Will
Levis.
Will
Levis.
Kentucky· 6'4"· 229 lb
"The rare quarterback whose arm made him a top-five conversation in March and whose decision clock made him a second-round pick in April — Tennessee bought the trait and hoped the rest was coachable."Pre-draft read
Levis was the trigger man in a pro-style Kentucky offense that put him under center and asked him to run play-action out of heavy personnel. The arm is the headline: a torque-heavy delivery that generates velocity from unbalanced platforms and drives the ball into closing windows on out-breaking routes.
The second trait is short-yardage force. At 229 pounds he was Kentucky's designed power runner near the goal line, scoring nine times on the ground in 2021. Under pressure he climbs and rips rather than escaping laterally, which yields both highlight throws and avoidable sacks. The signature is velocity on the move: few passers in the class could reset off-platform and drive a 20-yard comeback the way he could.
Play-action heavy pro-style offense with a real run game, condensed formations and defined half-field reads that let the arm work vertically off boot and dropback shots.
Year 1: developmental QB2 behind an established starter with a live short-yardage package. Ceiling: high-variance starter in a run-first offense that limits full-field reads.
A timing-based quick-game system that lives on three-step rhythm throws and asks the quarterback to work the full field against post-snap rotation — his clock and footwork break down before the concept develops.
The arm buys him a job anywhere; only a scheme that shrinks the read makes him a winning starter.
Will Levis Highlights || Full Career Highlights || Kentucky WildCats || QB || 2019 - 2022 Season
Will Levis Kentucky Wildcats College Career Highlights [Welcome to Titans]
Will Levis || Kentucky Wildcats Quarterback || 2021 Junior Highlights
A two-year Penn State backup who transferred to Kentucky and became one of the most physically gifted passers in the class, Levis is a build-and-arm evaluation before he is a processing one. He looks the part at 6-4, 229 with the kind of live arm that makes a throw available on every part of the field, and he is tough enough to play through pressure that would fold most passers.
The production tells two different stories. In 2021, under an NFL-style play-caller, he threw for 2,826 yards with 24 touchdowns and added nine rushing scores against SEC defenses. In 2022 the supporting cast collapsed — new coordinator, a rebuilt line, injuries at receiver — and the numbers fell to 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with 2,406 yards while he played through toe and shoulder issues. The flags are real: late-breaking decisions against disguised coverage, a tendency to trust arm strength instead of footwork, and ball security that never got clean.
The board was split down the middle. Some rooms had him as a top-10 quarterback and mocked him to Indianapolis at four; others had him as a developmental starter who needed a redshirt year. Tennessee let the market answer the question, traded up from 41 to the top of Round 2 and got the traits at a price that made a miss survivable.
- 01
Arm talent
Generates high-end velocity from compromised platforms and can drive deep out-breakers and seam shots that most passers in the class simply cannot attempt.
- 02
Toughness in the pocket
Stands in against interior pressure and finishes throws with a defender arriving, a trait that repeatedly kept broken Kentucky plays alive in 2022.
- 03
Designed run value
At 229 pounds he is a genuine short-yardage weapon, converting nine rushing touchdowns in 2021 on quarterback power and sneak concepts.
- 04
Pro-style operation
Worked under center, handled play-action footwork out of heavy personnel and managed protection calls, so the verbiage transition was minimal.
- 05
Deep-ball touch
Shows the ability to drop the ball over outside leverage on nine-routes when his base is set, pairing raw power with usable arc when unhurried.
- 01
Processing speed
Late to unwind disguised two-high looks, which turns manufactured windows into contested throws and leads to hero attempts under duress.
- 02
Ball security
Fumbles and forced throws stacked up in 2022; he carries the ball loosely in the pocket and does not always protect it when climbing.
- 03
Footwork consistency
Drifts and throws from a narrow base under pressure, letting arm strength substitute for the lower-half mechanics that produce accuracy.
- 04
Accuracy variance
Placement wanders on rhythm throws in the short game, and the completion rate never matched the raw arm quality against quality coverage.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
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- Vertical
- 34inp50
- Broad jump
- 124inp50
- Three-cone
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- Shuttle
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- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Penn State | 7 | 28 | 47 | 223 | 2 | 2 |
| 2020 | Penn State | 8 | 33 | 55 | 421 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | Kentucky | 13 | 233 | 353 | 2826 | 24 | 13 |
| 2022 | Kentucky | 11 | 185 | 283 | 2406 | 19 | 10 |
| Career | — | 39 | 479 | 738 | 5876 | 46 | 25 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Explosive arm and explosive mistakes in the same drive — a starter who produces yards and turnovers at the same rate and never fully stabilizes.
The optimistic path: a big-bodied thrower with rare velocity and short-yardage run value who cleans up decisions and ball security in year three.
The floor if processing never speeds up: an arm-talent pick who loses the job by year three and settles into a veteran backup role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Started nine games as a 2023 rookie and 12 in 2024 before shoulder surgery cost him all of 2025. Tennessee drafted Cam Ward first overall in 2025 and Levis entered 2026 healthy but fourth on the depth chart.
Tennessee moved up to the top of Round 2 for him and had him starting by Week 8 of his rookie year, where nine starts produced the exact tape the evaluation predicted: 1,808 yards, eight touchdowns, four interceptions, a viral 238-yard three-touchdown debut against Atlanta, and long stretches where the offense stalled because the ball came out late. Given the job outright in 2024, he made 12 starts for 2,091 yards with 13 touchdowns against 12 interceptions and 17 fumbles, was benched twice, and the front office answered by drafting Cam Ward first overall in 2025. Shoulder surgery erased his entire 2025 season on Injured Reserve.
In hindsight the evaluation was right about the arm and wrong about how much of the rest could be coached. The traits that made him a top-10 conversation in March 2023 were real, but the decision speed and ball security never improved behind two different play-callers and a poor supporting cast, and the physical courage that scouts loved cost him a season of health. He entered 2026 healthy and buried fourth on the Titans depth chart behind Ward, Mitchell Trubisky and a competition with Hendon Hooker. The pick itself was defensible — Tennessee paid Round 2 money for a lottery ticket rather than a first-round premium — but the player never turned the traits into a stable NFL starter.