Will Levis or Hendon Hooker? Todd McShay gives 2023 NFL Draft outlook for SEC QBs

The SEC East matchup between No. 3 Tennessee and No. 19 Kentucky at Neyland Stadium on Saturday is must-see television for ESPN analyst Todd McShay. 

For McShay, a college football and NFL Draft analyst, this matchup will provide video that will be analyzed until the 2023 NFL Draft on April 27. The quarterback duel between Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker and Kentucky’s Will Levis is the reason for that excitement. McShay will call the matchup between No. 12 UCLA and Stanford at 10:30 p.m., which will give him time to watch the matchup beforehand.

“I can’t wait to watch it live and can’t wait to get on the plane on Sunday morning from L.A. flying back to Boston and watch it again,” McShay told Sporting News. “I’m going to download it Saturday night and watch it Sunday. That will be the first thing I do.” 

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Hooker is a Heisman Trophy favorite. Levis is a projected first-round pick. They combined for 678 passing yards and seven TDs in last season’s matchup, which Tennessee won 45-42. What will the encore and NFL Draft ramifications be for the encore? 

Todd McShay evaluates Hendon Hooker 

McShay is not afraid to put it right out there. 

“There isn’t a quarterback in college football who has made a bigger jump from last year to this year than Hendon,” he said.  

Hooker, a Virginia Tech transfer, impressed with 2,945 yards, 31 TDs and three interceptions in 2021. McShay still had a fifth-round grade on the Vols quarterback coming into this season. 

Things change. Hooker has 2,093 yards, 18 TDs and one interception through seven games. Tennessee leads the FBS in points per game (50.1) and yards per game (571.7). McShay has been impressed by the continual mistake-free play. 

“You love that as long as the quarterback who is not throwing interceptions is being aggressive,” McShay said. “You love that combination. They certainly are being aggressive in that offense.” 

MORE: Hooker second in latest Heisman odds

Hooker has NFL size at 6-foot-4 and 218 pounds. He has mobility with 315 rushing yards and three TDs on 5.0 yards per carry in 2022. McShay also said Hooker has “plus-arm strength.” Before the season, McShay had Hooker ranked No. 10 among quarterbacks for 2023. Now, Hooker is at No. 4 and the reason is improvement in two key fundamentals. 

“Deep accuracy and inside the pocket getting from his first read to his second read and doing that quickly and efficiently enough,” McShay said. “I thought he struggled in those two areas, and now he’s throwing one of the prettiest deep balls in the nation. 

“It goes to show how much he’s worked on his game and how much more comfortable he is with his receivers and this offensive system,” he said. “It requires quick decisions with the tempo and identifying things with the pre-snap, and he’s handled it beautifully this year.” 

Todd McShay evaluates Will Levis  

McShay recalled talking to an NFL scout and the message has stuck through the pre-draft evaluation process. 

“Whatever grade you have him on tape, it’s only going to rise from the end of the season when he starts the pre-draft process and gets in front of teams,'” McShay said. “He’s that special of a dude.” 

Levis, a Penn State transfer, earned the starting job with the Wildcats last season. The 6-foot-3, 232-pound quarterback led Kentucky to a 10-win season, and the Wildcats are 5-2 this year. Levis did not play in the 24-14 loss to South Carolina because of a turf toe injury on Oct. 8. Levis has put up 1,635 passing yards, 13 TDs and five interceptions in the other six games.  

McShay sees the measurables that will attract first-round attention. 

“First of all, he’s got a big-time arm, probably the strongest arm of the quarterbacks in this class,” McShay said. “He has mobility. He’s able to create and extend plays as a strong runner; a competitive runner.”

Levis also has played for two offensive coordinators with NFL experience. Liam Coen left after last season to take the same position with the Los Angeles Rams, and new coordinator Rich Scangarello held the same position with the Denver Broncos in 2019.

“(Levis) really truly is going through an NFL progression-read system and going through NFL route trees and all of that the last two years,” McShay said. “This year it seems like it’s even more working right to left, left to right looking off the safeties, all those things.” 

The impact Levis has made at Kentucky the last two years has extended off the field, too. 

“You can’t get a negative word out of anybody about him in that program or on that campus,” McShay said. “It’s his leadership and how humble he is, how determined and his work ethic. Across the board, everything you look for in a quarterback, Will Levis provides.” 

Draft outlook for Hendon Hooker, Will Levis

Kentucky has not produced a first-round quarterback since the Cleveland Browns took Tim Couch with the No. 1 pick in 1999. Andre Woodson was the last Wildcats quarterback drafted, and that was a sixth-round pick in 2008. Levis will break that 15-year drought. 

“If he’s not the first or second, he’ll very likely be the third,” McShay said. “It’s C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Will Levis in any order depending on which team you talk to. I personally have him as the third best quarterback.” 

There are some concerns. Levis has been sacked 20 times this season, but McShay said that is a combination of factors that is not all on the quarterback. Still, pocket presence will be a talking point for Levis leading up to the draft. That could be the difference in being an early or late-round first pick. 

“He’s going to have to work on pocket presence and feeling where pressure comes from,” McShay said. “It’s great to have his mobility, but if you’re not always feeling it when things start to collapse around you when you’re inside the pocket and it gets kind of frenetic, then you lose that poise and calmness. He’s not allowing himself to utilize his athleticism as much in those cases.” 

Peyton Manning was the last Tennessee quarterback selected in the first round when the Indianapolis Colts took him with the No. 1 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. Joshua Dobbs was the last Vols quarterback taken with a fourth-round pick in 2017.

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Hooker will be 25 years old in April, a storyline that is sure to follow him throughout the process. Is age just a number? 

“I’ve got a second-day grade (second or third round) on him right now,” McShay said. “I’m not saying it’s impossible that he goes in the first given that position and how much emphasis is placed on it. I just think it’s safe to say he’s a second-day pick at this point.” 

That still could change. Hooker had a signature game against Alabama with 385 yards and five TDs on Oct. 15, and McShay said Hooker “aced that film.”  McShay, however, had a better view the previous week. 

“I stood 20 yards behind him during the game against LSU and just watched how when the pocket collapsed around him how poised he was and how his eyes were going from read one to two to three – and fast,” McShay said. “He was making good decisions with the football with everything muddied around him.” 

That is why this particular game tape might mean more for Hooker, who is trying to barge into that first-round conversation with Levis. McShay, for one, cannot wait to find out the answer to those questions. 

“If I’m a general manager or a position coach or an offensive coordinator or head coach when the NFL season ends and I’m trying to figure out, ‘Who’s Hendon Hooker?’ then the first three tapes I’m watching in any order are Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia,” McShay said. “With Alabama and Georgia, they are going to be the most-similar to what he’s going to see on Sunday, and they’re well-coached defenses. Kentucky is an exceptionally well-coached defense. They don’t have the level of talent on that defense on the defensive side, but they still have a lot of good players. I want to see what he does against Mark Stoops and that defense that almost always does a great job in spots like this, and the pressure of the Levis vs. Hooker aspect of it. How does he handle the pressure?”