Will Levis became the story of the first round of the 2023 NFL draft when he had to sit in the green room all night without hearing his name get called by commissioner Roger Goodell.
Levis, who was expected by many to be off the board early in the draft, finally found his NFL home Friday night when the Tennessee Titans selected him with the second pick of the second round (33rd overall).
The former Kentucky signal-caller decided to head home from Kansas City on Friday, and it sounded as if he had a brutal trip.
Author: Michael
More than two decades after drafting his father, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected cornerback Joey Porter Jr. with the 32nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft Friday night.
null
Bryce Young says he doesn’t believe he’s entitled to respect from his new Panthers teammates or anybody in the NFL just because he was the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
Photo by Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images
Falling to the Tennessee Titans could be an ideal silver lining for Will Levis
The slide is over for Will Levis.
Weeks of speculation built to a crescendo in the days before the draft, with the idea that the Kentucky quarterback might come off the board early on Thursday night.
As in “first-overall selection” early.
However, that did not materialize. Instead of hearing his name called during the first round, Levis endured a long night in the green room, sliding out of the first round completely.
KANSAS CITY — The Will Levis draft saga is over.
The Tennessee Titans drafted the former University of Kentucky quarterback after they traded to the second pick of the second round (No. 33 overall).
And one day after Levis was so disappointed with dropping out of the first round that he left town, he now goes to a team that has been looking for its future quarterback.
Levis joins Ryan Tannehill and Malik Willis on the Titans roster.
Levis and Willis will battle for the chance to be Mr. Right.
Tannehill, meanwhile, is Mr. Right Now.
Photo by G. N. Lowrance/NFLPhotoLibrary
The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Joey Porter Jr. at the start of the second night of the 2023 NFL Draft
It made too much sense not to happen.
On Friday night, it finally did.
With the first pick in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Joey Porter, Jr., the talented cornerback from Penn State.
His father was a linebacker for the Steelers for eight seasons, and was part of the Pittsburgh team that won Super Bowl XL.
The connection between Porter Jr.
The wait is finally over for Kentucky quarterback Will Levis.
After unexpectedly falling out of the first round on Thursday night, Levis was taken with the No. 33 pick by the Titans in the second round on Friday night. Tennessee traded with the Cardinals to acquire the pick, sending Arizona the No. 41 and No. 72 picks in this year’s draft as well as a 2024 third-round pick.
The Titans received the No. 81 pick in addition to the pick that was used on Levis.
With the first pick of the second round, the Steelers took a familiar face. With pick No. 32, Pittsburgh officially selected cornerback Joey Porter Jr. out of Penn State, the son of Steelers legend and former linebacker Joey Porter.
Porter Jr. is a cornerback out of Penn State, who spent four years with the Nittany Lions and started 23 games over the past two seasons. His father played in Pittsburgh for eight seasons, along with three in Miami and two in Arizona, and coached for the Steelers from 2015 to ’18.
The first round of the 2023 NFL draft is over. While the household names are largely off to new homes, Friday evening provides a chance for teams to find value, something the best clubs have done for years to build championship-caliber rosters.
Last year, we watched as a litany of top-end talents went off the board on Day 2, including running backs Kenneth Walker III (Seahawks) and Breece Hall (Jets), safeties Jalen Pitre (Texans) and Jaquan Brisker (Bears), receivers Christian Watson (Packers) and George Pickens (Steelers), corner Cam Taylor-Britt (Bengals) and others.