Where Will Levis stands in Day 2 NFL Mock Drafts

When I did a Will Levis mock draft roundup yesterday, I didn’t expect to be repeating the exercise today, but here we are. Will Levis’ slide out of the first round is the talk of the sports world this morning, with clips of the former Kentucky quarterback and his family waiting in the green room dominating social media and the talk show circuit. According to Nick Roush, Levis is not staying in Kansas City for Rounds 2 and 3 tonight, an understandable decision after an extremely uncomfortable night.

There are many theories about why teams passed on Levis, but let’s focus on the other big question: what happens now? If you’re looking for good news, most of the talking heads believe he won’t have to wait long to hear his name called. NFL insider Tom Pelissero is reporting that the Pittsburgh Steelers, who hold the first pick of the second round, No. 32, are already fielding calls about a trade, presumably for Levis. All the drama aside, he is considered the best available prospect by ESPN and Dane Brugler.

Here’s where Levis stands in the Day 2 mocks. Choose your favorite destination:

• John Kosko (Pro Football Focus): No. 34 – Detroit Lions
• Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): No. 34 – Detroit Lions
• Steve Muench (ESPN/Scouts Inc.): No. 36 – Los Angeles Rams
• Chris Trapasso (CBS Sports): No. 38 – Las Vegas Raiders
• Luke Easterling (Sports Illustrated): No. 38 – Las Vegas Raiders
• Dane Brugler (The Athletic): No. 41 – Tennessee Titans

…and some of the comments:

PFF: No. 34 – Detroit Lions

Levis fought to keep his head above water week in and week out against SEC competition. He’ll be battle-tested for the NFL.

He played through turf toe for much of the 2022 season but earned a 90.6 overall grade when healthy under former Rams offensive coordinator Liam Coen in 2021. The Lions have had a wild draft already, so this fits.

Sporting News: No. 34 – Detroit Lions

The Rams can also think about more immediate needs, including cornerback after trading Jalen Ramsey, but Levis, with his cannon for an arm and appealing heady traits, seems like the ideal option for Sean McVay to groom behind Matthew Stafford, who could retire in 2024.

Muench: No. 36 – Los Angeles Rams

The slide for Levis stops here. Matthew Stafford is 35 years old and coming off a season-ending injury, and there’s no insurance policy. Levis gives the Rams depth at QB.

Trapasso: No. 38 – Las Vegas Raiders

Levis lands with Josh McDaniels as the understudy to Jimmy Garoppolo. Shrewd choice here by the Raiders.

Sports Illustrated: No. 38 – Las Vegas Raiders

Here’s where the fall finally stops for Levis, who was thought by many to be a potential top-10 pick. Instead, he’d land in Vegas as Jimmy Garoppolo’s understudy for the foreseeable future.

Brugler: No. 41 – Tennessee Titans

Levis’ fall finally ends. The Titans did extensive work on the Kentucky quarterback, and though they felt No. 11 was too rich, the second round would be a nice landing spot.

CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell outlined five potential landing spots for Levis: the LA Rams at No. 36, the Seahawks at No. 37, the Raiders at No. 38, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 50, and the Vikings at No. 87 in the third round. He said Liam Coen’s ties to the Rams could help Levis land in Los Angeles.

The 36th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft is the Rams’ first, and if they don’t feel confident about quarterback Matthew Stafford’s health going forward, Levis could be a draft-and-develop pick for the future of the Rams following Stafford’s injury neck and head injury struggles that caused him to miss eight of the final nine games of the 2022 season. Current Kentucky Wildcats offensive coordinator Liam Coen was Sean McVay offensive coordinator in 2022, so if the Rams need additional intel on Levis, they have an inside source.

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More National Reactions to Will Levis’ Slide

“Winners and Losers” is a staple day-after Round 1 article. Unfortunately, Levis is among the “losers” in almost all of them this morning.

Bill Bender, Sporting News

Levis was projected to go as high as No. 2 in the first round, but the Kentucky quarterback was the quarterback to have an uncomfortable night in the back-stage waiting area.

Levis dealt with toe, finger and shoulder injuries in 2022, but he appeared to answer those questions at the NFL Scouting Combine. Young, Stroud and Richardson were early picks, and there was no obvious spot for Levis after that early run. Levis had 43 TD passes and 23 interceptions the last two seasons with the Wildcats after transferring from Penn State, but the slide was similar to Liberty’s Malik Willis last year.

Now the question is whether Levis will be selected ahead of Hooker on Day 2.

Mike Jones, The Athletic

There was a time when the Kentucky quarterback was regarded as a potential top five pick. However, NFL talent evaluators obviously felt differently and Levis instead became this year’s Brady Quinn – sitting there at draft headquarters, enduring a torturous and humiliating wait. Thursday night came and went without Levis’ phone ringing, and so he remains on the board entering Friday night when the second and third rounds take place. It’ll be interesting to see if a quarterback-needy team tries to jump up in the second round to get Levis, or if they’ll be content to let him fall to them.

Will Brinson, CBS Sports

Pretty self explanatory, no? Levis had the latest awkward green room debacle, with NFL Network and ESPN zooming in on the Kentucky quarterback constantly as he kept seeing his agent shake his head and blush. Levis was like -500 to go fourth overall to the Colts right before the draft and Indy passed on him, taking Anthony Richardson instead. The Texans were rumored/buzzed to be interested in Levis as well and went with C.J. Stroud. Levis’ fall continued for quite some time, to the point he will spend the evening in a Kansas City hotel wondering when his name will be called on Day 2.

Hopefully, Levis will be able to use last night as fuel for years to come.

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