The ongoing NCAA investigation for his gambling scandal could lead to permanent banishment from college sports for Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby. But in such extreme scenarios, there are alternative ways to reach the pros. However, according to a CBS analyst, Sorsby’s path to the NFL looks uncertain, even via that route.

“What I can tell you about the NFL, there is the Supplemental Draft,” said CBS’s Jonathan Jones on Tuesday. “A lot of people don’t know much about it, weird things. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn’t. It typically takes place at some point in June. It is reserved for players who may or may not have been eligible for that April draft, but then all of a sudden they lose their eligibility in college, and they say, ‘Well, what do we do? Let’s try to go to the NFL via the Supplemental Draft.'”

For Sorsby to even be considered for a supplemental draft, he must first be ruled ineligible for the 2026 CFB season following his investigation involving bets placed on his own former team, Indiana, and other “thousands” of online bets. As he was on a spring roster and intended to play, he cannot simply “opt-in” to a pro draft now that the primary April draft has passed.

However, according to NFL eligibility rules, a player becomes eligible for the supplemental process only if they lose their college eligibility due to unforeseen circumstances (such as the current gambling investigation) after the regular draft deadline. So there’s a chance for the Red Raiders’ QB. But he must navigate two rigorous administrative processes.

To enter the supplemental draft, if Sorsby has to be ruled ineligible by the NCAA by June, he would have to apply to the NFL, and the league would have to approve him. This is where it gets tricky. The league office will review his petition on a case-by-case basis and has the authority to deny players who do not meet its character or conduct standards. Without this approval, he would likely have to wait for the traditional 2027 NFL Draft while potentially sitting out the entire 2026 season.

Jones echoed that sentiment, too, and suggested the path for Brendan Sorsby to reach the NFL this summer is narrow and filled with administrative “red tape” that hasn’t been cleared for a player in years.

“If he wanted to apply to the NFL for the supplemental draft, folks I talked to believe he would not be approved,” he said. “So the supplemental draft seems like an extremely unlikely pathway this summer. And here’s why: The NFL is obviously very hard on those who gamble on NFL games. If you are in the NFL and you do bet on your team, win or lose, you are banned a minimum of two years. That’s how seriously the league takes this.”

But if he clears every legal hurdle, a team still has to be willing to spend a 2027 draft pick on him. Since the supplemental draft uses a blind bidding system in which teams forfeit a corresponding pick in next year’s regular draft, the cost is high, and that’s a massive hurdle.

“The NFL gets to decide whether they allow him into the supplemental draft, and then a team has to determine whether they would take Brendan Sorsby with all of this happening,” stated Jones. “I had one high-ranking team executive tell me on Monday that [Sorsby] is, frankly, untouchable right now. So plenty more to figure out, but this idea that, ‘Oh, he can just bypass any sort of punishment and go to the NFL,’ that doesn’t seem like reality right now.”

Brendan Sorsby’s path to the pros is full of hurdles

Even if Brendan Sorsby follows this path, his career remains in jeopardy because, unlike players such as Terrelle Pryor, his situation involves gambling, a “thorny area” for the NFL. Therefore, the league may impose its own pro-level suspension, similar to Pryor’s five-game ban, even if the Texas Tech QB is drafted.

Then, the NFL has the right to cancel the supplemental draft if no “worthy” candidates apply. Further complicating Sorsby’s pro journey is the fact that the NFL isn’t obligated to hold a supplemental draft at all; the event hasn’t occurred since 2023 and was previously on hiatus from 2019 to 2022, meaning the opportunity may not even exist.

If the NFL denies his petition or no team bids on him, Sorsby might be forced to consider alternative paths, such as the UFL or junior college, to stay sharp for the 2027 draft cycle. Before his scandal, Sorsby was a highly touted prospect, often compared to top 2026 QBs like Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson.