The NFL Draft can be a cruel reminder of the gap between how its 32 teams evaluate top collegiate players versus how football media and fans value incoming professional talent.
Kentucky quarterback prospect Will Levis, now a Tennessee Titan after being selected with the second pick of the second round (33rd overall) this past weekend, found out how wide that gap can be. Levis was once thought to be the favorite to go second in the NFL Draft by Vegas oddsmakers as late as two days prior to Round 1, and he was the Colts’ Plan B if a team had traded up to select Florida’s Anthony Richard third overall, one spot before the Colts. Since Richardson was on the board at four, Indianapolis went with their guy, and no other team opted to take Levis that night. After losing out on nearly $25 million in salary, Levis now has a massive motivator for the rest of his career.
Given his notable draft day experience, here are a few quarterbacks who went through a similar fall from a projected top-10 pick prospects to being selected in the back end of the first round or later. Among seven examples of similar situations to Levis’, it’s a mixed bag: three roaring successes, three absolute busts, and then Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl quarterback Geno Smith, who is in his own unique category.
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The massive success stories
Aaron Rodgers
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers — wow, it’s still weird to see in writing — is the biggest success story of any QB who has taken a similar tumble to Levis. Rodgers was supposedly neck-and-neck with former Utah quarterback Alex Smith to be the first overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. After Rodgers’ hometown team went with Smith, Rodgers tumbled 23 more picks before the Green Bay Packers ended his slide with the 24th overall pick.
After that moment, Rodgers used the embarrassing night to became one of the greatest quarterbacks in league history:
- Four NFL MVPs (second-most all time)
- Highest touchdown-to-interception ratio all time (4.52, 475 passing touchdowns to 105 interceptions)
- Two highest single-season passer ratings in NFL history (122.5 in 2011 and 121.5 in 2020)
- Most touchdown…
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