Brendan Sorsby gives Texas Tech, Big 12 gift with NFL supplemental draft decision

Viewed by many as the top quarterback in the transfer portal, Sorsby completed 61.6 percent of his passes for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 580 rushing yards for the Cincinnati Bearcats a season ago. His arrival at Texas Tech, which won its first Big 12 championship and made the College Football Playoff last season, made the program a bona fide national title contender for 2026.

Sorsby's draft declaration puts the Red Raiders in a bind, with backup Will Hammond rehabbing from a torn ACL and uncertain for Week 1. Lloyd Jones and Holden Phillips, both 2025 freshmen, combined for six pass attempts last season, while Kirk Francis, a transfer from Tulsa, had three touchdowns and four interceptions in three games before being benched. The team also added three-star freshman Stephen Cannon during the 2026 high-school recruiting cycle.

As rough as the quarterback situation is, if Texas Tech had gone through with starting Sorsby, it would have been a massive, self-imposed black eye with potentially significant repercussions. Programs including Georgia and Nebraska threatened not to play the university in any sport, and that movement may have grown with Sorsby in the lineup.

The saga threatened to consume the Big 12 this season, but by heading to the supplemental draft, Sorsby saved his brief home and former conference the headache of prolonged controversy. Texas Tech still looks plenty bad for its handling of the situation, but at least now it can start its own rehabilitation.