Entering Thursday night’s NFL draft, conventional wisdom was that all four of the top quarterback prospects—Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis—would be selected relatively early. That was true for three of the four, with Young, Stroud and Richardson going as three of the top four picks to the Panthers, Texans and Colts, respectively.
Unfortunately for Levis, as it turned out there were only three teams that were clearly in the quarterback market at the top of the draft. As has been the case with quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers in years past, that can cause a major slide for a prospect. On Thursday, the Kentucky star was left out of the first round completely.
To make matters worse, he spent the entire night at the draft in Kansas City waiting for his name to be called, with the camera cutting to he and his family over and over. A month ago at Kentucky’s pro day, Levis described this exact situation as something he’d rather avoid.
