you liked him, he was Drew Brees. And it turned out none of them was Drew Brees. He was a one of one.
“I totally get that you can get in danger of thinking that Josh Allens are everywhere because they’re hard to find.”
Since Levis opted out of Kentucky’s appearance in the Music City Bowl and elected not to play in the Senior Bowl, the combine will represent the first opportunity to see how healthy he is after playing through turf toe for the last two months of the 2022 regular season — if he participates in drills. Levis will also meet with teams at the combine, offering him a chance to prove one of his other perceived strengths — the ability to quickly adapt to the NFL as the face of a franchise — is enough to select him at the top of the draft.
“This guy is going to wow them in every form and fashion,” said UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who coached Levis in Lexington in 2021 then served as Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator last season. “He’s extremely talented throwing the football, but you get him in a room, you get around him, you can feel his confidence. He’ll be able to speak the language, and he’ll be able to come into a locker room and get along with the guys.”
Jeremiah expects during meetings with Levis teams will want him to explain his 23 interceptions across two seasons at Kentucky and 36 sacks as a senior.
“When I watched him, I did not like when he was working to the left side of the field,” Jeremiah said. “I thought he was closed off. I thought he threw against him. Then, I come to find out after I’ve watched the tape that he had a messed up toe, he has a messed up shoulder, and I think that impacted that to a degree.
“But the things that you can’t refute, he has a strong arm. He is a really good athlete. Especially the year before when he is healthy. You can see him as a runner. You can use him on some design quarterback run stuff as well as him just organically making things happen. He is tough. He hangs in there and takes shots.”
If injuries and offensive line struggles are actually to blame for most of Levis’ struggles last fall, it is easier to understand why his stock is so high.
And even if he falls short of the Allen comparisons, Jeremiah sees potential to emulate another Pro Bowl quarterback.
“Dak Prescott is one,” he said. “I think that’s a fair comp for him. Same conference, same build, same toughness. The stuff on Dak, when you talk to the coaches there, you know, worker, intelligent, tough, winner. Like, you’ll hear all those exact same things said about Will Levis. They rave about him. As I think about it, that might end up being the best comparison.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2023 at 6:35 AM.