Blaine Gabbert enters 2011 NFL Draft

“This is definitely a bittersweet day for me, I was really looking forward to having a chance to do some special things next season with my teammates, but in the end, this is the right decision to make for myself and my family,” Gabbert said in the release. “These last three years have been an unbelievable experience for me, and I’ll miss being at Mizzou, but I’m definitely looking forward to this next stage of my life. I’m so grateful to have been part of such a great program and all of the people who have helped me get to this point, and now I have to take what I’ve learned, and build on that for the next level. I’ll always be a Tiger, and I look forward to watching the guys do big things in the future,” he said.

This season, Gabbert threw for 3,186 yards and 16 touchdowns. In an incredibly promising Insight Bowl against Iowa, he completed 41 of 57 passes for 434 yards and a touchdown. A late interception returned for a touchdown eventually lost the game for Missouri.

Coincidentally, ESPN’s Todd McShay had the Arizona Cardinals selecting Gabbert fifth overall in his latest mock draft.