Behind the Steel Curtain
Hey, have you heard that the Steelers are one of the quarterback-neediest teams in the NFL? Really? You have?!
I’m being facetious, of course. The Steelers’ lack of a long-term quarterback is not a new subject of discussion. In fact, it’s been the main — and sometimes only — thing that national media coverage of the team has discussed ever since future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger walked off the field at Arrowhead Stadium in January of 2022.
So it should come as no surprise that when embattled college quarterback Brendan Sorsby announced he was submitting his name for the NFL Supplemental Draft, the NFL content machine started whirring to hypothetically pair him with every team with questions about their signal caller, Pittsburgh included. That’s roughly a quarter of the league that could make a case for selecting Sorsby.
For the Steelers, the question looms on whether a fit with Sorsby makes sense. This article’s headline tips my hand on how I would answer that question, but the team is allegedly doing its homework on him, as they should. If he ultimately passes their sniff test, it’s still fair to wonder if they even have a realistic shot at acquiring him, given the presumed interest around the league.
With this article, we’ll look at the situation that landed Sorsby in this position, take a brief look at the history of the supplemental draft, explain how it works, and then try to determine if Sorsby’s play thus far is worth the risk.
Sorsby’s predicament has been one of the top stories in American sports for nearly two months now, but if you aren’t a follower of college sports, I’ll try to catch you up as quickly as possible.
Following a pair of promising seasons at Cincinnati, Sorsby was one of the prizes of the Transfer Portal this winter. The native Texan ultimately signed with Texas Tech, a team known for a strong, supportive base of boosters and one hoping to build on a season that saw them reach the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
All that came crashing down on April 27, when Sorsby announced he would be checking himself into a residential rehab center for a gambling addiction. That same day, news broke that he was the subject of an NCAA investigation centered on bets he allegedly made on Indiana football in 2022, while he was on the team, but not on any games he played in.
Reporting by the Associated Press later revealed that Sorsby bet roughly $90,000 during his time in college. When he got to Cincinnati, Sorsby continued to place bets, but no longer used accounts under his name, instead sharing with an account with a friend. While Sorsby didn’t place any bets on Cincinnati, he placed nearly $60,000 in bets between December 2023 and June of last year. Since transferring to Texas Tech, located in a state where online gambling remains illegal, Sorsby has transferred roughly $5,000 to others in states...
