CBSSports.com’s Chris Trapasso has former Penn State and current Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Will Levis going first overall in his early 2023 NFL mock draft.
“Levis feels like he’s a quarterback who could be the No. 1 overall pick,” Trapasso wrote in his analysis. “He’s big, chiseled, has a rocket for an arm and can scramble. The Texans will probably be in the quarterback market in a big way next offseason.”
At 6-foot-3 and 232 pounds, Levis is certainly big and has a chiseled frame. He has a strong arm, and rushed for 376 yards last season, which speaks well for his mobility. After transferring from Penn State before the 2021 season, Levis led Kentucky to a 10-3 record and Citrus Bowl win over Iowa in his first season as a full-time college starting quarterback.
Levis was at Penn State from 2018 to 2020, seeing time in the 2019 and ‘20 seasons. He got his college start against Rutgers in 2019’s regular-season finale and started against Iowa in 2020. Despite Sean Clifford being the team’s primary starting QB in 2020, Levis appeared in eight of Penn State’s nine games, being used often as a runner. In his last two years at Penn State, Levis rushed for a combined 473 yards, a number that wasn’t terribly behind his passing total of 644.
Levis was one of six quarterbacks selected in the first round of Trapasso’s mock draft, which is six times the amount that went in this year’s first round. Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett was the lone person at his position to go in the first round of the 2022 draft.
Trapasso isn’t the only person who sees Levis going in the first round. CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson had Levis going No. 5 in a recent mock as well.
It’s not certain where Penn State or Levis would be if Levis had stayed in State College, but it’s hard to argue that Levis’s time in Lexington hasn’t been productive.
