Posted on: June 15, 2026, 09:49h.
Last updated on: June 15, 2026, 09:49h.
- Decision comes amid ongoing legal wrangling over Texas Tech quarterback’s college eligibility
- Sorsby has been treated for a gambling addiction
- Last week, Sorsby had been granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA opening the door for a resumption of his college career
Embattled college quarterback Brendan Sorsby is heading to the NFL Supplemental Draft, according to multiple news reports Monday evening.
$90,000 in Wagers
According to reporting by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the quarterback “could be the highest-drafted supplemental pick in decades.”
It’s the latest chapter in legal wrangling over Sorsby’s efforts to resume his college football career after being declared ineligible by the NCAA because of gambling allegations. On Monday (June 8) of last week, a U.S. District Court granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA allowing the Texas Tech quarterback to rejoin the team and prepare for the 2026 season.
Temporary Injunction
Sorsby wagered over $90,000 during his college career at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech, over different sportsbooks, according to documents obtained by ESPN, including gambling on his own team when Sorsby was redshirting with the Indiana Hoosiers.
Under NCAA rules, student-athletes are forbidden to bet on any NCAA-sanctioned sports, college or professional, and face permanent loss of eligibility if the individual is found to have bet on their own team, or on teams in different sports from the same school.
Sorsby admitted he broke NCAA rules, but added he never bet on a game that he played in.
Big 12 Lawsuit
Members of Texas Tech’s administration came out in support of the quarterback, but today, the Big 12 filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas against Texas Tech and the Texas Attorney General to use its bylaws to sanction Sorsby, after several athletic directors came out last week against Texas Tech, opposing the U.S. District Court injunction.
The lawsuit sought, “a declaratory judgment that the First Amendment protects the Conference’s right to invoke its authority under its Bylaws to sanction [Texas Tech] related to its handling of the sports betting activity discussed in this Complaint, including if TTU fields a student-athlete in Big 12 competitions who has engaged in collegiate sports betting activity,” according to ESPN reporting.
The Big 12 Board of Directors met today, and the NCAA filed an emergency motion to stay the temporary injunction granted to Sorsby.
NCAA Files Motion
“The Big 12 has long spoken out about the dangers of sports wagering and remains committed to protecting the competitive integrity of conference competition. Universities should not field players who have bet on their own team’s games in college athletics,” said a statement from the Big 12 Board of Directors, reported in On3.
Sorsby had just completed a 35-day inpatient gambling rehabilitation program, in the hopes of re-starting his NCAA career.
Texas Tech had a lot riding on Sorsby playing for the team this year. Sorsby wasn’t just another transfer quarterback last fall. He was a top target in the offseason transfer portal, one of the most expensive transfer acquisitions in the NIL era.
Top 5 Quarterback
His statistics from last season while at Cincinnati backed that up – throwing for roughly 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns, with only five interceptions. Plus Sorsby can run, with over 1,300 career rushing yards in college, making him a legitimate dual-threat quarterback.
Sorsby was reportedly being paid $5 million to play quarterback for Texas Tech this season, expected to lead them to contention for a national championship.
The NFL Supplemental Draft is in July. Many prognosticators had Sorsby down as a Top 5 quarterback to be selected in the 2027 NFL Draft.
NFL Supplemental Draft in July
The supplemental draft is for players whose college eligibility status has changed (disciplinary suspensions, academic issues, transfers).
If a team takes a player in the 2026 supplemental draft it loses that corresponding pick in the 2027 college draft.
Teams can choose to use a pick that it already traded for as well. The supplemental draft lottery is set by lottery.
Due Diligence Work on Sorsby
The New York Jets, for example, own three first-round picks in 2027 – their own (top tier, since they won fewer than six games last season), and two they acquired in trades with the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts (both in the second tier), in the first round of the supplemental draft. And the Jets need quarterback depth.
The Cleveland Browns are reported to have put in some due diligence work on Sorsby.
“In terms of the situation he’s [put] himself in, we all know what that is,” Browns head coach Todd Monken told reporters last week. “He put himself in that situation, and we’ve seen in other sports players that have been banned for life from playing in professional sports.
QB Development Project
“But from my end of it, [it’s] kind of a tough angle to go down that road and think that’s going to be your franchise quarterback if he’s ever eligible to even play in the NFL.”
Most NFL experts compare Sorsby to a quarterback taken in the fourth or fifth round of the NFL Draft, a talented starter with upside but in need of development, unlike someone like the Vegas Raiders’ Fernando Mendoza, taken first overall in the NFL Draft in April, and possibly an NFL starter for next season.
Teams like the New Orleans Saints, Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams might take a shot at a college quarterback like Sorsby, with proven college production, experience in multiple offensive systems, and NFL-caliber size and arm strength.
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