After breaking down Anthony Richardson and C.J. Stroud at the weekend, now it’s time for Will Levis and Tyler Van Dyke.
Along with Bryce Young, these five — at the moment — look like the 2023-eligible prospects with first round credentials.
Firstly, Will Levis.
I thought it was a perfectly solid start against Miami-Ohio.
His offensive line was an absolute disaster zone. I counted seven quarterback hits or sacks in the first half alone. It created an issue in the second quarter in particular and you see it impact Levis’ accuracy (which, if we’re being fair, is understandable given the barrage he faced).
Yet the things that make him a likely high pick were all on show once again.
Levis retains an excellent throwing base. His drop is rapid and consistent. He avoids the classic heel-click, plants his feet and delivers from a great foundation. The soles of his feet plant into the ground and he stays consistent in his technique.
He’s also a terrific athlete and can make the flashy little plays that just put a smile on your face. His first throw of the season was a play-action pass on the run. Off balance he just flicked his wrist, ala Aaron Rodgers, and the ball still came out with plenty of pop. It’s a small thing but for a draft geek like me — it gets you excited.
His best throw of the night came with 10:40 left in the fourth quarter. It’s a play-action pass where he dropped back to his own 30-yard line. Off-balance, without a proper base this time due to the looming pressure, he launched the ball across his body on a frozen rope to the Miami-Ohio 30-yard line, by the sideline, with perfect accuracy and velocity. The ball flew out of his hand and had the commentator declaring, ‘that’s a NFL arm right there‘. It’s that kind of play that NFL teams are going to salivate over. When you can arm-out a throw like that, off-platform, generating elite-level torque and placement — that’s what the NFL covets.
Levis showed off his arm again on his final touchdown — a rifle to the left corner of the end zone in really tight coverage. Without that arm strength, that play is defended. When he needs to drill one in, he can do it.
There are no physical limitations as a passer and he has the scrambling ability and improv to make things happen when the play breaks down.
The Senior Bowl’s Jim Nagy noted in a recent podcast that he was at the Manning Passing Academy this year and he delivered this verdict:
“To me, he (Levis) and Anthony Richardson from Florida — those two guys in terms of physical tools are probably head and shoulders above the rest of the group.”
He then made a favourable comparison to Josh Allen and Justin Herbert in terms of physical tools.
When he had time he was generally on the money. He had a superb 25-yard completion on his first drive — dropping and throwing down the seam, placing the ball away from the threatening safety and right on the chest of the receiver. He executed his first touchdown of the day shortly after, finding his tight end on a well designed play to the left corner of the end zone.
He capitalised on a great kick-return to start the second half by delivering a laser in the red zone to his receiver on a 1v1 in-cutting route. He made it look easy.
Right before half-time he side-stepped pressure in the pocket to launch a perfect pass 20-yards over the middle, hitting the receiver in stride. The throw was ideally timed, allowing the receiver to catch and run with ease, gaining an extra 25 YAC.
He looks like he’s really taken to the Shanahan-inspired offense of his new coordinator. You see all those play-action, inside slants that Kyle likes to run. He did a good job on those — and as we’ve seen with the Niners, they can be really tough to stop when you get going.
On a 4th and 2 in the first half he threw his interception in the red zone. I can’t be sure what exactly happened on this play but it looks like a major miscommunication or a botched throw. As soon as Levis delivers the ball he jumps up and down knowing something has gone wrong, anticipating the pick. The tight end throws his arms up in the air immediately, confused. It’s possible this was supposed to be a fade or a pass with a bit more loft to it and he just executed badly. It does come out of his hand a little funky. You don’t generally only show one read on a play like that and then throw it that way — it just came out clumsily. So it’s either a misunderstanding or a mistake, neither is good.
That said, I’m far less concerned by a pick like that compared to some others you see. Misreading a defender over the middle and throwing into a dangerous area (see: Bo Nix) is a lot more concerning, for example, than just something silly and avoidable like arseing up a 1v1 you like on the outside because you’re not on the same page in week one or you just F-d the throw up.
Even so, he has to get his interceptions down from last year to max out his potential. It will be something to monitor throughout the season. As erratic as Josh Allen was at Wyoming, for example, he went from 15 interceptions in 14 games in 2016 to six interceptions in 11 games in 2017. He also dropped his touchdowns down from 28 to 16 — Levis could do with finding a happier medium. I do think he can be a lesser version of Allen in the NFL. He’s a great athlete with similar traits, just on a lesser scale (Allen is a once in a generation athlete at his position, after all).
Overall, we have seen Levis play sharper and better than this. Yet I haven’t seen him play behind an O-line as bad as this and he still played fairly well. It is concerning, especially against SEC opponents, that his protection was virtually non-existent in this game. It might do more to harm his stock than anything. Yet on a technical and physical level there’s so much to like. If his protection improves he can excel and continue to elevate Kentucky and his draft stock.
His game against Anthony Richardson’s Florida next weekend will be box-office viewing for Seahawks fans, wanting a good look at the quarterback class.
Tyler Van Dyke had an extremely comfortable afternoon, unsurprisingly, against Bethune-Cookman. I think people are underestimating Miami in the ACC. They were ranked 16th nationally but it’s easy to forget how they finished last season — largely due to Van Dyke’s play. They beat Kenny Pickett and Pittsburgh in their own backyard (the eventual ACC Champions) and they could be the team to beat in the conference.
Van Dyke is such an incredibly impressive talent and it’s surprising he isn’t getting more national attention apart from the occasional placement at the end of a few first round mocks.
As with Levis, I really like his throwing base. His release is a bit more elongated than Levis’ but when he lets it rip it comes out with ideal velocity. He’s a powerhouse of a quarterback but he also shows the ability to throw with touch and precision when necessary.
His best throw was an absolute ‘wow’ moment with 13:29 left in the first half. It’s a shotgun snap and he takes a somewhat unnecessary five step drop to end up 10-yards behind the line of scrimmage. Then from a perfect throwing base he lofts a pass from the left hashmark on his own 20-yard line to the right sideline 30-yards downfield, hitting his receiver perfectly in stride while throwing over two defenders. The receiver runs it up to the 10-yard line because the throw is so ideally placed. Good route, great throw, textbook execution.
It just shows off his ability to make a difficult throw look easy, execute a big play and prove he’s not just a big arm.
If you also look at his drop — and maybe it is unnecessary — he’s a sprightly presence in the pocket. He’s very agile to manipulate a pocket or buy time. He can run for first downs when he needs to. He is not a statue. He might not be Anthony Richardson but he’s not Ryan Mallett either.
His first touchdown highlighted the advantage Miami had. Van Dyke had the fortune of being able to use an unnecessary pump fake when the Bethune-Cookman safety didn’t read the delayed wheel-route. Even so, his throw is high, safe, perfectly placed and timed. Lovely execution.
Van Dyke throws well on the run in play-action, he’s very adept at taking what’s on offer.
His touchdown with 7:32 left in the third quarter was another ‘wow’ moment. He dissects three defenders, all bunched around the receiver, and places the football in the one area he needed to for his receiver to make a catch on a seam-route to his slot-receiver. Even against an overmatched opponent, that is a wonderful looking throw.
I can’t praise him highly enough and ever since he took over the starting job a year ago, Miami have just looked like a completely different team. On his current trajectory I’d be surprised if he’s not getting serious consideration for the top-10 next year. He might be the most naturally talented passer of the ‘big five’ quarterbacks. Van Dyke’s at least in the conversation with Bryce Young for that title. He’s not the most athletic and his release might not be quite as pretty — but there is just so much to like.
There’s a bit of Carson Palmer to his game.
The great thing is there’s so much to like already about the 2023 quarterback class. With five potential first round targets already very evidently emerging — I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Seattle made the move they did this year. And it’s a reminder that short-term pain in 2022 could lead to long term gains by next April.
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