Alabama's Bryce Young has long been the clear favorite to go No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, but the race tightened -- at least from Las Vegas' perspective -- this week as Kentucky's Will Levis jumped from +1600 to +550 on Caesars Sportsbook as of Tuesday. The possible source of Levis' rise is as confounding as his habit to put mayonnaise in coffee: Reddit.
In a thread on reddit.com/r/sportsbook, one user claimed Levis was telling his family and friends the Carolina Panthers will select him No. 1 overall in Thursday's first round. The user didn't support their claim with any evidence, but the betting market didn't seem to need any as Levis' odds to go No. 1 shifted dramatically within hours.
When asked about the rumor on Wednesday, Levis seemed to have some fun with his response.
Will Levis on the Reddit rumor that he had told family he would be Panthers’ pick: “I don’t want to speak on it too much. But just don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.”
— Joe Person (@josephperson) April 26, 2023
Young is still the resounding favorite to go No. 1 overall, with Ohio State's C.J. Stroud and Florida's Anthony Richardson also in the mix. Stroud and Richardson were +2000 and +3500, respectively, as of Tuesday.
All the speculation and hearsay surrounding Levis and the Panthers' choice at No. 1 will come to an end when the 2023 NFL Draft opens on Thursday. The first round will kick off at 8 p.m. ET and is available to watch on ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network.
