There’s an adage that applies to any draft prospect, regardless of the sport.

You don’t go when you’re ready. You go when they’re ready to pay you. If they’re not ready, you’re not ready.

Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly clearly has a decision to make about his future. Unlike Matt Barkley a few years ago, who returned to USC despite being the projected No. 1 overall pick, slumped and dropped to the fourth round the following year, there’s no real wrong answer in Kelly’s case.

There are reasons he should and shouldn’t go.

Kelly’s 2016 NFL Draft stock isn’t so high that — barring injury, of course — returning to Ole Miss for his senior season and slumping could have a life-altering impact in the 2017 draft.

His measurables — Clemson listed him at 6-1, Ole Miss prefers 6-2 — aren’t likely to dramatically increase, either. He won’t be 6-5 with a laser-rocket arm regardless of when he leaves.

So in many ways, Chad Kelly will be in 2017 what we think he is in 2016.

However …

Returning to Ole Miss and throwing for 4,000 yards and 30-plus TDs, shattering school and conference records along the way while further distancing himself from the issues that led him to a second chance in Oxford, could vault him into first-round consideration in 2017.

Even without left tackle Laremy Tunsil and go-to security blanket Laquon Treadwell, it’s logical to pencil Kelly in for 3,500-plus yards and 20-plus TD throws.

He certainly will sling it often enough to chase those numbers.

Ole Miss threw more often than anybody in 2015. It won’t suddenly restructure its approach, not with Quincy Adeboyejo returning for his senior season, Damore’ea Stringfellow showing he can make plays (5 TD catches, 14 yards per reception) and stud recruit DeKaylin Metcalf on the way.

Ole Miss will have weapons in 2016, if not household draft names.

Will it have Kelly?

He’s been asked repeatedly, and he’s been consistently coy. Whereas Treadwell has told reporters he has nothing left to prove in college, Kelly has told reporters he thinks he can be even better next year but also “you never know” when asked about his plans.

This much we do know: Each year NFL teams reach in the draft for quarterbacks. There’s no other logical explanation for Christian Ponder to rise from absolute mediocrity at Florida State to the No. 12 overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, or Blaine Gabbert to go two picks earlier after throwing just 16 touchdowns as a junior at Missouri.

Kelly already has far exceeded anything those two draft busts did in college.

Will that influence his decision? Will he go? Should he go?

We’ll know those answers by Jan. 15, 2016, the deadline to decide.

If Kelly learns in the next month that enough NFL teams are ready to pay him, expect him to be ready to go, rendering any “should he” questions moot.