- The betting odds for Kentucky QB Will Levis to be the No. 1 pick in the draft moved sharply.
- Alabama's Bryce Young is still the betting favorite, but Levis now had the second shortest odds.
Kentucky quarterback Will Levis might be the first NFL Draft meme stock.
In an odd twist, the betting odds for Levis to be the No. 1 pick in the draft by the Carolina Panthers moved sharply overnight, suggesting many gamblers think he will be picked first. Gambling experts are now speculating that an unsubstantiated Reddit post is behind the possible shenanigans.
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is still the betting favorite to be the first name announced in the draft at (-1350 odds, meaning you would have to bet $1,350 just to win $100). However, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Levis' odds went from 50/1 to 4/1 in a matter of hours, and he is now the second favorite to be the top pick, according to Darren Rovell of the Action Network.
A post on r/sportsbook by user SaleAgreeable2834 claimed on Tuesday morning that Levis was telling those close to him that he would be the top pick by the Panthers, suggesting this was something the team had told him. The post does not cite any sources and has not been echoed on other social media platforms by any of the NFL's usual insiders.
The considerable drop in odds for Levis suggests a lot of money came pouring in on him to be the top pick in a short amount of time, something a DraftKings spokesperson confirmed to ESPN.
"Given the nature of the draft, we drastically cut the price based on this action and eventually came to a price where the bets stopped," a DraftKings spokesperson told ESPN. "We are still seeing some small bets trickle through at the current price, but the speculation is all the action was off the back of a Reddit post."
—Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 25, 2023
The sudden surge in people looking to make a quick buck is reminiscent of "meme stocks," where the value of some stocks and cryptocurrencies fluctuate wildly based on Reddit speculation.
A week ago, Insider surveyed NFL draft experts. Levis was not considered a candidate for the top pick by the Panthers, and was only expected to be the fourth quarterback drafted. More than half (6) of the 11 experts had Levis going 10th or 11th in the draft. A few experts had him going third or fourth, but still only the third quarterback off the board.
NFL draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr. of ESPN is a little higher on Levis' potential in his latest mock draft, but still said he thought Levis would fall outside the top ten picks.
"The Titans could get one of the steals of the draft," Kiper wrote. "Levis is a little bit of a gunslinger, but he hasn't come close to his ceiling. He is my second-ranked passer in this class. With the right infrastructure around him, he is going to thrive."