Is Will Levis The Next Josh Allen?

First Round Mock NFL Draft Analyst Ken Becks takes a look at highly touted Kentucky quarterback Will Levis and has a lot to say about what he saw on game film.

#7 Will Levis

POSITION: Quarterback (QB)
SCHOOL: Kentucky
HEIGHT: 6-3
WEIGHT: 232

Evaluated Games:

Florida ’22

Mississippi ’22

Mississippi State ’22

Tennessee ’22

Georgia ’22

Strengths

Levis possesses a sturdy, athletic build to his frame, and he’s quick and twitchy for an athlete of his size. His athleticism and mobility skill sets are upper tier when compared to most at the position.

Whenever Levis is on the field, he exudes a high-strung motor, which seems to never run out of gas!

An excellent trait he shows is his spontaneous and creative ability to ad-lib when plays breakdown. He’s able to innately extend plays while keeping them alive.

Behind center, Levis displays above average ball-faking skills before setting up in the pocket. Ball-faking skills are an underrated advantage for an offense to to have a QB with this ability. That extra split second of being able to freeze defenders can result in a higher success rate on plays.

Levis stands tall in the pocket displaying frenetic poise. That combined with his quick feet allows him to quickly escape troubled situations, which makes him that much more difficult to defend. His quick feet also allow him to quickly redirect to have the option to throw off multiple and even unorthodox platforms within a play. He doesn’t need to have his feet set in a traditional manner before delivering and completing passes.

Another added feature to his game is his ability to effectively roll out and deliver passes on the move. This makes him a multi-threat in the passing game.

He shows “quick release recognition,” with his release. This is the time it takes from recognizing where to throw, and his release is top of the line at the QB position.

When Levis decides to tuck the ball and run with it, he is a very creative and productive runner. He runs with authority and he doesn’t shy away from contact. His competitive nature was on full display versus defenders, frequently leaning forward after last contact.

This Kentucky signal caller displays quite the velocity on throws ANYWHERE on the field on a ROPE! He additionally displays good touch and placement on his passes, though this area of his game can get inconsistent.

Weaknesses

As stated there are inconsistencies with his accuracy on passes, as he can become erratic with his throws out of nowhere.

As times, there are additionally concerns with his lack of pocket presence when the pocket is collapsing, and he doesn’t see or feel it.

Levis does tend to lock in and stare down targets before throwing their direction, which allows defenders to read, and anticipate these tendencies where he’s going with the ball. This can result in negative plays on the offense, due to this deficiency in this area of his game.

Throughout games, he tends to show the propensity to make a boneheaded play or two, which can be due to a lack of snaps at the collegiate level and also due to his competitive nature.

2023 NFL Draft Prospect Value

First-Round (Top 20 down)

Scouting Report Summary

When watching Levis perform on the field, it’s like watching a wild stallion. You have to love his passion, drive, and his eagerness to make the big play. At times this does result in negative outcomes for his team.

With Levis, you are drafting on the upside, and projection of what he could ultimately become. Though, his wild stallion approach is exciting, it will need to be reined in a bit at the next level. He will need some development in this area of his game.

Levis will be the wildcard of this year’s QB class. When drafting him, you are drafting more on traits and upside. In this QB-hungry league, there will be more than a few teams willing to draft him on those traits. I for one, feel his traits will prevail, making him a potential franchise-type QB.

Ken Becks [TheScout] has been covering & scouting NFL prospects for over 30 years! Ken has worked with the Indoor Football Scouting Bureau and he’s been mentioned in publications such as Scout.com, ABCNews.com, and TheNewsStar.com. He covers the NFL Draft for FirstRoundMock.com and he is the founder and Director of 1stDownScouting.com. Follow him @1stdown_scout on Twitter.