Dan Orlovsky Describes Why Will Levis is a Difficult NFL Evaluation

Will Levis could become the highest Kentucky Wildcat selected in the NFL Draft since 1999. One of the most talked about prospects throughout Draft season, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky joined Kentucky Sports Radio Tuesday morning to break down why the projections for Levis as a pro are all over the place.

NFL Draft-nicks quickly fell in love with Levis. For folks who follow the college game closely, the production does not match the hype. Orlovsky operates somewhere in the middle. He’s called Kentucky football games as a broadcaster, like the victory over Florida in 2021, and he plays a prominent role in ESPN’s NFL coverage. Despite viewing Levis from a variety of angles, it’s still difficult to evaluate how his skills will translate to the pros.

“The talent does not match the tape,” Orlovsky said on KSR. “He’s very talented, physical, tough, can throw it, a natural spinner of the football. He played his best I would say in the toughest down, which is third downs. But it’s a difficult evaluation because one, they took the ball out of his hands a lot last year. I don’t know if that’s because they didn’t think he was good, or because they didn’t think they would be good on offense in those moments. Two, the injury, and three, I think he had the worst supporting cast.”

Ryan Lemond begged to differ on the supporting cast comments, but you’ll have to hear all of that in today’s podcast.

A Justin Herbert Comparison

CJ Stroud spent his entire career at Ohio State throwing to future NFL wide receivers. Will Levis had Wan’Dale Robinson and a couple of talented young freshman, bu he was not afforded a comparable luxury. The lessons Orlovsky learned from watching Justin Herbert paint a clearer picture of what he believes Levis can do in the NFL.

“Justin’s evaluation is a lot like Will’s. Justin was bad. And at Oregon you’d sit there and be like, he’s just okay. I called their games. And then you as through a process, I got hung up on thinking he wasn’t that good in college. But what you realize was the supporting cast wasn’t that good,” said the ESPN commentator.

“They didn’t have a lot of guys that went on to play in the NFL, but you had to study the traits and skills that the individual player had, how they used them, and is that transferable to the NFL? I think that’s where I lean a little bit more towards favoring Will because the skills and the traits are there physically and on tape. It just didn’t result in certain plays success wise, that you kind of think should because that talent is there.”

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What Will Levis Must Improve to Perform Well Right Away

In the past plenty of NFL teams drafted quarterbacks, just to stash them on the roster and let them learn for a year or two before taking the reins. Now rookies are being thrown into the fire right away. A few things Levis did during his time at Kentucky could help him succeed on day one.

He operated under center more than any other quarterback in the draft. He also was coached by a pair of NFL vets at offensive coordinator. Learning an NFL playbook will not be a challenge. The No. 1 goal of NFL defenses is to stop the pass and Will Levis has a big enough arm to create chunk plays. Last year he consistently was under pressure, something that will happen on Sundays. He has experience performing amid chaos, yet the quarterback must develop a better sense of awareness in the pocket.

“One of the big things with him is he’s going to have to grind on pocket presence, because it’s not tremendous. And he does run from good pockets and run into bad pockets more than you want. That’s what I would say would be his biggest flaw.” Orlovsky added, “But I think his game transfers with some of the experiences from college to the NFL.”