Tag: will levis first round

Why did Will Levis “fall” from the first round? The tape tells the story.

Will Levis’ “fall” from the first round should not have been a surprise to anybody who has watched his tape. NFL teams knew the truth.

You never want to be the prospect in the green room at the end of the first round of any NFL draft. It’s a horrible feeling, and you have to go back to your hotel room with your family, wondering about your professional future.

Sadly, that happened n Thursday night for Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, who many analysts thought could be selected as early as the fourth overall pick to the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts instead took Florida quarterback Antony Richardson, another tools-based prospect whose inexperience (one year as a starter) led to some messy tape, but whose upside is something we’ve never before seen at the position.

Now, Levis has to hope he’ll be taken early in the second round to get rid of that horrible feeling, and even then, it’ll take until 7:00 p.m. EST before he can even start hoping. That’s when the second round of the 2023 draft gets underway.

Ryan Leaf, who knows a thing or two about unfortunate professional careers, said Friday morning on the NFL Network that Levis actually won by not being selected in the first round, because he doesn’t have first-round tape, and with a higher pick, the “bust” potential would obviously be much higher. There’s a lot of wisdom there.