Luke Fortner Knows Will Levis Will Be Fine in the NFL

Vicky Graff Photo

Luke Fortner made the move from guard to center for Kentucky’s 2021 season when quarterback Will Levis arrived from Penn State. Kentucky went on to win 10 games and Fortner became a third-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

During his rookie season in 2022, the Jaguars had a five-game losing streak to drop to 2-6 but rallied to win their last five regular-season games to finish 9-8 and make the playoffs. The Jags beat the Chargers 31-30 in the wild card game before losing 27-20 to eventual Super Bowl champ Kansas City.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence — the first pick in the 2021 draft — threw 25 touchdown passes and only eight interceptions during the regular season and led the Jags back from a 27-7 deficit to beat the Chargers after throwing three interceptions in the first quarter.

So how does Fortner think Levis will do in the NFL after playing with him in 2021 and then starting 17 games as Lawrence’s center in 2022 in the NFL?

“I think he will do really well. He has it mentally and obviously physically,” Fortner said.

The former UK lineman spent part of his offseason time in Lexington working out at UK and got to watch Levis.

“He has got a good work ethic,” Fortner said. “He will be coming in and probably be a starting quarterback right away. That is not easy but I think he will be fine.”

Levis is projected as a top 10 pick at worst in Thursday’s draft and could go as high as No. 2 overall even though there has been some scuttlebutt about some NFL teams feeling he was too confident in redraft interviews.

“I am sure Will has read and seen all that stuff but when you are a high-profile player and do the weird stuff on TikTok and other things he did you just have to be able to handle it and he will. I doubt it will impact where he’s drafted, either,” Fortner said.