Is It Crazy To Think That Trinidad Chambliss Getting His 6th Year Waiver Denied By The NCAA Is a Blessing In Disguise For Him When You Think About His NFL Draft Stock?

CFP. Getty Images.

Let's get something out in the open here. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a professional football scout. I did not go to football film school class like Steven Cheah. I can only lean on my eyes to evaluate a guy playing football and then dissect the stats that follow. So when I watch the college football season unfold and witness a QB like Trinidad Chambliss light up some of the best teams in the country in succession, I'm instantly captivated. 

The day after the Rebels' loss to Miami in the CFP semifinals, Trinidad Chambliss was denied his waiver for a sixth year of eligibility, preventing him from returning to college next season for Ole Miss, barring an appeal. This was initially viewed as bad news for everyone at Ole Miss and the quarterback himself, but I'm sitting here thinking this is a blessing in disguise for Trinidad. Still very bad for Ole Miss who now have no QB for next year, with very few left in the portal. 

The immediate point people bring up that would encourage Chambliss to return to Ole Miss is that he'd make more money in college next year than he would in the NFL. The report is he signed a deal to return in excess of $5M for next season. That's great. There's no longer that crazy risk of staying another year in school because of the money being thrown around. But I guess what I'm asking is why can't Chambliss sneak in the back end of the first round in the upcoming draft? Is it that crazy? Sure, Mendoza and Moore highlight the QB class, but that's really it. Did anyone watch Ty Simpson this year in big games? I wouldn't touch that guy with anything but a Day 3 pick. Beck will be there, but I'm not in love with him, even if he showed some big time balls in the semifinal game. If Chambliss is a tail end 1st rounder or even a 2nd round pick I think the money is plenty worth it to come out. Tyler Shough was a 2nd rounder and snagged himself a full guaranteed $10.8M deal and a $5M signing bonus. That's life-changing money for a guy who was playing at Ferris State last year, no offense to them.

So why are people skeptical of Chambliss? For starters he's played one year of D1 football after being at Ferris State for four years, one of which where he was the full season starter. That's not exactly the most experience in the world playing competitive college football. NFL teams typically want 25 starts from you in college to trust what you bring to the table. You don't have that with Chambliss. Fair point. 

He's listed at 6'1" which we have to suspect is realistically 6'0" or even a smidge below. People get terrified of short QBs in the league, even though he's not THAT small. 

Chambliss is 23 years old and will be 24 by next NFL season. Could he be younger? Sure, but if he waited another year that narrative only gets worse. I'm dismissing the age thing. 

These are mostly valid points, but I think it's much more worth it to enter the draft now. Why?  

-Weak QB class. Stack this dude up with everyone after Mendoza and Moore and there's not much he doesn't have on them. 

-He finished the season on fire under the national spotlight. Strike while the iron is hot! This was the best Ole Miss season ever, you have no idea how it's going to go next year without Lane and likely less talent with the portal opening up. 

-If you get hurt next year in college you might not even get drafted at all. Everything you built over the last few months gets completely wiped away. It's a gamble I don't see worth it. 

Also? He's fucking awesome. The Georgia game was an actual masterpiece. The amount of plays were incredible. I couldn't look away. 

Last night he played with more structure, which is obviously what you want to see. Great that he can use his legs to extend plays, but GMs want to see you stand in the pocket, go through progressions, and deliver. He was nails doing that last night. 

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And yes, there were a couple balls thrown that Miami should have picked off. That's a great fucking defense. Still, when it mattered late Chambliss was borderline unconscious. Even the last ball where there was blatant DPI on I thought was a great throw. 

I know guys slip through the cracks all the time, but how the hell did this dude have zero FBS D1 offers coming out of high school? He wasn't even the starter to begin the year at Ole Miss. 

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NFL teams love to panic and go quarterback happy in the first round of the draft. With this being a pretty weak class depth wise, is it really that crazy that Chambliss sneaks into the back end of the first round or an early Day 2 guy? I know for a fact he's going to blow GMs away during the interview process and I think his stock is only going to rise from here. If you're a team like the Falcons, Dolphins, Vikings or Cardinals and you need a QB but don't have a top 2 pick, why isn't Chambliss a guy you're looking at? It not a first round pick then definitely second. Not going back to school is 100% the right move for this kid. I think it's gonna work out really well for him.