Brendan Sorsby's 2025 season at Cincinnati produced one of the most efficient quarterback PBP profiles in the country — 97th-percentile EPA per dropback, 98th-percentile rushing success rate, 36 total touchdowns. Then the NCAA ruled him ineligible over a gambling history, a Texas court issued a temporary injunction, and the whole sequence ended with Sorsby filing for the 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft instead of suiting up for Texas Tech.
The raw production is hard to argue with. At Cincinnati in 2025, Sorsby completed 206 of 335 passes for 2,786 yards and 26 touchdowns against just five interceptions, then added 580 rushing yards and nine more scores on the ground. The Big 12 noticed — he earned All-Big 12 honors — and the advanced numbers backed it up at every level. A 97th-percentile average depth of target (15.2 yards) means he wasn't just dumping the ball into the flat to inflate completion rate; he was pushing the ball downfield and making it work.
The dual-threat element is real, not decorative. A 98th-percentile rushing success rate and 95th-percentile EPA per carry show that when Sorsby took off, he was consistently gaining the necessary yardage and generating positive expected value — not just scrambling to avoid sacks. The 97th-percentile sack rate (he was almost never sacked) tells the same story: he processes quickly, escapes cleanly, and either gets rid of the ball or turns a collapsing pocket into a designed run.
The 2026 forward stake is no longer a college season. Sorsby enrolled at Texas Tech intending to play for the Red Raiders, but with the NCAA's gambling-eligibility ruling standing and a June 22 Supplemental Draft deadline creating an either/or forcing function, he filed for the NFL draft. The football case is legitimate — CBS Sports and Fox Sports scouting reports pegged him as a potential mid-round talent. The question NFL teams will price into every grade is whether a player who placed more than 9,000 bets totaling at least $90,000 while enrolled across three programs, and who completed an inpatient gambling-addiction treatment program, presents a manageable risk profile. His draft position in June 2026 will answer that question directly.
How he plays
Sorsby plays with the patience of a quarterback who trusts his arm to bail him out of tight windows. The defining number is the 97th-percentile EPA per dropback — he was one of the four most efficient quarterbacks in the country by that measure in 2025, in a real conference, against real pass rushers. The 97th-percentile average depth of target (15.2 yards) situates him in the same stratum as the nation's most aggressive vertical throwers, and a 90th-percentile explosive pass rate confirms those deep shots were connecting at an above-average clip, not just getting launched. On the ground, a 98th-percentile rushing success rate and 96th-percentile rushing touchdown rate mean his legs are a genuine weapon, not a last resort. The 97th-percentile sack rate is the quiet tell: this is a quarterback who sees the field, decides fast, and almost never takes a negative play.
