Will Levis 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the Kentucky QB

Will Levis, Kentucky: 6’3”, 220 pounds; SR.

A former three-star recruit, Will Levis comes from a highly accomplished family in football and other athletics, while personally setting several records at his high school.

He only started a couple of games and was primarily used in certain QB run packages his two years with Penn State behind Sean Clifford, before he transferred to the SEC ahead of the 2021 season.

There, he immediately transformed that Kentucky passing offense, finally giving them a vertical component they never had, and was voted a team captain week one. Levis ended 2021 completing 66.0 percent of his passes for 2,826 yards, 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, along with another 376 yards and nine TDs on the ground.

This past season Will Levis was fighting through multiple injuries (foot, finger and shoulder), but still completed 65.4% of his passes for 2406 yards and accounted for 21 TDs compared to ten picks.

Will Levis scout report: Strengths

Quarterback Will Levis of Kentucky participates in a drill during the NFL Combine

+ Will Levis has such easy zip on the ball, coming from his wrist, allowing him to be very compact with his delivery.

+ Does a great job of creating velocity on the ball and fully rotating his upper body through, when given room, to put it on the money.

+ Can let it fly 60+ yards through the air on those big post routes when he gets somebody working against the center-fielding safety.

+ Fully capable of getting the ball outside the opposite numbers on a line throwing deep out and corner routes, as well take advantage of cushion by the field-side corner or a widening slot defender working towards the flats in the quick game and on spacing concepts.

+ You saw the Wildcats take advantage of Will Levis’ huge arm by keeping extra bodies in protection and calling up two-man concepts at times, where he had no options less than 20 yards down the field.

+ However, he does also understand when to take heat off the ball and flip it to his outlets.

+ Kentucky ran a lot of play-action, where he was asked to turn his back to the defense and settle off half-rolls, etc. before firing the ball down the field.

+ Pretty swift with his ball-fakes, effectively selling tosses and bootlegs for throw-back screens. Is able to ride the back on fake handoffs or RPOs and rapidly get the ball out to his guys on glance/slide routes.

+ Identifies his best matchups against man-coverage and is able to defeat sticky defenders with regularity, because the ball is put where it can’t be contested.

+ Against zone coverage, Will Levis quickly attacks the space opened as defenders widen in their drops and can hit secondary windows by waiting a beat and letting his guy clear the guy floating that way.

+ Can shorten up his release to get the ball out that split-second earlier as he sees receivers start to settle down in soft-spots.

+ While his eyes consistently start deep, when he sees a leverage advantage, he will come right down to his check-down.

+ Has moments when his feet are totally aligned to throw the ball down the field, but at the last moment he feels like the coverage forces to hit a secondary target underneath, where he can still get it there without re-setting.

+ There are several highly impressive throws into tight windows on the intermediate level – digs, overs, etc. – where it looks like he tried to put a hole into the chest of the receiver.

+ There was one ball against Georgia on a bootleg to the left, where he drilled a crosser in-between three zone defenders, which was as good as I’ve seen from anybody in this draft.

+ Will Levis dealt with pressure on an insane 37.8% of dropbacks in 2022. The amount of times he got stepped on or absolutely smoked back there and was still able to deliver a ball his receivers could make a play on it down the field is remarkable.

+ As long as the protection isn’t killed instantly, he doesn’t allow rushers in his area to affect his mechanics and will gladly hang at the top of his drop to give his receivers that little bit of extra time to break open.

+ Shows the sudden movement inside the pocket to gain ground by hitching up or sliding sideways whilst pulling the shoulder away from rushers.

+ Can freeze edge rushers momentarily and then beat them around the corner.

+ Will Levis is one of the most impressive on-the-move throwers in the country. With the ability to roll to the left, square his shoulders and hit receivers working across the field with him, where the hang defender towards the sideline doesn’t become an issue to jump in front of the pass.

+ When he didn’t have to deal with the turf toe in 2021, he was a major contributor on the ground, forced 20 missed tackles and averaged 3.0 yards after contact as a junior (on 107 carries), with 18 runs of 10+ yards.

+ Delivered plenty of crucial scrambles for first downs that year, when defenses left a lane open for him, while not shying away from dropping the shoulder on an awaiting defender if needed.

+ Very effective at finding a crease and pushing the pile, to convert QB sneaks for first downs in short-yardage situations.

Will Levis scout report: Weaknesses

Will Levis #7 of the Kentucky Wildcats against the Youngstown Penguins

– Will Levis' base and foot positioning can break down deeper into the play-clock, and too often he refers to “arming” it out there, where the front-toe isn’t pointed towards the target and there’s some disconnect.

– Underthrew a bunch of his deep balls, not due to lack of arm strength, but rather not finding the right trajectory and touch, as well as just being a beat late getting his feet aligned.

– A lot of his production has come on screens and lay-ups off RPOs, where he didn’t have to work through processions and scan extended areas of the field – nearly a quarter of his passes were thrown behind the line of scrimmage.

– Takes way too many unnecessary hits and allows tacklers to flip him in the air, instead of just sliding a yard or two earlier.

– Had nearly twice as many turnover-worthy plays (13) than big-time throws (seven) this past season, attempting passes whilst getting hit and trying to force the ball into miniscule windows, where he lacks the needed maturity.

Will Levis scout report: Grade

Will Levis #7 of the Kentucky Wildcats throws a pass against the Louisville Cardinals at Kroger Field

At this point, the hate for Will Levis has just gotten out of control.

How inconsistent he is at this point with setting up his lower half and some of the moments where he puts the ball in harm’s way are concerning. However, the tape of this guy standing tall inside the pocket, deal with multiple pressure points and deliver the ball to his targets without being able to step into throws is what old-school NFL coaches are looking for.

Plus, then what he can deliver on the move is very impressive. Will Levis’ big-time throw rate of 4.1% compared to turnover-worthy plays (2.6%) was a lot better in 2021, when he actually had an NFL-level offensive coordinator. At least one reliable target (saw 15 of 201 catchable passes dropped) and some offensive line help.

Will Levis’ toughness is unquestioned, everybody on his teams absolutely love him and he’s not somebody who invites chaos by getting into scramble mode unnecessarily (as indicated by a time-to-throw of 2.62 and 2.58 respectively in his two seasons as a starter).

I certainly don’t think he’s a top-ten level prospect like the first three names and he’s actually the one that needs the most work in terms of mechanics and decision-making. But I think Will Levis has the tools to become a franchise signal-caller in the right situation.

Grade: Late first round

You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Tyree Wilson (EDGE), Texas Tech; Will Anderson Jr. (EDGE), Alabama; Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR), Ohio; Zay Flowers (WR), Boston; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Quentin Johnston (WR), TCU; Zach Charbonnet (RB), UCLA; Bijan Robinson (RB), Texas.

Feel free to head over to halilsrealfootballtalk.com for all my draft breakdowns and check out my YouTube channel for even more NFL content!