Penn State Football: Don’t rule out Will Levis in QB battle yet
Penn State football’s QB room saw significant role changes this spring. Although Sean Clifford is the frontrunner for the job, Will Levis is in the fight.
A wild offseason for Penn State football ended with wholesale changes at quarterback. Tommy Stevens seemed to be the heir apparent to Trace McSorley after four years of waiting. Instead, he transferred to Mississippi State after spring ball. Rising redshirt sophomore Sean Clifford moved into that role — or at least that is what’s expected. Pump the brakes though, as much as Clifford is a talented, powerful passer, redshirt freshman Will Levis is not going away.
I’m sure it’s difficult for some to envision Levis winning the job because he doesn’t have any game film from the 2018 season. Clifford went through two spring games already and played in the 2018 regular season and produced at an impressive level in his small sample size of snaps (5-for-7, 195 yards, two touchdowns).
To that crowd, I say look at how Clifford forced his way into the battle when Stevens was there, and he boasted many more regular season snaps than Clifford in his career.
Levis came to the Penn State football program as a three-star prospect and the No. 2 recruit out of the state of Connecticut. Even though he started the spring battling parrying incoming QBs for the third-string QB job, he solidified himself as a competitor for the starting job. According to KJ Hamler in of PennLive, he believed Levis would be a star after watching how he read defenses in spring practice.
Then, he topped off brilliant spring practices by going 4-for-7 for 86 yards and one touchdown in the Blue-White game. The touchdown pass was a perfectly thrown, deep-ball dime to Dan Chisena. Beyond that, he threw the ball with velocity and power behind his passes. Last month, I said that he had already locked up the backup job with his spring and the transfer of Stevens, but I think his rise keeps the competition going.
Levis added eight more pounds to his frame this offseason, making him the bigger, stronger option at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds to Clifford’s 6-foot-2, 218 pounds. He can take hits and stand in the pocket, but he can run too. In his final two years of high school, he rushed for 12 touchdowns and showed mobility, so he’s a dual-threat weapon that can continue the run-pass option plays in the offense.
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Clifford hasn’t shown any glaring problems in his chances on the field. In fact, he’s been accurate, showing a powerful arm and efficiency with four touchdowns to zero picks in two spring games and a few regular season games. But, Levis hasn’t either. I think these two will compete and push each other to give the Nittany Lions a quality starting QB in 2019.
