Columbia, Mo. ? Missouri junior quarterback Blaine Gabbert has elected to make himself available for the NFL Draft.

Gabbert has started the past two years and is coming off a standout performance in the Insight Bowl, when he was 41-of-57 for 434 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Iowa.

“This is definitely a bittersweet day for me,” Gabbert said in a statement Monday. “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.

“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. “

Various early draft predictions have rated Gabbert as a first-round pick and the second-best at his position behind Andrew Luck of Stanford.