Todd McShay circles Florida vs. Kentucky as game with highest NFL Draft intrigue

Few college football games this weekend will be as hyped as No. 20 Kentucky heading to play No. 12 Florida. It’s not just important in the sense of SEC implications, though. According to ESPN’s Todd McShay, it will be big when it comes to the 2023 NFL Draft.

In a piece previewing this college football weekend, McShay says he’ll be in Gainesville for the Top-20 SEC game. His main focus will be on two of his Top-5 quarterbacks with Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson.

“I’ll be at Kentucky-Florida for this high-end quarterback matchup between Levis (QB3 on my board) and Anthony Richardson (QB5),” said McShay. “Both of these QBs have the chance to rise up draft boards this fall, and this matchup offers a huge opportunity for both.”

Levis is leading Kentucky’s first ranked team to come to Gainesville under Mark Stoops. He opened his 2022 campaign with a 21/32 game for 303 yards and three touchdowns. Considering he’s going through an OC change, it was a strong first start for Levis after flying up draft boards. Todd McShay was interested in Levis’ opener but thinks he could be under some serious pressure in the pocket this weekend.

“Levis has a big opportunity on Saturday. I studied Levis’ opening-game tape and talked to his coordinator yesterday. This year’s Kentucky offense is more progression-based and features more intermediate throws. Levis showed good field vision on most of his dropbacks. (He) made a lot of quick, efficient reads, including off play-action, in Week 1,” McShay said. “He was under duress on the vast majority of throws – and (will face) a far more ferocious pass rush.”

Meanwhile, Richardson made sure everyone knew his name after Florida’s opener. He led the Gators to an upset win over then No. 7 Utah as his team has now leaped to Top-15 in the nation. In Richardson’s first game as Florida’s unquestioned starter, he threw for a 70.8% completion percentage for 168 yards. However, his legs stole the show with 106 yards and a career-high three rushing touchdowns. If he puts up another special performance against another ranked team, Todd McShay thinks this could be a launching pad for Richardson’s stock.

“Richardson showed promise in his second career start (last week in a 29-26 upset of Utah),” said McShay. “I want to see more development from him in the pocket, but the arrow is pointing up.”

There may be few bigger games as far as QB prospects this season than Levis vs. Richardson in The Swamp. They’re two of the more unique prospects at the position in the draft and whoever plays better may edge out the other come the 2023 NFL Draft. That’s a way down the road, though, with the most important thing being tomorrow night’s primetime game between the Cats and Gators.