It seems inevitable that it’s going to happen. It’s just a question of “when.”

In case you couldn’t tell by that vague lede, I’m referring to players being given the ability to transfer once and gain immediate eligibility. The Big Ten already proposed the idea, and it doesn’t seem like something that Power 5 athletic directors will be able to avoid as the revenue generated by the sport increases.

Right now, it’s murky at best in terms of which undergraduate transfers receive a waiver for immediate eligibility. If you’re a high-profile quarterback who hires Thomas Mars, chances are, you’re good. If you’re a tight end who wants to go closer to home to play close to your sick grandparent, chances are, you’re in trouble.

So, that got me thinking.

If I could play genie and grant former transfers immediate eligibility after they joined the SEC, who would I pick? This isn’t necessarily a list of the best transfers of all-time.

If that were the case, I would’ve obviously had someone like Cam Newton on this list. While selfishly, we all would have loved another year of Newton on the field, I’d argue stealing laptops and being forced to transfer doesn’t exactly make him the ideal candidate to go back and open a door for.

That’s why I focused on guys who, in my opinion, got a raw deal. These guys either had new coaches come in, or their current coaches didn’t give them the time of day they deserved. In most of these scenarios, circumstances outside of their control led to them transferring and being forced to redshirt a year because of NCAA rules.

Not anymore. Genie Connor is retroactively giving these 5 former SEC players immediate eligibility:

1. Ryan Mallett, Michigan to Arkansas

Remember that time when Rich Rodriguez looked at the 6-7, 5-star quarterback sitting on his roster and was like “Nah, get me Tate Forcier to run the spread.” Um, no wonder Rodriguez averaged 5 wins in 3 seasons in Ann Arbor. Mallett was the classic case of a guy who probably wished he could have gone through his experience 10 years later because in 2020, there’s no doubt a high-profile transfer like him would get to play immediately.

The irony is that Mallett actually went to Arkansas to play a variation of the spread. The difference was that Bobby Petrino was willing to work with the strong-armed quarterback. That 2008 Arkansas team really could have used Mallett, too. The first year of the post-Darren McFadden/Felix Jones era resulted in a 5-win season with Casey Dick leading the No. 91 scoring offense.

Mallett eventually got to start as a redshirt sophomore, and the rest is history. He earned 2nd-team All-SEC honors in consecutive years for a Razorback offense that fueled a 10-win season in 2010.

2. Jarrett Stidham, Baylor to Auburn

The fact that those Baylor players couldn’t get immediate eligibility everywhere following the shocking investigation of sexual abuse within the football program was baffling. Sure, that would have actually taken the NCAA going on a case-by-case basis to determine which players were responsible for that in order to decide who was worthy of immediate eligibility, but man, what a wild set of circumstances for a true freshman like Stidham to talk into.

Technically, he didn’t actually redshirt in 2016 because he spent a semester at McLennan College, where he didn’t even play on the team. But that’s essentially what it was — a redshirt. Who knows what the market for Stidham would have been in 2016 because all of this went down that offseason after 2015. Everyone knew he wouldn’t be able to play in 2016.

But in a perfect world, Stidham would have transferred to Auburn immediately and played on a 2016 team that went to a Sugar Bowl despite the fact that it was a complete disaster at quarterback. It didn’t matter that the former 4-star recruit wasn’t a scheme fit for Gus Malzahn’s offense. He would have started on that team immediately. Perhaps he could have even been the final piece to the puzzle, which it felt like he was in 2017 when Auburn was a win away from the Playoff.

Stidham’s up-and-down Auburn career still included a win against Alabama, an SEC West crown and an 18-9 mark as a starter.

3. Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Illinois to Vanderbilt

In 2016, I was in Chicago for Big Ten Media Days and I remember asking Vaughn and first-year Illinois coach Lovie Smith about him being (by far) the youngest player representative there. He was just a sophomore. The response was more or less “yeah, that’s how good we think this kid is.”

In 2019, I was in Hoover for SEC Media Days and I remember asking Vaughn why after he had 40 carries for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns just 3 games into that 2016 season, Smith demoted him to 3rd-string and gave him 20 carries the rest of the season.

“To this day, I can’t answer that,” Vaughn said back in July. “I still don’t know. I haven’t found out yet. Just like talking to my mom, she helped me get through that. Not knowing why was my biggest issue.”

So why did it make sense for the former 4-star recruit to sit a year at Vanderbilt? I can’t answer that, either.

The frustrating thing for Vandy was that while 2017 team had all-time leading rusher Ralph Webb, the ground game was stuck in the mud with a weak offensive line. It could have desperately used a big-play guy like Vaughn who could completely flip the script on a defense.

Vaughn eventually got his due playing for his hometown team, and he even made the surprising decision to return for his senior year in 2019. Still, that guy should’ve absolutely been able to bounce without penalty after the non-communication he had with a new coach at Illinois.

4. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Indiana to Ole Miss

Ah, the law firm. Green-Ellis’ case was typical of most transfers during the 21st century. A new coach came in and he wanted out.

(I know this doesn’t fully apply this situation because it was with a fired coach, but one day we’ll look back on the hypocrisy that existed between big-revenue college athletics and coaches being paid millions who talked about loyalty and whatnot, yet they’re the ones who left while squashing the desire to let players transfer without penalty.)

Gerry DiNardo’s firing after the 2004 season prompted Green-Ellis, who led Indiana in rushing as a freshman and as a sophomore, to get back to his Southern roots and leave Bloomington for Oxford. A certain Ed Orgeron could have used Green-Ellis in his first year at Ole Miss when he posted a 3-win season.

He did make his presence felt in the SEC by posting consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, the first of which earned him a first-team all-conference honor. Not many running backs can say they racked up over 4,000 scrimmage yards in college. By the time Green-Ellis’ college career was over, he did that as well as rack up a whopping 920 carries. Somehow, he added over 1,000 NFL carries to that after he went undrafted in 2008.

5. Jarvis Jones, USC to Georgia

Jones’ case was unique because it wasn’t an issue of playing time or a new coach, though Lane Kiffin did take over in 2010. Jones left USC because after he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in spring of his sophomore year, the team doctors wouldn’t clear him to play. Jones bolted for his home-state team, and was ultimately given the go-ahead from the Georgia doctors.

But because of NCAA transfer rules, he had to sit out the 2010 season … which ended up being the worst of the Mark Richt era with just 6 wins.

Even though that team had tackling machines Akeem Dent and Justin Houston, Jones’ ceiling was higher than both. We saw that when he was eligible to play in 2011. All Jones did in his 2 years on Georgia’s active roster was earn consensus All-American honors twice, win the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and take home the Jack Lambert Trophy.

Jones was an easy selection for the SEC All-Decade Defense even though the redshirt limited him to just 2 years in the conference. It’s a shame that his career was cut short because of injuries, and it’s also a shame that he essentially had a year of his football prime wasted because of the NCAA’s outdated transfer rule.

Sadly, he’s far from alone in that department.