I don't know Trotter personally. He always seemed level headed and not prone to being emotional like Moseley showed last year. Still not sure that first quote was emotional, or just thinking out loud.
I don't know how the QB race went, but would find it difficult to believe that Malzahn was constantly chirping at Trotter about losing his job. Can't imagine any coach thinking that's the best motivation for a QB.
By the time Trotter was benched we were all screaming for it...INCLUDING ME, even though I'm the one that always harps about "There's a reason the starter is the starter, and the back up is the back up". And we found out exactly that with Moseley. Bad as Trotter was, Moseley was worse. Fact is, the OL play, what we all are sure now were attitude problems with Dyer, and Blake being injured contributed greatly to sub par QB play, though I can say this for certain, Moseley isn't an SEC QB under the best of circumstances. Trotter? We'll never know for sure, but the Bowl game showed he's ok when he gets protection and has a big play WR.
As for the NFL, I'd have thought he'd have played his Sr. year if he really and truly entertained such aspirations. I don't think he does, but I guess he'll work out for some teams, see if someone is really hard up for a #3 QB, and see if he can get paid a little money for a year or 2 until he has to make it in the real world. As stated above, stranger things have happened. Maybe he winds up playing Areana ball for a bit, or worst case, he has to get a job.