Brendan Sorsby was supposed to be the next quarterback at Texas Tech. After making the College Football Playoff but losing their first game to Oregon, the Red Raiders targeted Cincinnati transfer and second-team All-Big 12 member Sorsby to be their next quarterback. Originally a three-star recruit from Texas, Sorsby began his collegiate career at Indiana, redshirting in 2022 before putting together a promising debut season for the Hoosiers.

Sorsby transferred to Cincinnati in 2024, earning honorable mention All-Big 12 recognition with 2,813 passing yards and 18 touchdowns to seven interceptions, completing 64.0 percent of his passes and adding 447 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. That became 2,800 passing yards and 27 touchdowns to five interceptions in 2025, completing 61.6 percent of his passes with 580 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, earning the aforementioned second-team All-Big 12 nod. Though he was getting some NFL buzz, he chose to return to college and enter the transfer portal rather than declaring for the draft.

All set to lead Texas Tech as one of the top teams in the country coming into the season, Sorsby’s career had a wrench thrown into it with the revelation that he’d placed thousands of individual sports bets during his time at both Indiana and Cincinnati. He wagered on both college and professional sports, including Indiana football while he was on the team. The NCAA has ruled him ineligible going forward, throwing his future into some uncertainty.

Sorsby’s Legal Case

Sports betting is treated incredibly seriously by the NCAA regardless, but wagering on your own team is considered the cardinal sin of collegiate sports in their eyes and those who do face permanent loss of eligibility. Once reports came out that he’d wagered on his own team (often in the form of prop bets), the NCAA ruled him immediately ineligible and suspended his remaining year of eligibility.

Sorsby appealed this ruling and the NCAA once again denied him, so it’s now going through the Lubbock County District Court (Texas Tech’s district). The crux of Sorsby’s defense is that his bets were placed as the result of mental health and addiction issues, something that the NCAA is supposed to support him through as outlined by their own bylaws, and that by denying his eligibility, they are failing this charge. On the other hand, the NCAA is arguing that his challenges did not excuse his gambling, especially on the scale Sorsby is guilty of.

In truth, the scope of Sorsby’s betting can’t be understated. Between his time at Indiana and Cincinnati, he placed over $90,000 and has continued to bet on professional sports since transferring to Texas Tech. While at Indiana, he placed over 2,900 individual bets, including over 40 on his own Indiana football team, at least 50 on Indiana men’s basketball, and about 300 on college football games in general.

These bets were placed by accounts in his own name as well as friends’ and family members’ names. Sorsby sent over $65,000 to some of his friends over a four-year span to make those wagers. Evidence collected by the NCAA suggests that he did not wager on any Indiana football games after he began seeing the field for the Hoosiers and he did not bet on Cincinnati athletics while he was there.

The NCAA’s attorney argues that, if allowed to play in 2026, Sorsby would be the first major American athlete to bet on his own sport and not face consequences. Sorsby’s attorneys argue that he’s facing “irreparable harm” if he’s not reinstated, though the NCAA pushes back on this given he’s been playing college football this whole time despite being ineligible back in 2022 due to gambling violations previously unknown.

The looming deadline here is June 22, the final date for Sorsby to declare for the supplemental NFL draft. Sorsby’s attorneys have requested a ruling by June 15 to allow him time to enter the supplemental draft, should he not be ruled eligible for college football. Most legal experts and sports analysts agree it’s unlikely Sorsby will be cleared to play, so he’ll most likely be entering the supplemental draft.

What Is The Supplemental Draft?

Simply put, the supplemental draft is for anyone who isn’t eligible for the main NFL draft in April. In recent years, this has mostly been used by players facing similar situations to Sorsby: ruled ineligible by the NCAA for one reason or another after the conclusion of the main NFL draft. Rather than wait a year, they declare for the supplemental draft.

The supplemental draft functions very differently than the regular one. It’s essentially a blind bidding system — to select a player, a team will use a pick in the following draft, and the highest pick wins the player. For example, say one team submitted their third-round pick and another their second-round pick for Sorsby. The team that submitted the higher pick would be granted Sorsby at the cost of that pick, meaning they would no longer have it in 2027. If no team submitted a pick for Sorsby, he would go undrafted and be free to sign with any team, just like an undrafted free agent.

In recent years, the NFL has outright canceled the supplemental draft for no players applied to it. But historically, some greats have come through it. The most recent pick in the supplemental draft was Washington State S Jalen Thompson in 2019. The Cardinals used a fifth-round pick on him and he’s carved out a nice career. In 2018, Western Michigan CB Sam Beal and Virginia Tech CB Adonis Alexander were selected with third- and sixth-round picks, respectively.

Cris Carter is the best player to come out of the supplemental draft in league history, while more recently, Terrelle Pryor and Josh Gordon are some standouts. There hasn’t been a pick in the supplemental draft since Thompson in 2019. Should Sorsby declare, he would likely add to that number.

Sorsby’s Scouting Report

A 6-3, 235-pound redshirt senior, Sorsby’s biggest strength is his arm. He can really throw it on a rope, hitting receivers in stride 50 yards downfield and make it look effortless. Once he gets to the league, he’ll have an above-average arm right away, and his tape is littered with throws that other quarterbacks simply can’t make. It’s more than just raw arm strength with him, though, as he’s comfortable layering throws over the middle and has plenty of touch on his passes when the situation calls for it. At times, he’s demonstrated the ability to play with anticipation, throwing his receivers open before they come out of their breaks.

As a rusher, Sorsby is a dynamic threat. He’s fast enough to run away from defensive linemen and even make defensive backs work to catch up. He navigates the pocket well, dodging traffic and keeping plays alive with his legs. When he’s given time, he can work through progressions and has decent footwork, maintaining his base as the play extends. Sorsby is unafraid to stand in and take a hit to make a throw, with some big plays through pressure on his resume.

Sorsby’s mechanics become wildly inconsistent under pressure, and his accuracy gets erratic and unreliable. He can’t keep his base solid when facing pressure, and he’s jumpy even when the pocket is clean. Way too often, he’s bailing from the pocket prematurely, tucking and running when he had a nice play developing downfield. As a result, he often leaves yardage on the table by not properly reading his progressions or the defense. Sorsby’s ability to read and diagnose defenses, especially coverages, is underdeveloped — something he’ll need to work on next year, whether that’s in college or the pros.

I ranked my top 10 quarterback prospects in my summer scouting article a few weeks ago, and Sorsby just missed the list as my QB11. I wasn’t a big fan of his last year, and he doesn’t have any new tape since then. I see his upside, but there’s a long way to go to see it realized on an NFL football field. Right now, his weaknesses play right into the sorts of things that doom quarterbacks jumping from college to the NFL.

Most likely, Sorsby will be declaring for the supplemental draft in a few weeks. If he does, he’s almost guaranteed to be selected, but I don’t think it’ll be a terribly high pick. Perhaps a desperate team like the Cardinals would give up a third, but it’s looking like a deep quarterback class next year, and I don’t know who they’d be bidding against. Quarterbacks are always in high demand, but most teams have already set their plans at that position in motion and either have young players they want to play or are holding out for next offseason.

Either way, Sorsby possesses an intriguing skillset that has upside in the league. He’s likely to have at least a few teams willing to burn a late-round pick — perhaps more — on the chance that he can become something.