Did The Rumors & Speculation Affect Betting On Kentucky Players In The 2023 NFL Draft? 

The Kentucky Wildcats did not feature very heavily at the recent NFL Draft, with their first player getting picked in the second round.

Quarterback Will Levis was selected by the Tennessee Titans, who took him as the second pick of the second round. But 2023 did mark the fifth consecutive year in which at least one Kentucky player went to the NFL and the seventh year time since head coach Mark Stoops took over the program in 2013.

The 2017 and 2018 drafts were the only years the Wildcats didn’t have a player drafted while Stoops was head coach.

The third night of the draft saw two more players picked, with the Washington Commanders selecting running back Chris Rodriguez in the sixth round and the Green Bay Packers taking cornerback Carrington Valentine in the seventh round.

Offensive lineman Tashawn Manning, defensive back Keidron Smith, and linebacker DeAndre Square were not drafted but still got contracts while linebackers Jacquez Jones and Jordan Wright got invites to rookie minicamps, as did defensive pack Tyrell Ajian and punter Colin Goodfellow.

The predictions surrounding Levis, particularly, were rife ahead of the draft. The QB was one of the players who received the most attention in the buildup as he was tipped to be an early first-round pick by networks such as ESPN.

Sportsbooks even had him going first overall to the Carolina Panthers and all the hype definitely had an impact on betting all over the country and that would have been the case in Kentucky had betting been legal there at the time. 

Betting is coming, though, with Kentucky sports betting sites launching soon. And residents looking forward to the advent won’t have to wait very long as sportsbooks will roll their services out at some point in 2024.

The rumors surrounding Levis proved how speculation can influence the betting market. And even the player was taken by surprise as he showed up to the first night looking pretty dapper, with his family and girlfriend with him as he expected to be at least called among the first 10 players walking up for that jersey. 

He ended up having to sit through the entire event with the embarrassment so thick, you could cut it. 

Levis decided not to attend on the second night – he probably packed a single suit – but didn’t have to wait long for his name to be called. Still, it’s going to be an uphill battle as the Titans head coach wasted no time naming him the third-string QB behind Ryan Tannehill and Malik Willis, though noting that the players have an opportunity to change his mind before the start of the season.

The former Kentucky signal-caller isn’t believed to be having the greatest time convincing Vrabel he should select differently. Recent reports note that Willis is outperforming Levis in training but could still get cut during training camp.

Titans senior writer Jim Wyatt recently had a mailbag published in which he responded to questions from fans and revealed Levis was the worst performer among the three quarterbacks. Even so, Willis’ spot on the team’s three-man roster isn’t guaranteed.

“Malik’s roster spot isn’t guaranteed, even with the new rule. Ryan Tannehill and Will Levis will be on the 53-man roster because Tannehill is the starter, and Levis was the 33rd overall pick and he’s going to be given time. So, Malik needs to keep improving, and earn his spot. Right now, I think he will be on the 53 himself, and I wasn’t thinking that way the beginning of May. Malik outperformed Levis this offseason, and definitely showed improvement from a year ago. But things can change.”

It was never expected that Levis would be the team’s starting quarterback. And it’s also no surprise that a QB with some experience in the NFL would perform better than him. But the overall reviews haven’t been great since he joined the team.

Of course, he’ll likely develop into a solid option for Tennessee, he certainly has the physical attributes to excel in the NFL.