Will Levis not picked in the first round of 2023 NFL Draft after early QB run

Will Levis’ nightmare scenario played out in front of a national audience Thursday.

Asked on the eve of his Kentucky football pro day if he was planning to attend the NFL Draft in person in Kansas City, Levis first noted he had not been officially invited.

Then he made what seemed like a joke at the time but proved to be a painful piece of foreshadowing instead.

“If I know I’ll be a pretty high pick I’ll definitely go,” Levis said. “I’m looking forward to going, but I don’t want to go if I could be like a second-round pick. Don’t want to have the camera just on you all day.”

Levis was one of 17 players to accept an invitation to attend the draft in person. That decision seemed logical when the betting markets established him as the favorite to be picked at No. 2 or No. 4 in the days leading up to the draft.

Instead, day one of the draft ended without Levis being selected at all. And yes, the ESPN cameras spent much of the final hours of day one of the draft showing Levis and his family wait in the green room as team after team passed on him.

The Carolina Panthers took Alabama quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 pick, as expected. The Houston Texas then proved pre-draft buzz that C.J. Stroud’s stock was falling wrong by taking the Ohio State quarterback at No. 2. Despite being heavily linked to Levis in recent weeks, the Indianapolis Colts opted for Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson at No. 4.

With three teams needing a quarterback off the board, there was not an obvious landing spot for Levis in the rest of the top 10. When the Tennessee Titans, another team that had been frequently linked to Levis in mock drafts, opted for offensive lineman Peter Skoronski at No. 11, fears of a Levis free fall grew.

The New England Patriots hosted Levis for a visit shortly before the draft but traded the No. 14 pick to Pittsburgh then passed on Levis at No. 17. The Seattle Seahawks, who sent head coach Pete Carroll to Kentucky’s pro day to watch Levis throw, elected not to select him at No. 5 or No. 20. The Minnesota Vikings were viewed as the last team interested in drafting a quarterback in the first round but picked wide receiver Jordan Addison instead at No. 23.

While ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Levis as the second-best quarterback in the draft, love for the former Penn State transfer was far from universal.

Levis shined in his first season at Kentucky in 2021, playing in an offense brought from the Los Angeles Rams to Lexington by coordinator Liam Coen, but he and Kentucky failed to live up to preseason hype in 2022. By then, Coen had returned to Los Angeles as the Super Bowl champions’ new offensive coordinator. Kentucky also had to replace its top three receivers and three starting offensive linemen.

The Wildcats’ rebuilt offensive line struggled throughout the 2022 season, ranking 126th of 131 teams in the country in sacks allowed. The physical toll of those hits mounted for Levis, who battled turf toe for much of the season, limiting his ability to make plays with his legs.

“We all know when it’s a clean pocket, when it’s beautiful and there’s 10 five-stars to throw to, how pretty that looks,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said at Levis’ pro day. “We’re not blessed with that opportunity.”

A report from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen Thursday night suggested multiple teams were concerned about the medical reports concerning Levis’ injured toe. Levis opted out of the Music City Bowl to gain some much needed healing time for the injury before preparing for the draft, but he elected to play throughout Kentucky’s regular season, even after it became apparent the Wildcats would fall short of their preseason goal of contending for an SEC East title.

Now Levis will wait to learn if any of the teams looking from a quarterback who passed on him in the first round will consider the risk more palatable in the second round. Of the eight teams Levis reportedly took top-30 visits to before the draft, five did not take a quarterback in the first round: Las Vegas, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and New England. The draft resumes with round two at 7 p.m. Friday.

With Levis falling to the second round, Kentucky has not had a quarterback picked in the first round since Tim Couch went No. 1 overall in 1999.

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