Dan Orlovsky expects Brendan Sorsby to hear his name in the fourth round of the NFL supplemental draft, after Sorsby’s official departure from Texas Tech and the aftermath of a controversial two-game suspension tied to gambling on live college football.
Brendan Sorsby’s football story is moving toward the NFL—yet the first thing Dan Orlovsky brought up wasn’t playmaking or preparation. It was value.
Orlovsky, a former NFL quarterback now working with ESPN, posted on X—formerly Twitter—that he would “imagine someone will use a fourth round pick on him.” The comment came as Sorsby prepares for what’s next after his official departure from Texas Tech.
This is a quarterback whose college path didn’t come without friction. Sorsby first received a controversial two-game suspension for gambling on live college football games. The situation did not end his season entirely: a Lubbock judge ruled in his favor by barring the NCAA from preventing Sorsby from playing. That decision helped set the stage for the two-game suspension, but it also still allowed Sorsby to play in 2026.
The legal and institutional pressure that followed was intense. The Big 12 applied pressure on Texas Tech amid the Sorsby controversy, filing a massive 47-page complaint directed at Texas Tech and Sorsby, including threatening sanctions.
The critique didn’t stay confined to conference offices. Colorado head coach Deion Sanders also blasted the quarterback on ESPN, pushing hard on the basic idea of competition integrity. “Somebody’s gambling on a sport they’re playing?. You don’t think something’s wrong with that?” Sanders ranted. “Just say that to yourself: This guy on my team is gambling on the sport. in the competition. that we’re about to go out there and have. Something’s wrong with that.”.
Even with that noise hanging over him. the timing of Sorsby’s next step is clear: he can start his NFL career early through the supplemental draft route. Sorsby brings four seasons of collegiate playing experience at both Indiana and Cincinnati. The pro prospects scouts will point to the most recent stretch—he “thrived” through Cincinnati—and he’s coming off a career-best 27 touchdowns with five interceptions.
Orlovsky’s fourth-round projection lands at the center of the debate already forming around Sorsby. Many scouts, even with his production, will still bring up his gambling habits when weighing him for that supplemental opportunity. The potential deal may be near. but the question of what the NFL is willing to look past—and what it won’t—is now right there for everyone to see.
Brendan Sorsby Dan Orlovsky NFL supplemental draft Texas Tech Big 12 Deion Sanders gambling suspension 27 touchdowns 5 interceptions