Will Levis on the rise in Todd McShay's latest NFL mock draft

Following news of a massive trade on Friday between the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers that saw the latter move up to the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, there has been a shift in the potential selection order.

According to ESPN’s Todd McShay, Kentucky football quarterback Will Levis is going to benefit from the transaction. After projecting Levis to go No. 9 overall to the Panthers in his mock draft earlier this week, McShay now has the former Wildcats star going No. 7 to the Las Vegas Raiders. McShay still has Alabama QB Bryce Young landing with the top pick, only now he’ll play in Carolina instead of Chicago.

Levis would be the fourth QB taken off the board in this latest update from ESPN, behind Young (No. 1; Carolina Panthers), Ohio State’s CJ Stroud (No. 2; Houston Texans), and Florida’s Anthony Richardson (No. 4; Indianapolis Colts), who has been shooting up draft boards since last weekend’s NFL Combine.

As promised, here’s my adjusted Mock 3.0 with projections for all 31 picks in Round 1 after Friday's big trade. I’m sticking with Bryce Young at No.1 overall but hearing a lot of buzz about Anthony Richardson being the target. https://t.co/awdUNUy7JT

— Todd McShay (@McShay13) March 11, 2023

Levis was impressive at the Combine and made some headlines for his “I got a cannon” comment during interviews. He’s certainly not short on any confidence and proved that last weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium. Levis was clocked throwing a football 59 MPH and officially measured in at 6-foot-4, 229 pounds with 32-inch arms and 10 5/8″ hands. He also completed the broad jump (10-feet, 4-inches) and vertical jump (34 inches). 

The arm talent is the first thing that jumps out when scouting Levis. However, the quarterback can bring some intangibles to an NFL franchise.

“Physically, I think my arm talent. I think I’ve got one of the stronger arms that’s come out of any class in recent memory,” Levis told reporters about what makes him an intriguing prospect. “And then who I am as a person, kind of my morals what I stand for, my values. I think that’s kind of been the most beneficial thing for me to be able to share with these coaches throughout these formal and informal interviews to get them to know me as a person. Get them to kind of understand how seriously I take every aspect of my life and letting them know how much I love ball. I’m able to use those values and those morals to make me the best person — in the locker room and on the field — as possible.”

The Panthers conducted a meeting with Levis at the Combine and could decide to take him with the top overall pick in April’s draft. But it certainly feels like Las Vegas is trending to land Levis. The Athletic and USA Today both updated their respective mock drafts following news of Friday’s trade with the consensus being that the Raiders will take Levis at No. 7.