Todd McShay, Mel Kiper Jr. get into heated debate over Will Levis in NFL mock draft special

It’s clear by now that ESPN NFL draft analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay have vastly different opinions on Kentucky quarterback Will Levis. That disagreement came to a boiling point Tuesday in a SportsCenter special highlighting a recent mock draft from former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum.

Tannenbaum predicted Levis to be the third quarterback off the board, going No. 4 overall to the Indianapolis Colts. That is in line with where Kiper has him going as well. McShay, however, prefers Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson.

“I know Tannenbaum and especially with Kiper, I’m surrounded by guys that I think like Levis a little bit too much and are making too many excuses for him in this process,” McShay said. “There are some flaws like every quarterback, like missing layups. I see Brady Quinn (and) Tim Tebow in terms of the workout warrior in the weight room that’s got a little bit of tightness in his upper body. Then panic in the pocket. When you have the pocket around him — look, he has plenty of time here to throw. He can hang in the pocket. But he drops his eyes and missed this receiver that’s coming in late in the middle of the field. It would’ve been an easy throw for a first down. Instead, he picks up about maybe a yard or gets a sack there. Then finally, key turnovers. This has been a theme for over a year. This is a third-down situation in field goal range, down three points with just over three minutes left in the game. He fumbles it. The defense does a great job. They get the ball back again. First-and-goal. At worst, we’re tying this game and going into overtime. But he doesn’t feel the backside pressure, holds on to the ball too long and fumbles.

“It’s not just a fumbling thing. The interceptions. 23 interceptions (over the past two seasons). More than any Power 5 quarterback outside of these other two, Sam Hartman and Aidan O’Connell. They both had 300-plus more attempts. So the percentage of interceptions to attempts is alarming. I can hear Kiper now. I’ll make his argument for him. ‘He didn’t have Chris Rodriguez the first four games. Offensive line, no protection. Young wide receivers. Injury there.’ I get all of that. But as a leader and a guy who’s going into the NFL as a potential top-four pick, we’ve got to do a better job at the college level of protecting the football.”

After sitting and listening to McShay attack his points, Kiper was eager to fire back with an argument of his own. He asserted that the 2022 tape on Levis doesn’t matter for many of the reasons McShay predicted he would, citing poor offensive line play and injuries.

“How about protecting your quarterback, which they could not do?” Kiper asked. “How about his 2022 tape meaning nothing, Todd? What you’re giving me — cherry-picking bad plays — throw it out the window. It means nothing. Go back to 2021 when he had nine rushing touchdowns, as much as Anthony Richardson did this past year. Bryce Young had seven in two years. (Levis) had nine in one year. He had zero over the last eight games because he couldn’t move.

“You’re showing me plays of a quarterback who couldn’t move because of injury. Toe, shoulder, everything in between. Beat up by a team that didn’t have four and five-star recruits all over the place and had an offensive line that was one of the worst in college football. So give me a break. Go back to 2021 and you can cherry-pick bad plays from there. Find me some bad plays from 2021 and then I’ll listen to you.”

Kiper’s point that Levis was a much better rusher in 2021 is true. However, he was essentially the same in both seasons as a passer on a per game basis. He averaged 217.4 yards, 1.8 touchdowns and one interceptions in 2021 compared to 218.7 yards, 1.7 touchdowns and 0.9 interceptions in 2022.

Ultimately, only time will tell where the Kentucky quarterbacks lands. The 2023 NFL Draft is set to begin April 27 in Kansas City.