Draft Notebook: Will Levis buzz is building

The football season officially came to a close on Sunday night when the Kansas City Chiefs erased a double-digit deficit on the biggest stage to claim the franchise’s second world title. Now it’s time to dig into some offseason content.

In college football, programs are preparing for spring practice. In the NFL, franchise tag decision must start to be made later this month and free agency opens in March. However, all eyes are starting to move towards the draft in April.

KSR’s Draft Notebook is back to set the table for where things stand for Kentucky prospects in the NFL Draft process. One thing is starting to become very clear, the 7-6 season and No. 97 offensive adjusted efficiency ranking did not hurt Will Levis.

Will Levis has a legit chance to be the No. 1 overall pick

The Chicago Bears are now officially on the clock as the NFC North franchise owns the No. 1 overall pick. However, Justin Fields is QB1 in the Windy City. Add in the league’s most cap space and general manager Ryan Poles is looking to supplement Chicago’s roster around Fields. That means the Bears are looking for a trade partner.

The Houston Texans (No. 2 overall), Indianapolis Colts (No. 4 overall), Las Vegas Raiders (No. 7 overall), Atlanta Falcons (No. 8 overall), and Carolina Panthers (No. 9 overall) could all be in the market for a first-round quarterback. The Colts, Panthers, and Texans all have new head coaches whom the franchises will be looking to pair a rookie QB with as each begins a rebuild.

Will Levis will be a prospect that each looks at very closely. PFF has just released a draft guide and has Levis as the No. 3 overall prospect in the class of 2023.

“Levis has elite physical tools for the quarterback position —  if the draft were based on pure potential alone, he would probably go No. 1 overall.”

The Lions, Panthers, and Texans are listed as potential fits for the Kentucky QB at the next level. A trade-up could be in the cards for the Panthers and the Texans could be willing to sit tight at No. 2 overall to grab the best available quarterback.

Regardless, Levis will hear his name called very early in April.

Four Kentucky players will be in Indianapolis

The 2023 NFL Scouting Combine will host 319 prospects from Feb. 27-March 6 in downtown Indianapolis. The players will speak with NFL personnel for team interviews, participate in athletic testing, and undergo full medical examinations. The event includes everyone in the NFL and is the busiest week of draft season.

KSR will again make the trip up I-65 to cover the event for multiple days. Expect daily podcasts with videos and numerous written content. While in Hoosier Country, we will be speaking with four Kentucky players.

Will Levis, Tashawn Manning, Chris Rodriguez Jr., and Carrington Valentine will all be in Indianapolis. Levis likely won’t do much outside of media hits and team interviews at the combine, but it will be a critical event for the other three former Wildcats.

Rodriguez has a chance to lock up an early Day 3 selection after a solid performance at the Senior Bowl. Manning got the important combine invite after playing in the NFLPA Bowl. The former Auburn transfer will be looking to sneak into Round 6 or Round 7. Valentine could be the biggest riser of the group with a strong testing performance as cornerback is a premium position in every draft.

Expect the draft content to heat up in the meantime.

Talent pool is deep at tailback

Chris Rodriguez Jr. is heading to the NFL after an historic run at Kentucky. The former low three-star recruit out of Greater Atlanta leaves Lexington as a clear top-five tailback in program history. However, the field is deep in the class of 2023.

This is a good year to need a tailback in the NFL Draft.

The party starts with Bijan Robinson (Texas) who is likely a top-10 overall prospect, but won’t hear his name called until later in the first round due to the tailback position not having a ton of value. However, there are plenty of good backs after Robinson.

Zach Charbonnet (UCLA) is a personal favorite of mine after logging a robust 59 percent rushing success rate while running for 1,359 yards and 14 touchdowns on 7.0 yards per rush. Jahmyr Gibbs (Alabama) is an explosive pass-catching tailback that should join Charbonnet in round two.

Devon Achane (Texas A&M), Tank Bigsby (Auburn), Zach Evans (Ole Miss), Eric Gray (Oklahoma), Kenny McIntosh (Georgia), Kendre Miller (TCU), Keaton Mitchell (East Carolina), Rodriguez, Tyjae Spears (Tulane), and Sean Tucker (Syracuse) should all have good value in the middle rounds.

Waiting to scoop up a quality tailback on Day 3 could be a winning strategy.