Kentucky quarterback Will Levis was the favorite to be picked second overall, but he plummeted down the first round, and here’s the reason why.
The quarterbacks dominated the discussion of the 2023 NFL Draft, specifically where they would end up.
While Alabama’s Bryce Young was heavily favored to go first overall to the Carolina Panthers, Kentucky’s Will Levis had the highest betting odds of going second overall, which was held by the Houston Texans. Instead, the Texans selected Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.
Then, the Indianapolis Colts used the No. 4 pick on Florida’s Anthony Richardson. As for Levis, he waited and waited in the green room at the NFL Draft in Kansas City, falling all the way down the first round.
This move came as a shock, considering all of the hype surrounding Levis. But, there is a reason as to why he was falling.
According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Levis’ left toe concerned two teams. One team called the injury that caused him to miss two games last season, “problematic.” Another team, per Mortensen, felt that Levis would be able to manage it, but that they “thought surgery would need discussion after season.”
Reason for Will Levis’ NFL Draft slide revealed
This would explain why Levis fell down as far as he did. Even if the Colts passed on him at fourth-overall, there was expectation he would end up going to the Tennessee Titans at No. 11, Seattle Seahawks at No. 5 and 20 or the Minnesota Vikings at No. 23. But, they all opted against selecting him.
With Levis, he had one of the stronger arms in the draft, had the prototypical size and a knowledge of a pro-style offense at Kentucky. However, this past season there were struggles, whether it was the fault of his wide receivers group or the injuries he dealt with. Not to mention that he couldn’t beat Sean Clifford for the starting quarterback job at Penn State during his two seasons with the team (2019-20).
This past season, Levis threw for 2,406 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 65.4-percent of his passes.
Instead of being a first-rounder, which many experts have expected, he is entering the second round on Friday. From there, we will see when he will receive a call from an NFL team to be on their roster.