Following a shocking development last week that saw Brendan Sorsby maintain eligibility for the 2026 college season, the Texas Tech quarterback is now heading to the NFL. In line with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Sorsby is applying to enter the NFL Supplemental Draft.
The prospect had until next Monday to use for entry. To be eligible, a player’s college eligibility will need to have modified between the deadline for the standard draft and the deadline for the supplemental draft. With the deadline quickly approaching, Sorsby was facing the potential for missing out on this yr’s supplemental draft and losing out on eligibility for the 2026 NCAA season, culminating in today’s decision.
As Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports notes, there’s still no guarantee that Sorsby’s application is approved, especially because the legal process continues to play out. Senior NFL reporter Charles Robinson also recently mentioned that the NFL could theoretically deny the quarterback’s entrance into the draft and league. When discussing the merits of the supplemental draft, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com opined that the player would want to simply accept his ineligibility and withdraw his lawsuit before pivoting to the NFL. Indeed, Pelissero reports that Sorsby’s attorneys intend to withdraw the lawsuit, which should clear the best way for his supplemental draft eligibility.
Earlier this yr, Sorsby admitted to an in depth history of sports betting and entered a treatment facility for gambling addiction. The NCAA predictably ruled him permanently ineligible and denied Texas Tech’s subsequent reinstatement request, resulting in the player’s lawsuit against the association. For the reason that legal process wouldn’t be accomplished before the beginning of the 2026 collegiate season, Sorsby sought an injunction to revive his eligibility.
While the player was believed to have faced an uphill battle in achieving that injunction, he got his wish earlier this month. The NCAA naturally appealed that call, which further clouded the quarterback’s probabilities of suiting up for his senior season. The saga took one other turn earlier today. The Big 12 filed a lawsuit requesting “the court to bar Texas Tech and the state attorney general from stopping the league’s sanctioning of Texas Tech” if Sorsby played a snap next season (per Chris Vannini and Justin Williams of The Athletic).
Throughout this whole recent ordeal, the NFL Supplemental Draft still loomed, especially because the deadline to use ticked closer. If Sorsby’s application is accepted (and assuming he is chosen within the draft), he’ll effectively escape punishment from the NCAA.
While the quarterback’s decision to enter the NFL is sudden, Bleacher Report’s James Palmer says NFL teams have been doing work on Sorsby for some time in case this route got here to fruition. The Texas Tech product was among the many top positional prospects in next yr’s class, and there was a well-liked sentiment that a successful 2026 campaign would vault him into the primary round of the 2027 draft.
In his initial report, Pelissero suggested that Sorsby might be the highest-drafted supplemental pick in a long time, with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport recently suggesting that it might take a second-round pick to win the bid. Over the past 30 years, there have been three instances where teams committed second-round picks to supplemental draft picks: OT Mike Wahle (Packers, 1998), RB Tony Hollings (Texans, 2003), and WR Josh Gordon (Browns, 2012). The last time a team committed a first-round selection to a supplemental pick was 1992, when the Giants chosen Duke QB Dave Brown. As a reminder, the NFL team that submits the best draft pick wins the player’s rights and has to give up the equivalent selection in the next yr’s draft.
The NFL will only schedule a supplemental draft when there’s an approved list of eligible prospects. If Sorsby is approved, this may mark the primary draft since 2023, and he might be the primary player chosen since 2019. The draft traditionally takes place in July, and the intrigue of Sorsby’s addition means this actually won’t be the last we hear of it between from time to time.