Before we get swept up in the Brendan Sorsby supplemental draft fervor, allow me to remind you of three absolute truisms of the NFL.
One: The list of NFL teams that have “fixed” a quarterback with a pronounced flaw in some way, shape or form is shorter than a baby Pomeranian. We dismiss quarterbacks for being too small. For having a hitch in their throwing motion. For having poor footwork. For throwing deep too often. For throwing deep not often enough. For panicking against the rush. For being too quiet. For being too loud. For studying too much and overcomplicating things. For not studying enough. And, minus the precious, precious few who wind up in a perfect system with an able offensive line and a genius coordinator who will go on to be the head coach somewhere else, these quarterbacks disappear into the ecosystem. While that doesn’t change the perpetual hubris of these coaches, whose immense self-confidence led them to the peak Alpha job in American employment and, thus, the belief that they could turn Tim Tebow into Philip Rivers, the receipts suggest the Quixotic errand this often becomes.
Two: Teams are still in the very nascent stages of managing players with issues related to both addiction and mental health, and balancing those concerns with the frantic and cutthroat pace of a hypercompetitive environment that prioritizes availability and blind dedication over fixing one’s self.
Three: This is especially true of teams that don’t already have good quarterbacks! I mean, come on people! I am seeing the Sorsby landing spot posts include the Cardinals, a team whose only good quarterbacks over the past quarter century were Carson Palmer and Kurt Warner, who were both already good before they got there; the Jets, whose only good quarterback over the past decade was Ryan Fitzpatrick (already good); and the Browns, who traded their only good quarterback of the past 20 years for Deshaun Watson. Are these teams going to overcome collective centuries of futility at the position for this?
Some draft analysts have Sorsby as low as QB6 in the 2027 draft, assuming every quarterback we think might declare actually does (Texas coach Steve Sarkisian recently laid the groundwork for Arch Manning to return for an additional season in 2027). There is a spirited argument to be had as to whether he would have been selected higher than Ty Simpson by the Rams (which I imagine he would not have, given the history and relationship between the Simpson family and the Rams’ organization). There are other reporters, citing scouting projections, and analysts who believe Sorsby is a late-round prospect in most drafts, and that a more formal pro day and scouting experience will bear out some of the on-field flaws to weigh alongside the undeniable fact that Sorsby has wagered nearly $100,000 on college football games via proxies.
The NFL moves at a frantic pace. Even a quarterback like J.J. McCarthy, who was schooled under a Harbaugh in an NFL-adjacent college program and spent the entire first year of his career backpacking behind Sam Darnold and alongside the revered Kevin O’Connell, appeared woefully overmatched by the moment during his first stint as an NFL starter. I don’t mean this to lean into hopelessness, but I want to ensure that anyone who believes Sorsby is a legitimate option beyond an offseason pipe dream for a barren franchise understands the proper hurdles ahead.
Sorsby has to kick an addiction, which, anyone who knows or loves someone who has dealt with addictive behavior knows the battle extends far beyond a 30-day outpatient program. Sorsby has to maintain focus and grow into an NFL-caliber quarterback during what I imagine will be an NFL suspension (much like Terrelle Pryor’s circumstances in entering the NFL draft were stemming from an NCAA issue, which forced a penalty at the next level). And after all of this, he will have to possess the trustworthiness and leadership abilities commensurate with the most important position in American sports. In essence, he will have to, time and time again, prove that there are no nefarious motivations behind an interception on the field and a 100% commitment to football off the field.
Which flies against the main reason why I’ve seen such an obsession with Sorsby in the first place. Front offices remain obsessed with the value of rookie quarterback contracts. Affordable, cost-controlled talent at the quarterback position is the driver of most immediate growth in the NFL and is the quickest path to building a balanced roster with talent at every position. Of course, this is assuming that Sorsby is available, willing, able to prove he is not the person he once was and so damn good at his job that teams will eventually forget about the reason he became available in the supplemental draft to begin with.
The NFL is not an instructional league. I’ve said this ad nauseum, but quarterbacks coaches aren’t there to coach quarterbacks. They are there to serve the offensive coordinator and contribute to the scheme. Head coaches are not there to mentor young men. They are there to make a million microscopic decisions on a day-to-day basis that often tug them in a comical number of directions. Even player development specialists and team counselors have only so much bandwidth for a gargantuan roster full of diverse people and issues—some of them more pressing and, let’s be honest, more in need of immediate attention and concern than someone who has bet on college football games in which he appeared.
Sorsby should be chosen in the supplemental draft, but not by the teams that are routinely a part of this conversation. He should be an option for the Buccaneers—a team with a long-tenured general manager, a very good offensive line and a track record of facilitating unique circumstances. He should be an option for the Eagles, an exemplary organization with a head coach uniquely in a CEO role who is able to be more involved in the emotional lives of his players. He should be an option for the Lions and the all-flaws-accepted Dan Campbell or the Colts because Indianapolis specifically has a phenomenal track record of helping players who are struggling with compulsive behaviors or issues related to mental health. That is a legacy left behind by the late Jim Irsay that a team should be proud of in situations like this.
What Sorsby should not be is an immediate answer for some floundering team. He should not be a quick fix for a team that was not skilled enough to develop a quarterback on its own. This is not a plot twist that has real-world implications in the next calendar year. This is signing up for a project and committing to the idea of doing something that the NFL rarely makes time for—total, actual and real rehabilitation.
