PFF’s preseason SEC quarterback rankings put Auburn transfer Byrum Brown at No. 1 with a 91.5 grade, and that’s where the list starts to lose the plot.
Brown is a gifted quarterback and the numbers back that up. At USF, he posted 3,000 passing yards, more than 1,000 rushing yards, 28 total passing touchdowns and 14 rushing scores. That kind of production is rare anywhere in college football.
But the issue isn’t whether Brown can play. It’s what those numbers mean in context.
He put up that season against American Conference defenses, not the SEC’s weekly grind. Tulane was the highest-ranked team in the final AP Top 25 Poll, landing at No. 18 after falling to Ole Miss 41-10 in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
That’s why Trinidad Chambliss belongs at the top of any SEC conversation. The Ole Miss star finished as the SEC Newcomer of the Year after throwing for 3,937 yards and 22 touchdowns with only three interceptions, then adding 527 rushing yards and eight more scores. He did it in the SEC, a league with a reputation for producing the nation’s toughest defenses, and he still helped lead the Rebels to a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance.
Chambliss’ 2025 season was loaded across the board. He led the SEC in passing yards, ranked fourth in America in big-time throws and finished top five nationally in QBR.
That’s what makes the ranking so hard to justify. PFF’s system rewards raw production, but it doesn’t fully account for things like injuries, role changes or the level of competition.
In this case, that flaw matters. Calling it an SEC quarterback ranking while putting Brown at No. 1 for a season he played entirely in the American Conference makes the premise feel off from the jump.
It’s also worth noting that Brown hasn’t taken a snap for Auburn yet. So when the list is framed as a conference ranking, the top spot belongs to a player who hasn’t actually produced in that conference.
Other rankings have seen it differently. Josh Pate’s preseason poll and CBS Sports both had Chambliss at or near the top of the SEC, a reflection of both his production and the level he did it against.
PFF may be grading the stat line, but in an SEC ranking, the context is the whole point.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Is Fighting LSU For A QB Decision That Could Matter Big
The quarterback chase for Ole Miss has reached a familiar kind of finish line, with one of the sports more coveted passing prospects weighing a list that includes Oregon, LSU, Tennessee, Michigan, Florida and the Rebels. A commitment here would matter beyond the usual recruiting buzz, because adding a quarterback of this caliber would give Ole Miss a major early boost in its 2028 class and help keep momentum in a cycle where every elite signal-caller can tilt the picture for years.
LSU is in the mix as well, which gives this one added edge for Ole Miss fans who know how often the Rebels and Tigers end up circling the same targets. The decision is expected soon, and the next step will come through the Rivals YouTube Channel, leaving both programs waiting to see which staff lands the kind of quarterback choice that can reshape a class and ripple far beyond one recruiting weekend. [Read more 🡒]
Kirk Herbstreit Just Put Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss In The Spotlight
Kirk Herbstreit has put a national spotlight on Trinidad Chambliss, and for Ole Miss, it is the kind of attention that follows a quarterback who has already traveled an unusual road. Chambliss started at Division II Ferris State, helped deliver a national championship there, then transferred to Oxford and took over as the Rebels starter after Austin Simmons was injured, turning a sudden opening into one of the seasons most compelling storylines.
What followed only strengthened the case for how far Chambliss has come. Ole Miss finished the regular season 11-1, won a College Football Playoff game and added a Sugar Bowl victory, and now the quarterback is set to return for one more season after a successful court case against the NCAA. Herbstreits remark only adds to the intrigue around what Chambliss might mean for the Rebels next, even if the conversation around his rise is still just beginning. [Read more 🡒]