Todd McShay calls out Mel Kiper for overhyping Kentucky quarterback Will Levis

ESPN analyst Mel Kiper released an updated first-round NFL mock draft in a SportsCenter special on Tuesday, and one player that he and fellow ESPN analyst Todd McShay continue to disagree on is Kentucky quarterback Will Levis.

Kiper has Levis being selected at No. 4 overall by the Indianapolis Colts, and McShay took him to task a bit for that.

“I just love when we have a prospect that you just throw out an entire year of tape, that makes all the sense in the world,” McShay said, referring to Kiper downplaying Levis’ 2022 results. “I’m just trying to be fair and balanced. You gave all the positives, and I do really like Will Levis, Mel. Deal with it, I can really like him but be fair and balanced. And when you look at the opposite side of it there are some concerns.”

The ESPN analyst laid out some of those concerns, pairing them with film clips of Kentucky quarterback Will Levis on ESPN2’s broadcast.

“Let’s take a look at some of the tape. The tape don’t lie, Kiper,” McShay said. “How about easy misses? We’ve got Mr. Universe over here competing with Arnold Schwarzenegger, getting bulked up in his upper body. There’s tightness, he misses layups.

“Then inside the pocket, look at the time he has if he just hangs tough inside the pocket. Bryce Young would, CJ Stroud would. His eyes drop and so he winds up panicking and missing the open receiver in the middle of the field.”

McShay also had the luxury of covering a couple of Levis’ games live as a sideline reporter, including his game against Florida and his game against Ole Miss.

He highlighted the final moments of the Ole Miss game to show Levis isn’t always all that safe with the football.

“Then the turnovers. Major issue. I had this Ole Miss game live,” McShay said. “3:04 left, you’re down a field goal. As a quarterback, all you have to do is protect the football and we can at least go to overtime. We’re in field goal range. Fumbles there. Then the defense does a great job, gets the ball back, even better field goal positioning. Protect the football. But then the blind side rush comes, he doesn’t feel it, holds on too long and the turnover there.

“And it’s not just the fumbles, the interceptions, too. In the Power 5 he was third-worst the last two years, so that includes your 2021 tape that you cherish so much, Kiper. Third-worst. Aidan O’Connell and Sam Hartman both were worse than him but had 300-plus more attempts. So the percentage of attempt per interception is scary if I’m going to talk about a top 4 overall pick.”

However the two disagree on Levis, he does seem a fairly safe bet to be drafted in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft.

Both analysts’ NFL mock drafts currently have Kentucky quarterback Will Levis being selected in the first round. Kiper has Levis as his second-best quarterback available, while McShay has him fourth.