"Loud Rumblings" Out Of Minnesota And Latest Odds Suggest The Vikings LOVE Will Levis Enough To Trade Up To No. 2 Overall To Draft Him
James Gilbert. Getty Images.Thought for sure my brain was fried tonight. I've written roughly 5,000 unpublished words from Friday through the weekend about the NFL Draft. Those are coming soon. This doesn't count toward that total.
But THIS. This. This this this. From The Draft Network COO Jaime Eisner's mock draft. A nugget of information that could change the entire 2023 NFL Draft. The En Eff El Draft. THAAAAAAAAA DRAFFFFFFFFT. Will Levis to the Minnesota Vikings!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?! AT NO. 2 OVERALL!?!?!?
"2. Minnesota Vikings (via HOU) Will Levis QB, Kentucky
…Surprise! You may have seen the betting odds change for the No. 2 overall pick on Saturday, with Will Levis becoming the odds-on favorite. But I don’t think that’s because the Texans are taking him. I’ve heard loud rumblings that Minnesota is very active in trying to trade up for a quarterback and I think they will pull off a blockbuster here. Levis will succeed Kirk Cousins after the Vikings chose not to extend the latter beyond this season. There is a major disconnect between how fans and those inside the NFL view Will Levis. Don’t get me wrong, there are several people in the NFL who are uninterested in drafting Levis this high, but there are plenty who believe he is absolutely worth the cost with the upside to be the best passer in the class when it’s all said and done."
That sounds like the biggest piece of shit nonsense you've ever heard. Sounds like Jamie Eisner took the bait of the ultimate, far-fetched smokescreen hook, line and sinker.
…But as we've seen many times in years past, the draft is unpredictable as fuck. This is why it's so fun.
You might be thinking, "How on earth is Will Levis about to be the No. 2 overall pick?" To which I would say…take a gander at the latest odds to go No. 2 overall from Barstool Sportsbook:
There's fucking JUICE on Levis if you want to bet him to be the second guy off the board.
I've seen some shit in my day. The only other draft trade I can remember that was even close to this big came when the Falcons traded up from 27th to No. 6 overall to acquire stud wide receiver Julio Jones. Another misstep among many since the Browns returned to the NFL.
By "big" I mean this moving up this many spots in the order. As far as quarterbacks, the obvious one is the Chiefs going from 27th to 10th to nab Patrick Mahomes in 2017. Good call there! Still can't believe the Bills were the team who made that trade. Worked out I guess. They got Josh Allen the next year. Speaking of the Browns, in Mahomes' year, they traded back from 12th to 25th with the Texans, who proceeded to select Cleveland's current several-circles-of-Hell-past-disgraced QB Deshaun Watson.
Back to Levis. I wouldn't take him until where the Vikings are slated to pick at 23. Couldn't agree more with J.T. O'Sullivan here:
HOWEVER, the traits and background on Levis reminded me so much of Justin Herbert that it was impossible to ignore. It would seem that's how he's viewed in Minnesota and other corners of the NFL.
Never in a million years could I have imagined that the Vikings would fall head over heels enough to go up 21 spots to get Levis. That is CRAZYTOWN. Gonna save my ass some time here. To kick off April aka Draft SZN, I posted a mock draft of my own. Where did I have Will Levis going, you ask? Twenty-third overall to the Vikings. Here's the breakdown from that post:
"Will Levis' slide ends here. The Vikings should be in the market to raise their ceiling at quarterback from Kirk Cousins. When he had his most success at Kentucky in 2021, Levis had former Rams assistant/offensive coordinator Liam Coen as his play-caller. Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell comes from Sean McVay’s coaching tree. Pretty easy to connect the dots."
So yeah, you can see the logic plain as day. Kevin O'Connell must be pushing hard for this. When GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah took the gig last offseason, he was anything but committal to Kirk Cousins as his man under center. Adds up.
GM KAM is a cool nickname for the Vikings' lead personnel executive. So uhh, yeah, GM KAM is reportedly at least strongly considering the nuttiest draft trade of my lifetime. Gonna need a wheelbarrow for those nads.
El Pres and Big Cat are even wearing the Vikings purple for this absolutely spot-on GIF. My brain is melting even more than it already was.
If this is the route the Texans take, to some degree it makes sense. Even if it's a cringe-inducing, cop-out, wimpy-as-fuck move by GM Nick Caserio. What do you expect from someone who genuflected at the feet of Bill Belichick in New England and watched The Hoodie backslide in the draft many a time?
Seriously though, Caserio has the 12th overall pick. He could move up from there to snag a signal-caller, or wait to see if Anthony Richardson slides to that range. Levis' sudden surge in draft stock is bad news for Richardson. He's my QB1 and will probably be the fourth guy taken. LOL. Only means he's bound to land in a better situation than most of the top guys, other than Bryce Young when he goes to Carolina as is expected.
Can you even fathom this Levis trade going down, and THEN the Cardinals giving up their No. 3 overall selection for someone to take an offensive lineman!?
Anywho. Wow, Will Levis. The most slandered quarterback throughout the pre-draft process. Now everything has changed. Whether the Vikings do this or not, the fact that it's even floating around as a possibility is enough to get my juices FLOWWWWWING before draft night.
Watch the En Eff El Draft Show on Thursday please. I don't know exactly what's going to happen but if some of these rumors form recent days are any indication, it's going to be LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok