Welcome, Will Levis
April 12th, 2023
Kentucky QB Will Levis.
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht had said he was going to bring in several quarterbacks for the team’s 30 official visits. One of them will be at One Buc Palace later this morning.
Kentucky quarterback Will Levis will but the subject of fascination when he walks through the front doors of One Buc Palace. Can Levis wow the Bucs in interviews more than his gametape?
Levis in an interesting guy and not because he eats bananas whole (gross!). A guy who couldn’t beat out Sean Clifford the Dog at Penn State is, in some eyes, a top-10 pick.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic, in his “The Beast” draft guide, has Levis behind Anthony Richardson as the fourth-best quarterback in the draft.
A two-year starter at Kentucky, Levis had a promising 2021 season in offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s scheme (31.8 points per game, 10 wins). However, he struggled with consistency in 2022, as the offense saw a complete makeover with Wan’Dale Robinson and multiple offensive linemen departing to the NFL and new play-caller Rich Scangarello taking over for Coen, who left to become the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator. Physically built for the pro game, Levis is strong in the pocket, moves very well for his size and has a power arm to deliver with velocity and accuracy from various platforms. However, defenses are too easily able to put doubt in his mind, which leads to forced or inaccurate throws because of hesitancy in his game. Overall, Levis needs more reps to continue developing his read efficiency and ball placement, but he has an NFL starter’s skill set with his impressive physical tools (size, arm, athleticism) and exceptional competitive toughness. Similarities with Carson Wentz should be considered both a positive and negative, but he has starter-level traits and upside.
Why does Brugler have him rated below Richardson, who can’t throw? Average passing instincts, decision-making and accuracy, Brugler typed. Yikes.
Besides, Levis, a bodybuilder, is too buff for a quarterback. Chucky didn’t like buff quarterbacks and honestly, when is the last time you saw a dude who was ripped be a decent quarterback?
Joe’s biggest hangup with Levis, besides his banana-eating ways (Joe gives the dude a pass for putting mayo in his coffee), is that a mutt like Sean Clifford the Dog beat him out at Penn State. Why? How?
Joe would still rather the Bucs find a way to pick Hendon Hooker.
What team takes a chance on Will Levis in the 1st Round!? 👀
🎥: @NFLMatchup
— Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) April 11, 2023
Great fun ahead at the brand new Big Storm taproom in the heart of Ybor City! Upstairs in Centro Ybor with public parking all around. It’s big, bold and beautiful.
…Courtesy of Florida’s Elite Restoration, you can win $500 in our “Pick The Pick” contest, which was a huge hit at the 2021 NFL Draft party, plus another $500 in an additional contest. Hang with great Bucs fans, Ira Kaufman and Florida’s best craft beer and food.
April 12th, 2023 at 12:02 am
Gross 🤢. Hope it’s a smokescreen
April 12th, 2023 at 12:05 am
Very inaccurate
Watch the Florida vs Kentucky game this year you will see the worst qb play
April 12th, 2023 at 12:21 am
What this proves will make certain bloviating posters very sad.
The Trask Suppression Conspiracy is real!
It will not be a FAIR COMPETITION because, you know, like, they’re bringing in competitors. How can it be a fair competition when you have competition?
April 12th, 2023 at 12:26 am
PS – Levis sucks so, maybe in round 7.
April 12th, 2023 at 12:26 am
Trenches, trenches, trenches!
leave these low level scrub QBs to the losers to squabble over!
April 12th, 2023 at 1:06 am
“Dirty pocket”
Never heard anyone use the opposite of clean pocket. Pretty brilliant prose. Dig it.
Levis, meh. We need OL and DL before a QB.
April 12th, 2023 at 1:08 am
1 part smoke, 1 part intel gathering, 0 parts planning to draft.
Don’t worry, it’s highly unlikely they’re actually interested in him.
April 12th, 2023 at 1:09 am
No!!!
April 12th, 2023 at 1:31 am
Levis is going to be better in the pros than he was at Kentucky in 2022. unless we bomb out next season, hed be the best QB we could get our hands on in the next couple of years. Im taking him at 19 no question
April 12th, 2023 at 1:47 am
I don’t really get the hype on this guy. Yes, he has a strong arm, but that appears to be about all. His production isn’t good and he throws a ton of INTs.
With that said I don’t watch college football so I don’t have anything to go on other than highlights and stats, and while he made nice throws, I didn’t see anything that blew me away. He seems to have first round arm talent, but still, with very little production, it seems like a risky pick – more or less when people like Mel Kiper have him going in the top 5.
But, I could be completely wrong on this one as I just haven’t done a lot research.
April 12th, 2023 at 1:56 am
I think Levis at 19 would be a good gamble, except the we have a former #1 pick already on the roster as a gamble, and the more experienced guy with a higher pedigree is a better gamble when we have so many other needs. Let’s see what we have this year, and if Baker isn’t it we can draft a QB high next year.
April 12th, 2023 at 2:12 am
Not a Chance.
April 12th, 2023 at 6:57 am
Rod Munch Says:
April 12th, 2023 at 1:47 am
I don’t really get the hype on this guy. Yes, he has a strong arm, but that appears to be about all. His production isn’t good and he throws a ton of INTs
____________
Strong arm and lots of picks?
Check dat sheet Fancy Man…… he sounds like your guy.
( Is he a football savant? )
April 12th, 2023 at 7:03 am
I’ve heard the dude has a terrible tude and horrible body language on the sidelines. Guy has a ton of red flags.
No data to back this, next comment, but I’m feeling Josh Freeman from this guy
April 12th, 2023 at 7:06 am
A pass for may in coffee?? No way! 🥴
April 12th, 2023 at 7:06 am
Mayo
April 12th, 2023 at 7:47 am
To me this guy is another Justin Herbert. If he’s there at 19, I don’t think we can pass on him.
April 12th, 2023 at 7:52 am
Both Levis and Trask played in the SEC, the best and fastest college football conference. Levis’ 19 TDs to 10 INTs in his last season (12 games) is chump change to Trask’s monstrous 43 TDs to 8 INTs his last season (10 games due to COVID). So Levis averaged 1.5 TD passes per game and Trask averaged 4.3 TD passes per game. Huge difference.
April 12th, 2023 at 7:56 am
Poor man’s Brady Quinn/Tim Tebow…..pass. Arm strength means nothing if you can’t read a defense and have poor pocket presence. He’ll be a turnover machine trying to strong arm everything into tight windows. There’s better prospects that can be snagged in later rds.
April 12th, 2023 at 8:28 am
I don’t know about this guy but the pining for Hendon Hooker is beyond absurd. Reminds me of Johnny Football fantasies. How did that go? Hooker is a 2nd-3rd round talent on NFL draftboards. Teams don’t waste #1 picks on players that are older (26), coming off major injuries (ACL), and coming from a system like the Air Raid system. Sure, maybe one of the three… but all three? Not a chance. This dude has Teddy Bridgewater upside and that’s it. Of course he put up great numbers, he was infinitely more mature than his teammates that were 5-8 years younger. Josh Johnson put up amazing numbers too and if Hooker wasn’t coming off a big ACL injury and not playing in a gimmick offense, I’d compare him to Johnson.
April 12th, 2023 at 8:30 am
Bobby M. Says:
April 12th, 2023 at 7:56 am
Poor man’s Brady Quinn/Tim Tebow…..pass. Arm strength means nothing if you can’t read a defense and have poor pocket presence. He’ll be a turnover machine trying to strong arm everything into tight windows. There’s better prospects that can be snagged in later rds.
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Now that’s a lazy analysis. Other than his physique, this QB shares very little in common with the QBs you named. Quinn didn’t have a particularly strong arm, Tebow definitely didn’t and was a run first QB.
April 12th, 2023 at 8:53 am
A pro baseball coach once told me to lay off the weights. He believed that weight training ruined your accuracy pitching.Iwas trying out for spring training at Redsland back in the 70s. I don’t know just how accurate his opinion was but it does make sense in that i haven’t seen to many ripped QBs make it in the NFL. Tim Tebow comes to mind.
April 12th, 2023 at 8:59 am
BTW Anthony Richardson shouldn’t be mentioned in the top 10!!!
The hype behind this dude is amazing! I am a life long Gator fan.
I have seen better QB play from Gator QBs on teams that had subpar recievers and running backs.
April 12th, 2023 at 9:16 am
You people are nuts if you wouldn’t take Levis at 19…His stature, experience & overall college journey comp’s a hell of a lot closer to Troy Aikman than anyone wants to recognize.
He’s too buff, BS….Dude showed up at Combine 229lbs…15lbs lighter than AR, with both at 6’4″…But Levis too jacked for QB?? He’s 9lbs heavier than Troy Aikman coming out of UCLA & 5lbs lighter than Andrew Luck coming out of Stanford – both 6’4″….(IE…Not too jacked for QB.)
People say 2021 was a good yr & 2022 a down yr…But Levis career >65% comp % at UK and per game pass yds & per game TD rate basically identical 21 vs 22. (13gm 21 vs 11gm 22 – Missed SC game & opted out MCB to get toe surgery / healthy for draft process).
Considering in 2022, he was playing hurt (broken non-throwing middle finger / separation of non-throwing L shoulder & Grade 3 Turf Toe Ole Miss game on)… behind the worst pass blocking OL in P5 conference ball…(LG playing LT, FR 1st yr starter LG, 1st yr G to C conversion, xfr RG & Juco RT w/ no business on a SEC roster – let alone starting line-up)…While throwing to 4 FR among top 5 targets…But managed to go 7-4 and raised his passer rating, with that supporting cast…Running a his 2nd NFL system in 2yrs & one that was not fully installed until the fall…Speaks volumes.
I’m betting the NFL like Levis a ton more than the average JoeBucsFan poster.
April 12th, 2023 at 10:23 am
Kyle Trask is a stud. Click on my name to see a photo of him next to 6’4-1/2″ 306 lbs Robert Hainsey.
April 12th, 2023 at 2:19 pm
DoooshLaRue – hey dummy, see the part about ‘production’.
April 12th, 2023 at 2:44 pm
Still chasing bright shiney objects which turn out again and again to be fools gold instead of putting in the work to polish the diamond they have in their hands.