Former Penn State Quarterback The Favorite To Go No. 1

The last time that Will Levis stepped foot in the iconic Beaver Stadium was on December 12th, 2020, during the Nittany Lions’ season-ending 39-24 victory over the Michigan State Spartans. Following that performance, the former Penn State quarterback entered the transfer portal, and headed to the University of Kentucky. Now, after two seasons with the Wildcats, the former Nittany Lion is the betting favorite to go No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Former Penn State quarterback projected to go No. 1

According to PickWise, former Penn State quarterback Will Levis currently boasts +750 odds to go No. 1 in this year’s NFL Draft — the Chicago Bears have the top pick, though many expect the Bears to trade it all said and done. At BetMGM, Will Levis has the highest ticket percentage (22.2%) and the highest handle percentage (34.6%) of any player in this year’s draft class.

Why are people so high on Will Levis?

To be honest, we still fully believe that Penn State head coach James Franklin made the right call when it came to his quarterback room — Sean Clifford was the better college quarterback, and proved it a season ago when he led the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 season and a Rose Bowl victory in his final year as the starting QB. Still, Levis has many things that the NFL loves that Clifford simply does not possess.

First off, Will Levis stands at 6-3 and weighs in around 235 pounds — that is massive for a quarterback. He has solid running ability and an impressive arm to match, though is not always as accurate as he should be. If anything, most NFL GMs likely are looking at Levis like the next Josh Allen — he is big, fast, has a massive arm, but needs some development to unlock that untapped potential.

At Kentucky, Levis threw 43 touchdowns and 23 interceptions while leading the Wildcats to a 17-9 overall record across two seasons. He was solid in year one at UK, though in his most recent season, Levis threw just over 2,400 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions en route to a 7-6 season. Still, while the college potential may have not been there, his professional ceiling appears to be sky high.

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