Devin Leary has opportunity to lead Kentucky offense better than Will Levis

Devin Leary has a fresh start with Kentucky and he could be better for the Wildcats than former quarterback Will Levis, according to On3’s J.D. PicKell.

Leary had quite the career with NC State before he elected to transfer prior to the 2023 season. Levis had his moments with Kentucky, but Leary might be a step up for the Wildcats offense.

Henceforth, Kentucky should be watched a little more than last season when it comes to competing in the SEC East.

“My question for them is what’s the Devin Leary effect,” PicKell said on The Hard Count. “I am not in the business of hot takes … I think that Devin Leary has a chance to be a better leader of this offense than Will Levis was and what I mean by that is Will Levis, as talented as he is, and why he may be a more gifted thrower the football, double digit turnovers, double digit interceptions, both of his last two seasons. So for Devin Leary, you take better care of the football and you get it to these playmakers.”

Leary was limited to six games last season and finished with 1,265 yards, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 61.1% completion percentage. In 2021 though, Leary tossed for 3,433 yards, 35 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 65.7% completion percentage.

Devin Leary best option for Kentucky?

“We saw Devin Leary flash at NC State in ‘21, we’ll see what he does this coming season,” PicKell said. “(In) ‘22, he was kind of dinged up and it was a little bit of a tough deal. I’ll just say this man, Kentucky is sneaky. If you pick them to win the East or not, that’s fine. But a lot of people want to forget, that final score against Georgia, that team that just absolutely drugged TCU in the national title back to back national champs. 16-6 was the final score of that game.

“Now it was ugly. It was bad weather, it was at Kentucky, they’ll have to go to Athens this year. Just saying man, I’m not picking them to upset Georgia but I am just saying watch out for Kentucky because Devin Leary I think could up the level of the offense.”

As a member of the Class of 2018, Leary was a four-star recruit out of Sicklerville (N.J.) Timber Creek, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 8 overall prospect in the state, the No. 29 quarterback in the class and the No. 348 overall prospect in the class.