Byrum Brown was playing for more than just a win against the Rebels. A strong win over Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss would have done for him what one game recently did for Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker.
ESPN polled 25 NFL scouts and executives on who would be the first quarterback taken in the 2027 NFL draft. Mestemaker got 17 votes, the most in three years, after getting zero in August.
What changed for him? The 317 passing yards and two touchdowns in the win over Oregon, where the Cowboys were three-score underdogs. Not to forget that Mestemaker ran for 75 yards and a touchdown as well and completely outplayed Oregon's Dante Moore.
That just shows how fast an NFL scout's view of a player can change.
It's a star-studded 2027 quarterback draft class that will be filled with players like Chambliss, Mestemaker, Sam Leavitt, and Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez. If Brown had a dominant game, like a 350-yard day with four passing touchdowns and no interceptions, it might have been enough to spike Brown up the draft boards. But he didn't; he looked terrible out there and was under pressure seemingly every time he took the snap.
Brown already has what NFL scouts want on and off the field, with his leadership qualities and his control of the huddle. He has a beautiful spiral on every deep ball he throws, and that should have been on full display today.
Ole Miss was one of the worst in the SEC against the deep ball, and it was exposed with players like DeShawn Spencer stepping up in the absence of Jeremiah Koger. Spencer made a few big plays for this offense when Auburn needed it most, but he was ultimately smothered afterward and was unable to make plays.
Byrum Brown could go undrafted by the NFL in 2027
There were moments in the game when Brown had clean pockets to throw out of, and he still couldn't make the throw. Then there were so many times the offensive line was just unable to block anyone, allowing the Ole Miss pass rush to wreak havoc in the backfield.
A single game won't make anyone a first-round pick, and Mestemaker's rise also heavily leaned on his size and arm talent.
But continuous bad games against ranked opponents could be the reason that a player isn't selected in the draft at all.
Nobody wants to see Brown go unselected in the upcoming 2027 NFL Draft, but if he continues to struggle going down the stretch, it may become a reality for him.
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