NFL Draft rumors: When does the Will Levis slide end?

So now what?

The first night of the 2023 NFL Draft is in the books, but the drafting is just getting started.

Which means there are plenty of rumors to sort through as we get our Fridays underway.

Beyond the rumors, you can check out our best remaining prospects, our Round 2 mock draft, our live tracker, and our grades from the first round.

Now, onto the rumors.

When the NFL made the decision to split the draft into a three-day event, with only Round 1 on Thursday and Rounds 2 and 3 taking place on Friday, the league made the first pick of the second round into a rather valuable asset.

Because now teams could take Thursday night and Friday to reevaluate their boards, and make an aggressive trade pitch to the holder of that 33rd selection.

This year, the second round begins with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the driver’s seat, and according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Steelers have been fielding calls from at least a few teams about a trade.

This could be a golden opportunity for Pittsburgh to move back, even just a few spots, and accumulate additional draft capital. According to the SB Nation big board, there are a number of talented players left, players that were ranked inside our top twenty such as Alabama safety Brian Branch, Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer, and Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence.

And yes, quarterback Will Levis is available. More on him in a moment.

One of the best parts of draft night in the social media era is when the videos surface of teams making their selections, and changing a young athlete’s life.

The New England Patriots shared footage from inside their draft room when they informed Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez that he was coming to Foxborough:

However, as noted by our friends at Pats Pulpit and Mike Kadlick, who covers the Patriots for CLNS Media, if you pause this video you will find that right in front of head coach Bill Belichick is a screen that looks to have some UNC footage on display. Computer, enhance!

I wish I had seen this before putting together my Round 2 mock draft earlier this morning.

So, perhaps the biggest story of the night was Kentucky passer Will Levis sliding out of the first round.

After Levis received late buzz about coming off the board second overall, and had to deflect a rumor from Reddit that he would be the pick by the Panthers at No. 1, the quarterback had to endure a painful night in the green room, as cameras captured his slide out of the first round.

When does that slide end?

Thankfully for him, there are at least a handful of options at the start of the second round where a quarterback could be the pick. The Detroit Lions at 34, the Los Angeles Rams at 36, the Seattle Seahawks at 37, and the Las Vegas Raiders at 38 are all potential landing spots for a quarterback. A little farther back lie the Tennessee Titans at No. 41, which could be a good fit from a scheme perspective.

Levis had to wait a long time on Thursday, but given the number of teams at the top of the second round that could add a quarterback, he will not have to wait too much longer.

One rumor from late Thursday night could be an indication of what position a team might try and address tonight.

According to Darren Wolfson, who covers the Minnesota Vikings, both the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints tried to engineer a trade with the Vikings, when Minnesota was on the clock at No. 23.

At least one of the teams was eying USC wide receiver Jordan Addison.

Which team was eying Addison, who the Vikings eventually drafted themselves? According to this report from Saints Wire, it was likely the Chiefs. Which makes sense, as Kansas City was linked with a few different receivers throughout the pre-draft process, and Patrick Mahomes worked out with Boston College receiver Zay Flowers just prior to the draft.

Could this signal that the Chiefs are in play for a WR? Well, it does to me, as I have them adding Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt to close out the second round.

The Lions pulled off a few night-one stunners Thursday, most notably when they drafted Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs, adding him to a running back room that already counts D’Andre Swift and David Montgomery among its members.

However, one of them might not be a Lion for much longer.

This matches with what I was told minutes after the Gibbs pick, that Swift would probably be a player to watch in a trade over the coming days. A team to watch? The Miami Dolphins. There were rumblings that the Dolphins might entertain a move up the second round to add Gibbs themselves, so running back seems to be a position they are eying right now. Perhaps Swift could be an option for them through a trade.

Now that the Panthers have added Bryce Young, the expectation is that Carolina will add a pass catcher for him, perhaps as early as their pick in the second round. The departure of D.J. Moore to Chicago as part of Carolina’s trade with the Bears only increases those odds.

However, the odds might be wrong. Could owner David Tepper have tipped their intentions here for the second round?