With the deadline for entry into the NFL’s supplemental draft approaching, Brendan Sorsby‘s efforts to resolve the matter of his college eligibility proceed. The most recent development on this saga is a legal one.
Sorsby’s legal team has filed an injunction in Lubbock County, Texas, as detailed by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. A hearing for June 15 has been requested in order that a ruling will be made in time for June 22. The latter date represents the deadline for players (most notably Sorsby) to enter the supplemental draft.
On condition that short timeframe, an expedited resolution on the matter of Sorsby’s 2026 eligibility is being sought out. His legal team has long expected a rejection on that front, resulting in the injunction as an anticipated next step. A press release from Texas Tech said the varsity plans to “quickly initiate the reinstatement process” for Sorsby, who included a signed affidavit within the court filing and worked out an “agreed-upon stipulation of facts” between himself, Texas Tech and the NCAA.
“The relief [being sought] is narrow: one student-athlete and one senior season,” the court filing reads partly. “The NCAA will suffer no cognizable harm from letting Mr. Sorsby play football while this case proceeds. But when this Court doesn’t act, no future judgment can provide Mr. Sorsby what the NCAA could have taken from him.”
The filing also states that Sorsby – who transferred to the Red Raiders and signed a lucrative NIL deal along the best way – offered to simply accept a two-game suspension to start the 2026 campaign provided he was reinstated for his senior campaign. The highly-touted quarterback is prone to face a far steeper punishment given the NCAA’s rules related to gambling. Sorsby admitted to placing small wagers on Indiana to win games during his redshirt freshman season. The wagers weren’t placed on any contests through which Sorsby played, and the filing claims the betting stopped in 2022.
Sorsby stipulated to creating several other bets in recent times on non-football events, resulting in the expectation he won’t be reinstated by the NCAA. In that event, attention will turn to the matter of the supplemental draft. The low-profile event occurs on an as-needed basis for players not eligible to play in college, and Sorsby would represent essentially the most noteworthy player collaborating within the event in several years.
The 2027 QB draft class is predicted to be led by Texas’ Arch Manning and Oregon’s Dante Moore, but several other passers are viewed as having a robust likelihood of being chosen in the primary round. On that note, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports Sorsby is widely seen as a top-50 prospect ahead of the 2026 season. Multiple evaluators Howe spoke with indicated Sorsby can have been drafted higher than Ty Simpson – who went thirteenth overall last month – had he been within the 2026 class.
Recent editions of the supplemental draft have come and gone without players being taken. Teams often prefer to retain their draft capital for the principal event in April fairly than losing it in the summertime through the auction-style supplemental version. Sorsby could after all represent an exception, though, if teams view him as a starting-caliber passer at the professional level. The timeline along which clarity emerges on this case will likely be value watching closely.