Jacquez Jones will decide about a return to Kentucky for next season after UK's bowl game. (UK Athletics Photo)
Quarterback Will Levis and linebacker Jacquez Jones are not saying they will be back playing football at Kentucky for the 2022 season but they are not saying they are leaving, either. Both players were on coach Mark Stoops’ weekly radio show Tuesday night with Tom Leach. Both were very frank about the uncertainty of their future plans.
Jones, an Ole Miss transfer this season, had 182 tackles in three seasons with the Rebels. He has 86 tackles, four pass breakups, 3.5 tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, one fumble recovery, and one interception.
“I’m still thinking about it,” Jones said when asked his future. “I feel like I’m going to make my decision after the bowl game. I’ll wait till after the bowl.”
If he does return, it would be a huge boost to the Kentucky defense. It would be his second year in defensive coordinator Brad White’s system. He will have played in 46 games and made 33 starts. That type of experience is invaluable.
Levis transferred to UK from Penn State and has had a brilliant season, including four rushing touchdowns in last week’s 51-21 win over Louisville. He threw for 2,593 yards and 23 touchdowns and ran for 387 yards and nine more scores.
“I haven’t really had any time to even think about that throughout the season,” Levis said when asked about his future. “Now that we have these few weeks between now and the bowl game, it’s time for me to kind of finally think about what my actual options are and what the realistic expectations are one way or the other.”
Levis played in 15 games in three years at Penn State where he completed 61 of 102 passes for 644 yards and three scores and ran 133 times for 473 yards and six touchdowns.
One reason Levis transferred to UK was to enhance his pro potential in a NFL-style offense led by offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
“I’m going to take this time to figure it out, weigh the pros and cons,” Levis said. “When the time comes, I’ll make it official and public.”
Both could wait on evaluations from NFL scouts about their draft potential to make choices about next year but knowing they are open to a return leads me to continue to believe both are going to be back.
8 Responses
College FB and pro FB are different animals. Very difficult to determine whose talents will transfer. Even the pro scouts make multiple boo boo’s.
Ala, all the 1st and 2nd round picks who “wash out”.
Jones may be ready but not so sure about Levi’s. He finished strong but made several mistakes early in the season. If I were a pro scout I’d need more than 45 days of good performance
I think they both are back
I agree.
Both need to come back for another year. It’s too bad some company hasn’t struck an NIL deal with both of them. Neither one is a top 10 pick at their position, but both could be so after another college season.
I don’t see either one getting drafted. Barring injury their chances would greatly increase with another year under their belt. It’s hard to figure out a kids mindset these days.
I say they both will be back at UK for 2022. I think Levis for sure needs another year to make his mark, and improve his status in the draft as a future NFL QB. He has talent that needs to be further developed at the college level. Coen could provide that. Levis has the arm strength for sure to make the throws. He just needs more experience that he can get with another year of SEC competition under his belt.
Just for the heck of it, it want to offer a contrarian opinion here just as a thought exercise. The QB draft market is very thin this year. There are no Mack Jones out there up for grabs. Levis could just sneak into the draft. That said, he will have a very steep learning curve and just might not survive it. He was a running QB at Penn State and his only development as a passing QB is one year at UK, which is not exactly the hotbed on NFL QBs.
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