Will Levis leaves Kansas City after Round 1 slide, won't be onsite for Round 2 of 2023 NFL Draft

Will Levis had as brutal of a night as anyone during the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. After what took place, you couldn’t blame the Kentucky quarterback for being ready to be out of Kansas City as quickly as possible.

That’s exactly what he seems to be doing too. Per Nick Roush at Kentucky Sports Radio, Levis has elected to leave KC and not remain in the green room for Round 2 of the draft.

Will Levis is not staying in Kansas City for the second night of the NFL Draft.

— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) April 28, 2023

Again, Levis’ freefall out of the first round only got worse and worse. He watched as Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, and Anthony Richardson all went off the board in the top-five. Then, surprisingly to most, everyone on the broadcast watched as he slid out of the Top-10, the Top-20, and, eventually, all the way out of Thursday night’s proceedings.

Still, while this is a fair call, it’s now on him to lick his wounds and use this as motivation. It wasn’t how many assumed the start of Levis’ pro career was going to kick off last night but, as he heads home, this should now become the chip on his shoulder moving forward.

McShay explains how Levis fell out of the first round

Will Levis was the second favorite to be the No. 1 pick behind Bryce Young. Four hours later, there Levis sat, swallowing the reality that the Panthers, along with the 30 teams who picked after them on Thursday night, all called different names than his.

Following the shocking free fall, NFL Draft expert Todd McShay joined Scott Van Pelt’s late-night SportsCenter. He came on to explain why he’s hearing that the Kentucky star dropped so far.

“Listen, he’s physically gifted, he’s a flamethrower, he’s got mobility, he’s built sturdy, he’s tough as nails. He’s an ultimate competitor. There are so many good things about Will Levis. But there were some negatives. I mean, you look at the 23 interceptions the last two years, only two guys were worse than him and they had at least 300 pass attempts. So the percentage of turnovers was a big problem.”

“I think inside the pocket — the biggest thing studying tape, is inside the pocket when he was bottled up a little bit and pressure started to come, I don’t think he trusted his eyes and he didn’t quite see the whole field.”

McShay also noted that Levis’ interviews may not have gone so great for him.

“And then, listen, there’s some reports and I don’t even know who to trust this time of year. But, apparently, he came off as kinda not having an ideal personality and maybe some arrogance and some cockiness in his meetings. But, ultimately, the turnovers and style of play is an issue. Because he played the quarterback position like a linebacker and we saw the toll it took on his body last year. A lot of teams are worried he’s going to be a Carson Wentz case when it’s all said and done.”