Coming into this season, University of Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was under an intense amount of pressure. His highly publicized legal battle to get one more year of collegiate eligibility is the top thing that many people first associate with his name.
The only way of getting around that of course, is to truly ball out. If Chambliss can just be that successful, on both an individual and a team level, his game will be the primary thing that people talk about with him.
He’s off to a good start this season, completing about 71% of his passes, for 1,222 yards and a rating of 156.3. He’s thrown eight touchdown passes against only three interceptions. Meanwhile Ole Miss is 3-1, and currently ranked #9 in the polls. Most importantly, Chambliss led the Rebels to a gloriously spiteful victory in the Lane Kiffin Melodrama Bowl, beating the #11 LSU Tigers 32-24 on Sept 19.
Chambliss brings a whole lot to the table, and he’s drawn very high praise from one of the program’s patriarchs, Eli Manning. The Rebels legend and two-time Super Bowl winner was asked if Chambliss has the potential to become a first round pick.
“He looks like it,” Manning responded in an exclusive with Ratings. “The ball comes out on time. He’s got a quick release. He’s extremely accurate. Has the ability to scramble and make plays. Quarterback runs, final plays. Quarterback runs getting out to the side, but he wants to stay in the pocket.
“He wants to throw the ball. Seems to have great command of the offense. Knows exactly where to go. I think you see a quarterback that throws it extremely accurate, can run and seems like to be a great leader, great person. Has a chance to have a lot of success at the next level.”
Chambliss could have maybe been a mid or late round pick this past April. However, coming back for a sixth year (he redshirted his first year, and did not play in his second, both of which were at FCS level Ferris State) seems to have paid off for him.
He’s now in the mix to be a potential first round pick, as he’s flying up draft boards, while also maintaining a solid day two floor at the same time.
Scouts love his accuracy, especially on the deep ball, as well as his strong arm, and ability to thrive under pressure. Manning struggled, however, when asked to come up with an accurate player comparison for Chambliss.
“Yeah, it’s hard,” the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft responded, when asked to player comp Chambliss.
“It’s hard to kind of put exactly who that comparison is, just because he does throw it so accurate, and whether it’s little bubble screens, whether it’s you know in breakers and slants, that quick release.
“It’s tough to have an exact comparison to who he is, but also the ability to run and to scramble and extend those plays. I don’t know if it’s a Lamar Jackson type of ability to kind of do all these different things, but it’s fun to watch him play.”
With all due respect to Manning, Lamar Jackson just does not sound very accurate on this one. Russell Wilson and/or Drew Brees seems like a lot more logical and natural comp.
Brees and Wilson faced the same scrutiny, coming out of college that Chambliss will, so the analogy holds.
The major knock against Chambliss is height; or lack thereof. Wilson and Brees showed that you can be a Hall of Fame level player, even if you’re not 6’1″ or taller. Brees was exactly 6 feet. Wilson was 5’10 and 5/8″. Chambliss is about 5’11 and 7/8″.
So those fears should all be allayed by now.
However, Chambliss is under-sized in another regard too. He can improve his draft stock a lot by hitting the weight room hard.
Also, by the time the next NFL season kicks off, he’ll be 25 years old, which could turn some teams off.
This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: NFL Draft stock report: buy- Trinidad Chambliss, QB Ole Miss