The Patriots wrapped up their pre-draft visits with one that certainly drew plenty of attention. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the team hosted Kentucky quarterback Will Levis on Wednesday.

Levis is a projected first-round pick in this year’s draft, although there’s little consensus on where. Some experts have him going as high as the third pick and/or second quarterback off the board, while others see him falling into the late teens or even early 20s.

• Part of what makes Levis’ draft stock so hard to judge is that his projection is almost entirely upside. He’s gifted athletically at 6-foot-4, 229 pounds but still very raw as a passer. In Kentucky’s run-heavy offense last season he completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 2,406 yards in 11 games, with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His career TD:INT ratio is 46:25. A clunky and inconsistent throwing motion, scattered footwork, poor second reads, and issues dealing with pressure all led to his turnover issues.

  In general, teams will look at Levis’ athletic upside and believe if they can fix him as a passer, he has a chance at being a prototypical modern dual-threat quarterback. However, the inconsistencies and high turnover numbers go strongly against what the Patriots typically consider at the position.

  So then, why the meeting? It is possible, of course, that the Patriots’ view on the quarterback position has changed. After all, they broke a number of long-standing draft trends last year, so they do seem to be making adjustments to their process. Could they target Levis – who in many ways is the antithesis of Mac Jones as a quarterback – as Jones’ eventual replacement?

• What’s more likely is the meeting was, as Rapoport put it, “part of their [the Patriots] due diligence to prepare for any scenario a week from now.” It could also be part of their due diligence moving forward. A number of teams on the Patriots’ 2023 schedule could be in the market to pick a quarterback, so they may have used this as a rare chance to sit down and speak with a future opponent about the strengths and weaknesses of his game.

  In fact, Levis isn’t the only top quarterback projected to go ahead of the Patriots they’ve met with. They also spoke with Florida’s Anthony Richardson at the Combine.

  “We had a pretty good quarterback around here for a long time when I was an area scout. Nobody ever said, ‘hey, don’t worry about evaluating those quarterbacks,” director of player personnel Matt Groh said on Tuesday when asked how the Patriots are approaching the quarterback position in the draft. “We evaluate every position. Quarterback, certainly, a very important position, if not the most important position. We went through it last year. We’d obviously drafted a guy the year before [Jones], drafted a guy last year [Bailey Zappe]. And that’s just part of the competitive atmosphere that we have around here.”

• ‘04 training camp… actually insane how much joy this man has brought to my family throughout my ENTIRE life. Also, I want to know what my mom was thinking dressing me in those shorts. pic.twitter.com/IsQ717VEkt

  — Will Levis (@will_levis) January 29, 2022

• As is usually the case during this time of year, the move is open to interpretation. Are the Patriots leaving the door open for the quarterback who is from Newton, Mass. and grew up a Patriots fan? Or do they just want teams to think they are?

  Levis’ visit brings the Patriots’ total reported pre-draft meetings to 54. For a full list of the players they’ve spoken with, check out our Patriots Pre-Draft Meeting Tracker.

• Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.

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