Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s appeal to have his eligibility restored was denied by the NCAA on Friday, placing his future in college football in serious doubt.
A hearing for Sorsby’s lawsuit against the NCAA was held this week at the 99th District Court in Lubbock County, with no decision forthcoming from Judge Ken Curry.
Analyst Urges Browns to Pursue Brendan Sorsby
Sorsby was declared ineligible by the NCAA due to gambling on games involving his previous team, the Indiana Hoosiers, while he was redshirting. This was before he transferred to the Cincinnati Bearcats and then the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who lured the highly sought-after Sorsby to Lubbock via the transfer portal before his gambling addiction was revealed two months ago. Sorsby never bet on any games that he played in.
In the injunction filed by Sorsby’s attorneys against the NCAA, they seek to have the matter of the quarterback’s future resolved before June 15 due to the looming deadline to file for the NFL’s Supplemental Draft by June 22.
Browns analyst Anthony Lima suggested that the Cleveland Browns should pursue Sorsby and develop the Texas Tech prospect into their franchise quarterback.
“[Sorsby is a] much better prospect than anything the Browns have right now,” Lima wrote on X. “Imagine redshirting the first half of the season and developing under QB whisperer [Todd] Monken and THEN having a chance to draft Jeremiah Smith.”
Last season at Cincinnati, Sorsby posted an 88.2 QB Impact Score, which ranked No. 10 in the nation. He threw for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions, while also rushing for 580 yards and 9 scores on the ground.
If Sorsby enters the Supplemental Draft, teams would submit blind bids for his services. The team with the bid in the highest round with the highest pick acquires the player and forfeits the corresponding pick in the following NFL Draft. For example, a player selected in the first round of the Supplemental Draft would cost the team their first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Last year, the Browns started the season with Joe Flacco under center before the veteran was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals. Then, they turned to Dillon Gabriel, who suffered a concussion. Finally, Shedeur Sanders made his debut in November and remained the starter for the rest of the season.
Sanders finished with 1,400 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions while completing 56.6% of his passes. He added 169 rushing yards and 1 score on the ground. He earned a PFSN QB Impact score of 56.7, which ranked 40th in the league last year.
During an appearance on NFL Network this week, NFL analyst Cameron Wolfe revealed that the Browns’ QB battle is still wide open, with Sanders still having a shot to win the starting job against veteran Deshaun Watson.
“It’s actually pretty wide open,” Wolfe said. “I know there were a lot of early conversations about this is Deshaun Watson’s job to lose, but from what I understand, Shedeur Sanders has had a really strong last few weeks of OTAs. I’ve talked to people with the Browns who have said that Shedeur’s really impressed them; he is progressing really well.”
Sanders went a commendable 3-4 as a starter for the Browns, who proceeded to fire coach Kevin Stefanski after a woeful 5-12 finish to the season. Todd Monken was hired as Cleveland’s head coach, and it remains to be seen who he’ll start at quarterback.
