Skip to main content
Horseshoe Huddle

How Shane Steichen Could Build an Offense Around Will Levis

The next major step for the Colts this offseason is to find their quarterback of the future. Could Will Levis be that guy?
Zach Hicks|
How Shane Steichen Could Build an Offense Around Will Levis
How Shane Steichen Could Build an Offense Around Will Levis

The Indianapolis Colts are less than two weeks away from selecting their next quarterback of the future. Could Will Levis be the next face of the Colts?

Today, I dive into the game of Will Levis and break down exactly how he could fit in Shane Steichen’s offense.

Analyzing the Traits

Will Levis is an experienced passer that worked out of a psuedo-Kyle Shanahan offense the past two seasons at Kentucky. The major points of his offense (under both Liam Coen in 2021 and Rich Scangarello in 2022) was to get the ball out quickly and efficiently to allow for yards after the catch.

In two years as the starter at Kentucky, Levis amassed 5,243 yards passing (on 8.2 yards per attempt) and 43 touchdowns with 23 interceptions. He is a big-time traitsy quarterback that is more NFL-ready than most due to his experience in that pro style offense.

Levis excels in the short game and utilizes his lightning fast release to feast on quick hitters. His natural arm strength allows him to hit windows that most players simply can't, and he is fearless in layering throws over the middle into open windows. He is an effective rhythm passer that also possesses the ability to keep an offense on schedule with his pre-snap recognition.

Will Levis is a high upside quarterback in this class that already has a solid floor due to his experience. He is at his best when he is attacking the quick game and then taking the occasional play-action shot over the middle, rather than dropping back and airing it out 50+ times a game.

Leaning on the Quick Game

Will Levis may have the traits and the upside to be a big, downfield passer in the NFL, but right now his experience is in the quick passing game. This isn't at all limiting what he can be in the NFL, but it is a good starting point for early in his career. If Levis is going to find early success in the NFL, his future offensive coordinator will need to lean on his schematic experience from college.

Luckily, Shane Steichen did draw up a pretty effective quick game with the Philadelphia Eagles this past season. Will Levis attempted nearly 58% of his collegiate passes under 10 air yards, while Jalen Hurts was around 61.7% this past season under Steichen.

Shane Steichen likes to pepper the short game to open up vertical shots over the top. Will Levis can at least accomplish the first aspect of that plan with how efficient he is underneath. Here are a few play designs Steichen could incorporate for Levis in Indy:

Empty Set Quick Hitters

The Philadelphia Eagles used a lot of empty personnel last season. This high usage of empty allowed Jalen Hurts (and Gardner Minshew late in the season) to dissect match-ups to exploit pre-snap and it helped identify exact holes in the defense.

While Will Levis wasn't used as frequently out of empty in college, the same principles do apply. When he was put in empty, he showcased the ability to quickly diagnose the optimal match-up and the ability to exploit it when the time came.

Spacing Routes

The Eagles incorporated quite a few spacing designs in their quick game last season. Steichen liked to attach the spacing concept with a different quick hitter on the weak side (slant-flat combo or levels) to add a little variety to the call:

Will Levis was throwing a ton of spacing routes the past two seasons at Kentucky, although his concepts were typically more full field read calls. He would diagnose which hitch had the best leverage pre-snap and then fire it in for a quick gain of 5-7 yards:

RPO Passes

The Eagles were third in the NFL in RPO usage a season ago under Shane Steichen. Steichen liked to give his star quarterback the option on nearly every rush attempt to pull the ball out if he got a favorable read. Jalen Hurts had a lot of freedom to adjust to a pass if he felt a run blitz closing in:

Will Levis had a similar freedom at Kentucky. He had the option to opt out of the run if he saw the opposing defense backed off of the line or ready to blitz on the interior. If Levis saw an opportunity to get the ball out quickly, he usually took it (and succeeded with his lightning fast release):

Bang 8

A Bang 8 call is a bit of a deeper route combination than the others listed above, but it works in a similar fashion. It is a quick hitting skinny post over the middle of the field (usually after some pre-snap motion to free up space). The Eagles relied on this call quite a bit with AJ Brown last season:

Kentucky mixed in a few of these calls for Will Levis the past few seasons as well. Levis was able to execute these options quite well, and his ability to layer passes over the middle came in handy on this quick hitter:

Ability as a Runner

Will Levis may not be the explosive rushing option that Jalen Hurts is, but he is plenty capable of picking up yards on the ground. He is a bit linear as an athlete, but Levis is explosive and powerful with the ball in his hands.

This obviously translates well into Shane Steichen's scheme. Steichen utilized Jalen Hurts on the ground quite a bit last season, rushing the star quarterback on 154 designed rushing calls. Steichen also saw the advantage of having a scrambling threat in the backfield last year, which is another box that Levis checks off.

Overall, Levis may not be a dynamic rusher with the ball in his hands, but he is certainly able to run Shane Steichen's designed rushing attack in Indy:

Questions with the Deep Game

The biggest concern with Will Levis and his transition to Shane Steichen's scheme is his ability as a deep passer. He has plenty of arm talent to be productive in this area of his game, but we just haven't seen it yet.

In the past two seasons with Kentucky, Levis completed 40 of 94 passes of over 20 air yards (42.5% completion percentage) for 1,353 yards and 7 touchdowns with 8 interceptions. His 9.0% turnover worthy play rate on such passes is also quite concerning.

Even stepping away from the numbers and looking at film, Levis does struggle with the vertical ball. He has the tendency to put too much air under his passes, which causes them to either sail overhead or float into underthrow territory.

He also struggles tremendously outside the numbers on these throws, only completing 26% of his deep passes outside of the numbers. This is likely due to the fact that he is a rigid athlete that has some issues with aligning his feet outside the numbers.

While this is a cause for concern, especially for a playcaller like Shane Steichen who wants to attack vertically, this is where projection comes into play. Will Levis is a smart player that has the capability to be effective on these throws, he just hasn't been yet.

"Yet" is the key word here. The idea could be there that Levis can improve his deep passing with better weapons and with some mechanical fine tuning. I'm not out on Will Levis being an effective deep passer in the NFL, it just isn't a strength of his right now.

He does have the talent, and the flashes, to improve in this area however:

The Bottom Line 

Will Levis is a talented, and experienced, quarterback prospect that just never truly put it all together in college. Could a playcaller of Shane Steichen's caliber finally be the one to bring out the best in Levis?

When looking at how Steichen could maximize a player like Levis in the NFL, the early path for the quarterback seems pretty clear. Lean on the quick passing attack, mix in some vertical play-action shots, but keep almost everything controlled and underneath. The Colts may not be in Steichen's final vision in year one, but the hope is to build Levis up from the short game eventually to the deep passing game.

Overall, Will Levis is an adequate fit for what Shane Steichen wants to accomplish in Indy. If he can iron out some mechanical issues and truly find his deep passing game, he could be the franchise passer the Colts are looking for.

Need your fill on daily Colts' content? Head over to the Locked On Colts' YouTube channel where Jake Arthur and myself hit on all the major topics surrounding this team. Hit that subscribe button while you are there!

Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.

Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Zach Hicks
ZACH HICKS

Zach Hicks is the Lead Analyst for HorseshoeHuddle.com. Zach has been on the NFL beat since 2017. His works have appeared on SBNation.com, the Locked On Podcast Network, BleacherReport.com, MSN.com, & Yardbarker.com. 

Share on XFollow ZachHicks2
Home/News