LEXINGTON, Ky. — Rich Scangarello was sitting in the San Francisco 49ers’ team hotel meeting room last season on the eve of their game against the Arizona Cardinals.
The LSU-Kentucky game was on the big-screen TV in the room, and Scangarello and others from the 49ers’ organization, including general manager John Lynch and assistant GM Adam Peters, were watching while waiting for meetings to start. Kentucky quarterback Will Levis was putting on a show, throwing for three touchdowns and running for two more in a 42-21 win.
Scangarello, then the 49ers’ quarterbacks coach, turned to Peters and said, “Who is this quarterback? He’s pretty good. I need to make sure he’s on my radar going into the offseason.”
Little did Scangarello know the offseason would lead to his hiring as Levis’ offensive coordinator at Kentucky, and it didn’t take Scangarello long to figure out what kind of talent he was inheriting in Levis, who has gone from a backup at Penn State to one of the NFL’s hottest draft commodities seemingly in a flash.
On his Big Board for the 2023 draft, ESPN’s Mel Kiper has the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Levis rated as the No. 4 player overall and the No. 2 quarterback behind Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.
One NFL personnel director, who has scouted Levis extensively and seen him live this season, told ESPN he sees a lot of Josh Allen in Levis in terms of arm strength, athletic ability and physical size.
“He just needs to continue to work on his pocket poise, his timing and his accuracy under pressure, but he’s one of the more intriguing quarterback prospects in this class,” the personnel director said. “Josh Allen had some inconsistencies with accuracy and timing as well, but we’ve seen how that has played out.
“As [Levis] gets more comfortable and better rhythm in this scheme, I feel like he will be playing even better football at the end of the season than what he’s putting on tape right now. He has all the physical traits and a lot of upside.”
Scangarello is the fourth offensive…
Source : espn
