Brendan Sorsby plans to enter NFL supplemental draft as Texas Tech exit becomes official
After a Texas judge cleared him to play and the Big 12 pushed back, the dual-threat quarterback is dropping his NCAA fight and turning pro before the June 22 deadline.
What was a hypothetical a month ago is now a plan. Brendan Sorsby intends to apply for the NFL supplemental draft, his attorney confirmed, ending a tangled eligibility fight that ran through a Texas courtroom and into a federal lawsuit. Texas Tech has said the quarterback will not play for the program in 2026, and Sorsby's camp is moving to withdraw the NCAA case that briefly made him eligible for the college season. When we wrote about this scenario on May 19, the June 22 supplemental draft deadline was a marker on a speculative timeline. That deadline is now the date Sorsby is racing toward.
How did the situation become official?
On June 8, a Texas judge granted Sorsby a temporary injunction that cleared him to play college football in 2026 despite the NCAA's earlier refusal to reinstate him. The reprieve did not last. On June 12, the Big 12 filed a federal lawsuit, and members of the conference pushed back, with statements from four state attorneys general adding to the pressure. Facing the prospect of further legal battles and the risk of another NCAA denial, Sorsby's side decided to change course. His attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, confirmed plans to withdraw the NCAA lawsuit, which would make Sorsby ineligible again under NCAA rules but eligible for the NFL supplemental draft. Texas Tech announced that Sorsby would not play for the team in 2026, and board chairman Cody Campbell described the supplemental draft as the only viable and fair path forward.
What is the gambling violation at the center of this?
The NCAA found that Sorsby placed more than 9,000 bets totaling at least $90,000 on professional and college sports over a four-year span. Among those wagers were at least 40 bets on Indiana football games during his freshman season in 2022, when he was on the roster there. After law enforcement uncovered the betting, Sorsby completed a 35-day inpatient rehabilitation program for gambling addiction. The NCAA denied his reinstatement request in May 2026, setting up the legal fight that has played out over the past several weeks. In a statement, Sorsby said he was grateful for support from his family, his Texas Tech coaching staff, teammates and the community who encouraged him to address and learn more about the issue. He is not the first college player to reach the NFL after a gambling case, with former Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers and former LSU receiver Kayshon Boutte among recent examples.
How does the supplemental draft work, and what is Sorsby worth?
The NFL supplemental draft is a separate process for players who become available after the regular April draft. The league uses a weighted lottery based on the prior season's records to set the order, and teams submit bids in specific rounds. If more than one team bids in the same round, the highest-seeded team wins the player, and the winning team forfeits its pick in the equivalent round of the next year's regular draft. Teams can only bid in rounds where they still hold a pick. As for Sorsby's value, multiple executives told ESPN they viewed him as worth a second-round supplemental selection, and one AFC executive said he would have been a late first-round pick in a traditional draft. His 2025 season backs up the interest: 2,800 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, an 81.5 QBR that ranked 11th in the FBS, plus 616 rushing yards and 9 rushing scores.
Which teams could be interested?
ESPN identified eight teams as potential suitors, all of them facing quarterback uncertainty or in the market for a developmental option: the Cardinals, Browns, Jets, Dolphins, Falcons, Steelers, Colts and Vikings. Sorsby's appeal is rooted in his dual-threat profile and arm talent, with evaluators citing easy throwing ability, good athleticism and the capacity to make plays off-schedule. He has not arrived as a finished product, but the upside is real for a quarterback who would have ranked among the top of his college class. Sorsby played at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech before his departure, and in previous draft projections he had been rated as high as the third-best quarterback in the 2027 class behind Arch Manning and Dante Moore. The June 22 deadline now decides how quickly that projection turns into an NFL roster spot.
Players in this story
Sources
- ESPN: QB Brendan Sorsby plans to apply for NFL supplemental draft
- ESPN: Brendan Sorsby to the NFL supplemental draft: What to know
