Will Levis became the latest NFL Draft QB to drop ominous ‘throw from knees’ video

This weekend Will Levis got down on two knees and used his cannon of an arm to hurl a massive red flag.

The “I can throw from my knees” move is the great NFL Draft Hail Mary. A lot of players have the arm strength to do it, but when you drop this video pre draft, it’s never a good sign. This was the move Kyler Boller used in 2003. It took his took over the conversation before the draft and made people forget about the fact he completed 47.8 percent of his passes in college. “We can teach him,” people thought, “but you can’t teach that arm.”

Boller, obviously, was a colossal bust. Not only did the Ravens waste the No. 19 pick on him, but they had to trade up to do it. This had an enormous impact on the future of the Ravens too, because while they were still trying to get blood from the stone in with Boller, they passed on a falling Aaron Rodgers in 2005.

The next knee throw came from Jamarcus Russell, this time in 2007. Leading up to the draft it was widely considered that Brady Quinn was the best in a weak class of quarterbacks, but he couldn’t do something that Russell could: Throw 60 yards from his knees. This helped make up the “ludicrous upside” package that caused the Raiders to ignore the fact Russell had one of the best receiving groups in college football, and that Dwayne Bowe made him look good by grabbing anything in his radius. Russell went No. 1 overall and was one of the biggest busts in NFL history.

Now, Will Levis has joined the ranks of knee throwers. It’s a little different this time, because his arm strength had been touted immensely before this. Still, we’ll see on Thursday if it’s enough to get someone to bite on the promise, and ignore all the other issues about Levis’ game.