Background
Brendan Sorsby, born in Denton, Texas and played high school football at Lake Dallas highschool in Corinth, Texas. While a Falcon, Sorsby played both baseball and football. Baseball seemed to be more for fun, as Sorsby focused mainly on football, even if it took him until later in his junior year to start. Waiting as long as he did, combined with a mediocre output on a mediocre team, meant Sorsby was nothing more than a developmental QB as a recruit. Ranked outside the top 1000 nationally, Sorsby committed to his only P4 offer, Indiana, because Josh Hoover, the soon to be Indiana starter, had decommitted from the Hoosiers right before signing day in favor of TCU. In Sorsby's first year in Bloomington, he only played in one game in garbage time against Penn State, but won the starting job the next year. Inconsistency plagued Sorsby, and he ended up losing and regaining that starting job that 2023 season. After Tom Allen's departure from the program, Sorsby looked for pastures anew and found himself a home at Cincinnati. Over his two years as a starter for the Bearcats, Sorsby showed significant improvement and finished his career there with a 62.9% completion percentage, 5,613 yards, 45 TDs, 1,027 rushing yards, 18 rushing TDs, and 12 interceptions. He became one of the most sought-after QBs in the portal and decided to play for the moneyed Texas Tech. Before he could ever take the field, Sorsby's admittance into rehab for a gambling addiction and further revelations on the extent of his gambling while a college athlete came to light. Rather than deal with the fallout and lengthy legal processes of determining his eligibility, Sorsby has entered the 2026 NFL supplemental draft.
Physical Attributes
Sorsby stands 6'3" and weighs in at 235 lbs. Most QBs coming into the NFL from college these days do not have the same level of heft Sorsby does, so you worry about them taking more of a beating than he will. Sorsby is a plus athlete; he will not break any records or outright run away from people, but he is at that Mahomes or Allen level of outright speed and acceleration. He is not the strongest runner, and struggles to get extra yards on contact. He has a very flexible arm and good throwing power. If he cleans up a bit mechanically, I could see a lot more unlocked in that department, though.
Data and Tape Analysis
If you are unfamiliar with my QB radar charts, you can find more information here
Many have heard of Sorsby as a potential first-round pick in the NFL draft in 2027, and others have heard of him as just a mediocre college QB. To some extent, both statements are accurate to varying degrees, and we will examine how.
Sorsby flashes nearly everything you want out of a modern QB. The Cincinnati scheme that was given to him by his coach Scott Satterfield had a surprising amount of pro-level concepts for a college team. It is difficult to project so many college QBs because there are almost no reads in the play, or maybe a simple one, then two, then run. Not for Sorsby, who consistently went from one to four on some plays. Sorsby rarely lined up under center, so will not have day one command of turning his back to the defense for play action, but his ability to read and dissect a defense is more pro-ready than most college QBs.
The decisions Sorsby made were generally very good, and his radar chart highlights that. A 1.8% turnover-worthy play rate and a 6% pressure to sack rate were truly outstanding numbers. Of the top 50 QBs in PFF Pass score, Sorsby had the fifth lowest turnover-worthy play rate, and in the top 50 of PFF Run score, Sorsby had the lowest pressure to sack rate. His ability to mitigate bad plays shows up all over the tape, as well as his avoidance of those situations to begin with. Though I have a minor concern about his ability to stand up to aggressive pressure like he saw in the Utah game.
As a runner, Sorsby is excellent. He has enough athleticism to run away from all but the most athletic front seven and has great ball carrier vision that allows him to find great holes to work through. As mentioned above, even with his size, Sorsby is not a powerful runner and may struggle to win extra yards, especially in sneak-type situations.
Yeah, yeah, I hear you say, "Can he throw the ball? " The answer is a resounding yes. Sorsby has an arm that allows him to throw off nearly any platform, and from any arm slot. There is a ton of flexibility in his arm, and while not Caleb Williams, the amount of torque he can put on a pass from any position is elite. Weirdly enough, that does not correspond with a howitzer of an arm, but it is plenty strong enough for the NFL.
It is obvious, though, what Sorsby's biggest downside is: his accuracy. I think his ability to throw off of any base has made him lazy on the fundamentals. He can lose himself a bit and become over-trusting of his arm, and in those moments are when he sprays. Most of his misses are long or over his receivers' heads. His deep throw accuracy is something I am wary of, and while he has all the tools to fix it, he needs to find more consistency in the ball's arc on any throw over 20 yards. It comes out flat, allowing less room for error, but others seem to come down with rain on the ball from touching the clouds.
Grade and Outlook
Sorsby is very much a developmental QB who needs a good amount of technique refinement to unlock his true potential, which is very high. A plus arm, college processing ability, and athleticism are enough to carry him, even if the inconsistent technique makes it hard to project just how he will work out. The nature of his to be or not to be suspension makes his rookie year a landmine, but based on the player right now, the tools are enough to make you squint and hope.
Grade: 5.5 (3rd Rounder)
P.S. If you want to see me talk more at length about Sorsby, more of my notes on him, his status outlook in the NFL, which teams should target him, and what they should give up for him, find my podcast on it here! It is just on YouTube and Spotify right now, but I will hopefully have it on all other platforms by the end of the night.
