NFL Draft Rewind: No. 4 Will Levis
The NFL Draft kicks off with its opening round on April 27 in Kansas City, so Rivals is taking a look back at its projected first-round picks when they were high school prospects. We move onto our projected No. 4 – Kentucky QB Will Levis, who was a three-star in the 2018 class.
NFL DRAFT REWIND: No. 1 Bryce Young | No. 2 CJ Stroud | No. 3 Will Anderson
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No. 4: QB Will Levis, Kentucky
Where they were ranked: Levis was ranked as a mid-three-star recruit out of Madison (Conn.) Xavier and the No. 30 pro-style quarterback in the 2018 class, which was led by five-stars Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and JT Daniels.
Recruitment: After throwing at Penn State’s summer camp, Levis landed an offer from the Nittany Lions and committed only hours later. The three-star quarterback also landed offers following camp stops at Florida State, Iowa, UConn, North Carolina and Syracuse. After backing up Sean Clifford in Happy Valley and not winning the starting job, Levis transferred to Kentucky.
Biggest question: According to Pro Football Focus, nearly 25 percent of his throws were thrown behind the line of scrimmage in 2022 and Levis still threw 10 interceptions and had 23 picks in his two years as the Wildcats’ starter.
Memories: One of the only major camps Levis competed at during his high school career was the Rivals Quarterback Challenge in Cincinnati where he had no offers and did struggle with accuracy at times. But from a physical perspective and seeing his arm strength, he was clearly a talented QB.
Years later, some of the same questions are still being asked about Levis, who could never crack the starting job over Clifford (although many Penn State fans were yearning for Levis to take the top spot) and ended up at Kentucky, where he has catapulted himself high into the first round.
At Madison Xavier in Connecticut, especially in his early years, Levis was known as more of an athlete than a polished quarterback. He had the size and the impressive build, he had the big-time arm that we’ve seen in the SEC and the people around him in New England raved about his physical gifts.
With that level of competition in high school, Levis dominated. It is also telling that everywhere the three-star quarterback camped in the summer before his senior season, he landed an offer. That included Penn State, to which he accepted quickly.
But even at his Kentucky pro day, some of the same questions remain. Is Levis more of a great-looking quarterback with a fastball arm or can he be developed into the next Josh Allen? He had four offensive coordinators in college – which Levis thinks is an advantage – but was he ever given a fair shot to develop in a system? Can he layer the ball or does he resort back to what he knows best by throwing all gas?
Some of these questions cannot be answered until Levis takes an NFL field. But we know he’s really talented and while he might not have the polish of Bryce Young or CJ Stroud, Levis thrives in playing from behind in his career and this could be the perfect opportunity for him to once again prove himself.