Week 3 Scouting Notebook: Trinidad Chambliss delivers, Emmanuel Oyebadejo emerges and more

By Jack Brentnall

Week 3 delivered a heavyweight top-10 clash in the SEC, a handful of standout individual performances and fresh evidence both for and against some of the class’s most-discussed names.

Here is what stood out from the Week 3 tape.

Trinidad Chambliss keeps dealing

The stage could hardly have been bigger for Trinidad Chambliss.

A top-10 matchup against LSU and the return of Lane Kiffin to Oxford. Chambliss responded by completing 33 of 48 passes for 363 yards and two touchdowns in a 32-24 win. The box score was certainly impressive, and the tape lived up to the hype too.

Chambliss’ game is characterised by a real sense of aggressiveness and that showed up in this game. He trusted his arm, threw with anticipation and repeatedly attacked tight windows rather than waiting for receivers to come open. There’s certainly an element of risk to the way he plays, but his willingness to try difficult throws paired with the arm talent and confidence in his placement allow him to get away with some unbelievable throws.

His work under pressure was equally encouraging. Chambliss was prepared to stand in and deliver with defenders bearing down on him, while his mobility remained a useful complement rather than a crutch.

It was not a flawless outing. His ball placement wandered on several throws and there were moments when the aggression tipped into recklessness. That, coupled with his stature, will have some doubting him, but through three weeks, Chambliss has done as much as anyone to improve his 2027 NFL Draft stock.

LaNorris Sellers' passing concerns are getting harder to excuse

There has never been much doubt about LaNorris Sellers’ physical talent. He is huge, powerful and an exceptional athlete. At some point, however, the evaluation has to move beyond what Sellers could become and focus on the quarterback he actually is.

South Carolina’s 41-34 defeat to Mississippi State felt like another missed opportunity. His first of two interceptions was emblematic of that. Sellers appeared locked into his intended target before the snap, continued staring him down after it and delivered the ball directly towards a defender dropping underneath the route.

It was not an isolated incident. Mississippi State repeatedly disguised their coverage pre-snap and Sellers clearly struggled when the picture changed. There were numerous reps where he launched balls without properly confirming what the defense was doing and put it in harm’s way. He finished the game with a pair of turnovers, but was very lucky not to have several more.

The offensive line was admittedly not perfect, but in this game Sellers was pressured on just 14.7% of his dropbacks. It is becoming increasingly difficult to use the environment around him to explain away the issues.

Sellers remains capable of spectacular plays because of his combination of arm talent, size and athleticism. But the processing problems have persisted across multiple seasons without enough visible progress.

Three games into 2026, the question is becoming less about when that development will arrive and more about whether this is simply the passer Sellers is.

Keyjuan Brown and Kendrick Raphael steal the show

Louisville’s 41-31 win over SMU produced one of the most entertaining running back battles of the weekend, with Keyjuan Brown and Kendrick Raphael combining for 360 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

Brown was devastating with his opportunities. The Louisville senior needed just 10 carries to produce 163 yards and two touchdowns, breaking off scoring runs of 58 and 53 yards while forcing seven missed tackles.

The obvious question is volume. Brown has only 18 carries through three games as he competes with Isaac Brown and quarterback Lincoln Kienholz for opportunities in Louisville’s rushing attack. What he has done with those touches, though, is difficult to ignore. Eight of his runs have gained at least 10 yards, and Saturday was another reminder of his ability to turn limited opportunities into explosive plays.

Raphael was almost as impressive on the other side. After transferring from Cal to SMU during the offseason, he has quickly established himself in the Mustangs’ backfield. He rushed for 75 yards on 12 carries against Florida State in Week 1 before exploding for 197 yards and three touchdowns on 24 attempts against Louisville.

At 5’11” and 201 pounds, Raphael is not an imposing back, but his play strength consistently exceeds what the frame might suggest. He runs with conviction, embraces contact and showed against Louisville that he can handle volume as well as create explosive plays. Both players deserve considerably more attention.

Emmanuel Oyebadejo's raw tools are difficult to ignore

Florida’s 44-39 win at Auburn could scarcely have gone better for Emmanuel Oyebadejo.

The 6’6″, 299-pound defensive lineman finished with three sacks and six pressures across just 37 defensive snaps, despite entering the weekend as a game-time decision because of an ankle injury. Eighteen of those snaps came aligned on the edge, a rare deployment for a player carrying almost 300 pounds.

There is still plenty of rawness to Oyebadejo’s game, though that should not be surprising. He played basketball in England until he was 18 and only began playing football at the University of Exeter in 2023, before moving stateside to play for Jacksonville State and now Florida.

You can see that relative inexperience on tape. His pad level fluctuates and while he will try and work a range of moves, there is a clear lack of polish in actually executing and sequencing them. And yet, in this game, that didn’t seem to matter too much.

Oyebadejo’s combination of size, length and movement skills consistently allowed him to overwhelm blockers even when his technique was imperfect. His punch carries legitimate force, he showed the ability to run directly through a tackle for one sack and finished another with a nicely executed club-swim. Just as importantly, there is relentless effort to his game. He continues chasing plays when his initial rush stalls and his physical tools give him unusual range for a player of his size.

It will be interesting to watch Oyebadejo’s development over the rest of the season, particularly as the Gators now move into conference play. If he can continue to make an impact like this he is a name we will be talking about a lot more.

Shadre Hurst and A.J. Holmes Jr. trade wins

One of Week 3’s better individual trench battles came in Houston’s narrow 28-26 defeat against Texas Tech.

Shadre Hurst entered the game with a significant reputation after establishing himself as one of college football’s better interior offensive linemen at Tulane. Opposite him was A.J. Holmes Jr., a 6’3″, 300-pound Texas Tech defensive lineman with the explosiveness and power to provide Hurst with a genuine test.

Both had their moments. Holmes repeatedly found ways into Hurst’s chest as a pass rusher. His initial quickness is his calling card, but what stood out was his ability to combine that burst with leverage and power.

Hurst, meanwhile, continued to show why his movement skills are such an attractive part of his profile. His light feet were a real asset against an athletic Texas Tech front and he showed great balance to mirror smoothly in pass protection.

That mobility translated into the run game too. He showed the range to seal defenders on reach blocks before climbing into space to engage second-level targets.

It was not a dominant outing for either player, but in what looked to be one of the tougher tests on each of their respective seasons, both players showed flashes of their potential that will have NFL evaluators intrigued.

JACK BRENTNALL

HEAD OF NFL DRAFT CONTENT

Previously the founder of The Jet Sweep, Jack joined The Touchdown as head of Draft Content in 2024. A Scouting Academy alumnus, Jack has been Covering the NFL Draft since 2020. Follow him on Twitter @Jack_Brentnall.

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