JetPack Galileo
Mar 11, 2023
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 229
Projected Wonderlic: 31
Strengths: Can take a hit
Weakness: Ball placement
Will Levis is a psychopath. Could be a good thing, could be a bad thing. But it's certainly a thing. It definitely matters. Just not sure which direction.
Any interest in Will Levis starts with his arm strength. Tossing a 60 yarder is no big deal for Levis.
Levis is also capable of recognizing leverage and throwing his receiver into open space. Here he gets Barion Brown isolated against the safety running corner-post. Brown runs a fantastic route, and Levis pushes the ball across the field to allow Brown to run under it. He avoids catch-point conflict altogether in order to guarantee a completion. With a clean pocket and a straightforward setup, Levis executes the deep strike perfectly.
Here he drops a catchable deep ball into a fairly challenging bucket. 40 yard throw from the opposite hash without a complete follow-through. Even though the pass would have likely been broken up if the CB man-turned instead of opening to Levis, it's still a relatively impressive athletic feat to get the ball out there with pressure in his face.
However, that relative athleticism is less valuable than experienced decision-making. When he doesn't have as much room to work, he can make massive mistakes trying to fit the ball into windows that are much tighter. Here he has Barion working down the sideline between a Cover 2 safety that dropped off the hash at the snap and a trail CB that has no flat WR to occupy him. This ball should not be thrown, but he certainly cannot throw it the way he did. Instead of gunning it in, Levis tries to float it to Brown, making it one of the easier interceptions of Kelee Ringo's career.
Levis' play under pressure can be a mixed bag. Coaches will like the grasp Levis has over the holistic concepts. Here, Levis gets a delayed blitzer in his face and he slides and dumps to his checkdown immediately. Offenses need operators that solve problems rapidly in order to maintain productivity. That type of quick reaction can be an important part of keeping the offense on schedule.
Mississippi State gives Levis a bull blitz on 3rd down, but once again, he adeptly slides and pushes the ball to his escape hatch. The RB makes a great play to earn the first down, but Levis ball placement deserves celebration. At a minimum, Levis' quick thinking gets Kentucky into position to go for it on fourth down. The ball carrier makes it worth much more.
The main flaw in Levis' game is his erratic ball placement. He can be all over the place. Despite his apparent understanding of positional leverage, any sort of disruption or challenge to his throwing process can force a miss. On this 3rd & 4, Levis fails to give his checkdown a good pass. The RB has an easy runway to the first down, but Levis' feet fail to sync up and he pushes the ball too far out and keep the RB upright.
Same issue on this walk-in touchdown. It's as if Will panics when the LB flashes. He rushes the pass and rockets it behind his wide open receiver. Bouncing off his right foot does not produce good results. Many quarterbacks can occasionally hit off-platform plays. When the whole offense relies on you, off-and-on success is not success. It must be repeatable. He will need to spend time throwing off his right foot in order to create genuine reliability and match in-game execution to his quick mind.
This next play is peak Levis. He gets a low snap, but still has a wide open touchdown opportunity. Nothing about his platform is being challenged here, but the low snap likely makes him feel rushed. Instead of taking his normal wind-up, he short-arms the throw and puts the ball WAY behind the receiver...into the hands of an undeserving defender. Atrocious ball placement on the goalline, it does not get worse than this.
In addition to poor accuracy, Levis has zero peripheral vision in the pocket. The right tackle makes an inexplicable decision to leave the edge defender completely unblocked, but Will is completely oblivious as the DE turns the corner to clobber him. He's fine if he sees the pressure pre-snap. He has decent escapability. Good functional strength on the move. But he has to see it early, he doesn't have a great peripheral feel and frequently gets blasted.
When he's out of the pocket and on the run, he's tough and willing to dive and leap over defenders. He's not elusive or explosive, but that doesn't matter for what he'll be used for. Goalline sneaks and the occasional zone-read can bring some fantasy value. He's not quite Ryan Tannehill/Trevor Lawrence tier, but he should get Geno Smith/Zach Wilson caliber rush numbers.
Levis has enough raw tools for a team to draft him in the first round. It's a worthwhile investment, but he'll need a lot of structure before he begins to put up real fantasy points. The Kentucky offensive line appeared to be part of his lack of productivity in college.Without good support up front, he'll likely continue making the same mistakes that he made throughout his college career. If he has time, he can show off his arm talent and unlock new skills.