Will Levis or Hendon Hooker? Depends on whether you look at Heisman or draft rankings.

There will be no love lost between the Kentucky and Tennessee fans in the Neyland Stadium stands for the No. 19 Wildcats’ matchup with the No. 3 Volunteers on Saturday, but do not expect that animosity to carry over to the two teams’ quarterbacks.

Kentucky’s Will Levis and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker formed a friendship in the summer while participating in the Manning Passing Academy.

“He’s a great person,” Levis said of Hooker this week. “You can see why his guys rally around him. He’s a great leader. Most importantly, he’s a dang-good quarterback. He throws an accurate ball. He makes all the throws, he can beat you with his feet. It’s been great to go out there and see him kill it this year.”

It would be easy to understand why there might be tension between the two quarterbacks.

They lead border rival programs both competing for the same SEC East crown. Their status as two of the top draft-eligible quarterbacks has led to plenty of debate between fans about which quarterback is better.

Hooker’s stats are undeniably superior.

He ranks fifth nationally in total offensive yards per game (344) and has thrown 18 touchdowns with just one interception. Boosted by his team’s undefeated record and upset of Alabama, Hooker is listed second among the leading Heisman Trophy candidates by Las Vegas odds-makers.

“He’s very accurate with deep passes,” Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops said of Hooker. “He’s accurate with all the passes, but in particular you see that many guys going down the field that far, generally quarterbacks are missing some of those.”

But statistics alone do not tell the whole story.

Levis is widely projected as the better NFL Draft prospect.

ESPN ranks Levis as the No. 7 prospect in the 2023 draft class. In recent weeks ESPN’s most prominent draft analyst, Mel Kiper Jr., has hyped the possibility that Levis might be selected with the No. 1 pick in April.

While Hooker’s draft stock has improved with his stellar season, only one of ESPN’s draft analysts ranks him among the top five quarterbacks available.

The difference in perception has much to do with current production versus future projection.

Levis has frequently been compared to Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen as a draft prospect thanks to his immense physical gifts and room for growth after just two years as a college starter.

It’s not like Levis’s college stats are bad either. He has completed 69.5% of his passes for 1,635 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions while playing behind a rebuilt offensive line that has struggled to protect him this season.

Kentucky’s pro-style offense with its methodical pace of play does not lend itself to the same type of video game numbers Tennessee’s scheme produces, but it could actually be a plus for Levis in the draft process.

“It’s a huge deal,” said UK offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, who spent the last five years in the NFL on the staffs of the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. “Knowing the guys who I’ve talked to and knowing the why and having done every draft for the past five years, I know how it works and I know it’s hard for people to evaluate spread quarterbacks in college in the NFL. There’s a learning curve of things that’s too long to list for a guy that does make it harder for those guys.

“Not to say they haven’t (succeeded). Patrick Mahomes is great, a generational player, but he also sat for a year and it was helpful. That’s the difference. Will will be ready-made day one. He’ll walk in and he’ll own it. He can call a play and visualize it. He knows protections, he knows the run game, he knows coverages, he knows fronts, he knows it all. … In the big picture it’s why he will be one of the first guys picked.”

Draft projections and Heisman Trophy lists will matter little on Saturday. Neither Levis nor Hooker will play a role in stopping the other.

That won’t prevent fans from carrying on their debate about which quarterback is better though. Whoever wins the rivalry contest will be able to add a strong argument to his case.

Then they can go back to enjoying the mutual respect that comes from what Hooker called the worldwide quarterback community.

“I wish him all the success in the world,” Levis said. “Just not when he’s playing us.”

Saturday

No. 19 Kentucky at No. 3 Tennessee

When: 7 p.m.

TV: ESPN

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 5-2 (2-2 SEC), Tennessee 7-0 (3-0)

Series: Tennessee leads 82-26-9

Last meeting: Tennessee won 45-42 on Nov. 6, 2021, in Lexington

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