Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss led the Rebels on the program’s best-ever season, just missing out on a spot in the national championship game when the No. 6 Rebels lost to the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl.
Chambliss took over the Rebels’ starting job after QB1 Austin Simmons got injured early in the season. Chambliss has stolen headlines after the NCAA denied his waiver for an extra season of college football, leading him to hire renowned lawyer Tom Mars to represent him, and he filed a lawsuit against the organization.
CFB Insider Gives Update on Trinidad Chambliss Lawsuit and NFL Draft Status
During an appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday, ESPN reporter Pete Thamel gave an update about Chambliss’s ongoing lawsuit against the NCAA.
“Trinidad Chambliss’ lawyer Tom Mars and a local attorney who founded Ole Miss’s collective are expected to file either tomorrow or next week for an injunction to help secure his eligibility for 2026,” Thamel said. “It’d be remarkable for college football if he’s there and that’s gonna be up to an NCAA appeal or the courts in Mississippi.”
After Moore’s withdrawal, the top two quarterback prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft class include Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Alabama Crimson Tide star Ty Simpson.
Thamel also gave a blunt assessment of Chambliss’s draft stock in the 2026 class, which has a dearth of quarterback talent after Dante Moore opted to return to college football.
“Chambliss is a fascinating draft case,” Thamel said. “He’s a third-fourth round type pick. There’s probably seven teams that really need QBs right now. Once you get past Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson, there’s probably a really big gap on where you’d go. It’s an interesting crossroads for Chambliss.”
“He would certainly make more money in college next year than he would in the NFL. If he has another season like he had, he’d be in a good position in the 2027 draft, but the ’27 draft could be historically loaded with quarterbacks. You have Arch and Dante Moore. It’s expected to be a once-in-a-decade depth QB class.”
Mars has teamed up with Mississippi attorney William Liston, who is the founder of ‘The Grove Collective,’ which represents Rebels’ student-athletes, to file a lawsuit in a Mississippi court on Chambliss’s behalf.
Chambliss’ Lawyer Will File More Detailed Lawsuit Against NCAA
Chambliss’s basis for seeking a sixth year stems from redshirting the 2021 season and missing the 2022 season due to persistent respiratory issues while playing for Ferris State, leading to a 91-page document submitted in the waiver that was denied by the NCAA last week.
In a statement released this week, Mars revealed that the lawsuit filed against the NCAA would be more thorough, following the organization’s detailed lack of sufficient medical evidence in the waiver that was thrown out last week.
“We expect the lawsuit to be far more detailed and documented than other eligibility lawsuits that have been filed in the past year,” Mars said in a statement to the media. “Therefore, considerable work needs to be done before we’ll be prepared to seek an injunction that would allow Trinidad to play next season.”
Chambliss tallied 3,937 passing yards, resulting in 22 touchdowns and three interceptions, while adding 527 rushing yards and eight interceptions for the Rebels this season, earning a PFSN College QB Impact OFFI score of 85.
