Albert Breer’s Takeaways: How NFL Teams Are Vetting Brendan Sorsby’s Character

The NFL summer is here, and we have our MMQB takeaways to send the players and coaches off, with some quick-hitters and a check-in with the NFLPA to accompany it …

Brendan Sorsby

The Brendan Sorsby story took another step last week. The now ex-Texas Tech quarterback has his application in for the NFL’s supplemental draft. His reps have asked the league for a timeline on his acceptance into the draft, then rules on when he can work out for and meet with teams ahead of a draft day that’s expected to land in late July.

Tentatively, the plan is for Sorsby to have his pro day the week following the Fourth of July at Carroll Senior High in Southlake, Texas. His hope is to sit down with teams and work out privately for those that ask—pending whatever rules the NFL sets for that.

And as I’ve continued to gather information on this unique situation, it’s become more and more clear that the interview process, which will obviously be truncated relative to what normally takes place before the April draft, will be vital to how that draft day goes. That said, teams have already started digging in, and in talking to a couple of them, one big key has been getting to the non-coaches who were around Sorsby at Indiana, Cincinnati and Tech.

That means speaking with former teammates, player development folks, strength coaches and sports psychologists, as well as those inside your own building that know him. The Vikings, for example, drafted two Cincinnati Bearcats—LB Jake Golday and C Gavin Gerhardt—and could ask those guys about Sorsby. Ditto for the Browns and fifth-round TE Joe Royer, or the Chiefs and fifth-round WR Cyrus Allen. All these guys can help fill in the blanks.

“The way I’d look at the gambling, I don’t really care if he’s suspended for part of this year so much,” said an AFC exec. “What I care about is, can I sleep good at night knowing it’s behind him? I know he went to rehab, but was that a reaction to getting caught or a real effort to get past it?”

“I want the context of it—was he sitting on the couch bored, a kid punching bets into his phone, or was this strategic and planned out and all that?” said another AFC exec. “If this is just a guy on his phone placing bets, that’s correctable. That’s not harming anyone else.”

So in an effort to figure that point out, I reached out to Sorsby’s agent, Ron Slavin, and Slavin was able to provide at least a little color on the findings of the NCAA investigation.

“The facts of Brendan Sorsby's case are clearly outlined in the NCAA’s report, and I would encourage anyone commenting on this situation to read it before drawing conclusions,” Slavin texted. “The NCAA specifically found there were no integrity-of-the-game concerns. Brendan never bet on a game in which he played. In fact, the only wagers involving his team occurred in 2022, when he was redshirting and had not yet appeared in a game. Those bets were simply on his team and teammates to succeed.

“Once Brendan began suiting up and participating in games, there were zero bets placed on his own team. The remainder of the wagers over the next three years involved other sports and were unrelated to college football. This was an 18-year-old kid who made a mistake from his dorm room. He has acknowledged that mistake, accepted responsibility and paid a significant price for it. Losing his final season of college football is a substantial punishment that will impact him for the rest of his life.

“We respect the NCAA’s process, but we also believe the facts matter. Anyone discussing Brendan's situation should take the time to review the report and understand what actually occurred rather than relying on assumptions or incomplete information.”

All this is going to get ramped up, and as we’ve said, there’s a pretty intriguing football player at the center of all this. He needs refinement, but he’s a big, loose athlete that, from an arm talent standpoint, I’ve heard compared to Patrick Mahomes, Caleb Williams and Zach Wilson. As for the overall package he brings as a prospect, I’ve had multiple high-end evaluators compare him to Jay Cutler, and Cutler was the 11th pick in the 2026 draft.

Which is to say Sorsby has a ton of potential—and plenty of questions, too, that’ll start getting answered more thoroughly soon.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are going to be one of the big stories of camp, and that will, of course, start with the status of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Coming off a torn ACL and LCL and a December surgery, Mahomes was already working in install periods, individuals and 7-on-7 through OTAs. He’s trending toward being fully cleared relatively soon, but I’d expect Kansas City to be judicious with him early in camp—because when you tell him to go, he’ll go.

Either way, he’s ahead of schedule, and that should set up for the Chiefs to have their three-time champion triggerman back in the saddle for Week 1 … at least, that’s the hope.

Which brings us to the rest of the team, and the interesting thing here, to me anyway, is how Kansas City is back to where it was three years ago after trading Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins. At that point, in 2022, with a cap that was top-heavy by design, it was on GM Brett Veach and his guys to augment with cost-controlled young talent, and they did it with Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Nick Bolton, George Karlaftis and Trent McDuffie, among others.

Now, four of those five guys are part of the “top-heavy” piece of the equation and McDuffie is the Hill portion of it—dealt away to give Veach more ammo to find cheaper labor. And the spring brought promise that he and Andy Reid might be pulling it off again.

• The defensive line looks significantly different—and deeper—than it did a year ago. Peter Woods and R Mason Thomas are trending toward having big roles, and Ashton Gillotte, a 2025 third-rounder, has shown the flexibility to play inside and outside, and even some at Sam (strong-side) linebacker.

• Obviously, there’s only so much you can see with an offensive line without the pads on, but Kingsley Suamataia, now in his third year, looks like he’s taking a job at guard, and second-year left tackle Josh Simmons’ talent has been apparent (though that part has never really been in question with him).

• The skill positions got a jolt with running back Kenneth Walker III coming aboard; his work ethic, practice habits and explosiveness stood out right away, and he showed promise to change the look of the group. Meanwhile, third-year man Xavier Worthy is bigger than he has been, looking capable of carrying a heavier load, something that could be key given Rashee Rice’s situation. And fifth-round rookies Cyrus Allen (a receiver who showed polish and ability to separate) and Emmett Johnson (an explosive, elusive, open-field weapon) flashed, too.

• The secondary has questions. But first-rounder Mansoor Delane looked the part before nicking his shoulder; he’s a big, long easy-mover for the position. L’Jarius Sneed returned in shape, and was one of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s favorites before leaving to get paid two years ago. There’s also a pool of young corners they like from which they need a guy or two to emerge.

Chiefs GM Brett Veach had a quietly busy offseason. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Put all that together, and between Gillotte, Thomas, Woods, Suamataia, Simmons, Worthy, Allen, Johnson and Delane, there’s the makings of another young layer of guys on the rise.

Four years ago, putting such a crew together was the precursor to consecutive Lombardi Trophies and three straight trips to the Super Bowl. Repeating that is obviously easier said than done. But it sure looks like the Chiefs are giving themselves a shot at it.

Jeffery Simmons

Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons’s extension with the Titans is incredibly well-deserved. I say that because last year, as I was making calls to put together my All-Pro team, there were few players at any position that were as unanimous a pick as Simmons was among the executives and coaches I talked to.

“He might be the best player I’ve watched all year,” said one AFC scouting director who studied him ahead of playing the Titans. “Everyone’s scheming to stop him,” said a scout on the Tennessee staff back then. “And he’s still killing everyone. It’s f---ing crazy.”

So yes, Simmons turns 29 next month. Yes, he has seven years of NFL mileage on his legs.

Doesn’t matter. He’s a force of nature, and recent history shows that guys at that position can hold up into their 30s. Aaron Donald was first-team All-Pro at 30 and 32 years old and made the Pro Bowl in an injury-shortened season at 31. Chris Jones just made his seventh Pro Bowl at 31, and was first-team All-Pro at 30 in 2024. And just the same as the Titans are betting Simmons will maintain his level of play, the Bengals just made a similar play on Dexter Lawrence, forking over the 10th pick for the 28-year-old.

It’s also worth noting what the reshaped regime has already gotten to see. Last year, in GM Mike Borgonzi’s front office’s first year, Simmons got his weight down from about 320 pounds to 305 and showed improved quickness, explosiveness and a maniacal commitment to taking care of his body. And new coach Robert Saleh and his staff have now had a couple months to see his work ethic and personal character, which have checked out.

The deal also firmly resets the defensive tackle market. Jones did a deal at $31.75 million per year two summers ago, and Lawrence just got a one-year, $28 million extension. Donald was also past the $30 million mark on his last contract (which was basically a tear-up of the previous contract). So things have lingered around that $30 million figure for a while—and this one pushes the market up past $35 million per year in new money.

The actual commitment from the team here to Simmons is $90 million over the next three years, and that’s making a statement on where they stand with him, given that the Titans had him under contract for the next two years for $44.173 million.

It’s also, clearly, very well-earned.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns are optimistic about their rookie class, and it goes beyond the top guys. And the hope, after the spring they just had, is that their double downs on two particular offensive positions will pay off in a very big way in big-time areas of need.

Obviously, Cleveland has high hopes for tackle Spencer Fano and receiver KC Concepcion—who the Browns took ninth and 24th overall, respectively. You wouldn’t take them where Andrew Berry did if you didn’t. But their positions were important enough that Berry, Todd Monken and Co. doubled back on them, taking Washington WR Denzel Boston with the 39th pick, then Florida OT Austin Barber at 86.

Both have already flashed.

With Boston, it’s been to the point where the Browns can’t see a reason why he shouldn’t be every bit as impactful as Concepcion, though he’s a very different style of player. Whereas Concepcion is the explosive, run-after-catch type, Boston is the big-bodied, outside-the-numbers genre. He’s already earned the trust of the team’s three quarterbacks, runs better than you’d expect of a guy his size and, coming out of the same college offense Tetairoa McMillan did a year ago, he has drawn internal comparison to the young Panthers star.

As for Barber, there’s only so much you can tell with lineman before the pads go on, but he’s big, long and athletic, and has looked like he has everything a starting tackle needs. He’ll have to develop, of course, and the Browns will know more on how fast that might come along once the guys actually start hitting in the summer. But if Fano and Barber can be the team’s bookends going forward …

Anyway, all these picks are critical for the post-Myles Garrett Browns, with a promising 2025 rookie class already on hand and a bounty of picks from the Garrett trade on the horizon. Obviously, there’s also the biggest question, which is what becomes of Cleveland’s quarterback spot going forward. But I’d say there’s reason for optimism overall as the team heads into the second year of its youth movement and first without Garrett around.

KC Concepcion has looked good in his early work with the Browns. | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Chargers

One under-the-radar spring takeaway from me: The Chargers’ tight end makeover could be a bigger difference-maker than people think. The Los Angeles roster is now fully molded in the square-jawed image of Jim Harbaugh. He has a big back in Omarion Hampton. He has a rugged receiver room with Quentin Johnson, Ladd McConkey and Tre Harris. He has mountainous tackles in Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, a crew of hard-playing edge rushers with Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu and Akheem Mesidor. And so on and so forth.

But where the Chargers might see their biggest jump this year—if you’re not counting the tackles coming back healthy quiet yet—is that position that Harbaugh’s always held dear.

In his short four years at Stanford, Harbaugh helped to develop NFL draft picks Jim Dray, Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo at the position. With the Niners, he maximized Vernon Davis and helped Delanie Walker take the next steps in his career. And at Michigan, he had five guys at the position drafted and won a national championship in 2023 with two guys, Colston Loveland and A.J. Barner, that already have become really good pros.

Now, finally, three years in, he has that room closer to where he’d hoped it would be. Charlie Kolar comes over from Baltimore as one of the best blockers in the league at the position and a prototype for the in-line “Y” position. Cleveland import David Njoku, at this point in his career, is probably best playing off the line as the move tight end, and Kolar’s presence will allow him to do that. But Njoku’s flexibility to play both “F” and “Y” will give the team more flexibility to get promising second-year hybrid Oronde Gadsden II on the field.

All in all, the group has a chance to make the Chargers, with Mike McDaniel now carrying the playsheet, more versatile and malleable and tougher to defend. And a little more like what Harbaugh, over his 20-plus years as a head coach, has gotten pretty used to having.

Houston Texans

The Texans’ offense had a really nice spring, and there’s one guy in particular worth keeping an eye on. That guy is second-year receiver Jayden Higgins, who was a spot starter last year and came on late, with a nice back half of the year (27 catches, 364 yards, 4 TDs in Houston’s last nine regular-season games, then nine catches for 98 yards in the playoffs).

It’s easy to forget that Higgins was essentially Houston’s first-round pick last year, taken 34th overall after the Texans traded out of Round 1 when the Giants came up to get Jaxson Dart.

Higgins certainly has looked that part in the spring. His frame is nearly identical to Nico Collins’s, and while Collins is the physically stronger player, Higgins is a smoother, looser athlete than the Texans’ incumbent No. 1—one staffer illustrated it as having a power forward (Collins) and small forward (Higgins) at the position. And having those two guys at around 6’4” on the outside certainly stands to present defenses with a host of problems.

Of course, there are a number of other elements to getting the offense where it’ll need to be in the fall to complement Houston’s otherworldly defense. Aireontae Ersery will need to take another step at left tackle, and Braden Smith or Trent Brown will have to be healthy at right tackle. Keylan Rutledge will have to build on a strong spring on the interior. At tailback, David Montgomery already looks like a big upgrade, but he’ll have to stay upright, too (having Woody Marks there helps). And star quarterback C.J. Stroud will have to return to form.

That said, there’s plenty of room to believe that all that will happen. So many of the key guys—starting with Higgins and going to Ersery, Marks and another promising young receiver in Jaylin Noel—were rookies last year and should take a step. That list could include well-regarded coordinator Nick Caley, too, given that he now has a year of play-calling under his belt. There’s cautious optimism on Tank Dell’s return. And Stroud had a really sound, clean spring, after being managed injury-wise through the 2025 offseason.

So in a way, Higgins’s progress is a nice little signal for where the Texans are now going into DeMeco Ryans’s fourth year and GM Nick Caserio’s sixth season at the helm—with a young team that’s no longer just full of rising young talent, but squarely in a championship window.

#Texans second year receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/7IHvCL9xmR
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 28, 2026

Flag football

Commissioner Roger Goodell illustrated the league’s seeming obsession with pushing flag football last week in what he said on attracting women and girls to the game. This comment came on ESPN, with our pal Suzy Shuster, and was as clear as I’ve heard the commish be on it.

“Data shows that if you play the game, you are more likely to be a lifelong fan,” Goodell said. “I think that’s a true statement and a fact. So if young women are playing the game and they’re getting that exposure early on … they have the opportunity to be exposed to football, and that’s why they fell in love with it.

“The guys used to say, I’m going down to the basement, I’m watching football, I’ll see you at dinner. Or they go on Sunday afternoon to a football game. Now they’re going with their family. And when I go to a game, the No. 1 thing I look at in the stands, I’m looking to see how many women are there, how many families are there, how many young people are there. That audience mix has changed dramatically in our stadiums.

“It changed in our events, the draft — I can’t even tell you, it’s probably 50/50 at the draft, and I just think that’s a really significant thing for the growth of the NFL, to have that fan base. Women are fans, too, and they’re awfully good fans.”

The underlying reality: Tackle football, as a participation sport, has its barriers. It’s a tough sport to get women to play. It’s also a tough sport to export, because of the equipment, the insurance and the number of people it takes to play it.

Flag football effectively cuts through all those barriers.

So, logically, if you believe a sport can grow only so much within a population if that population isn’t growing up playing it (and I do), then turning over every rock to get people playing different versions of the game will always be important to that sport’s growth.

Hence the NFL’s emphasis on the flag version of its game, an emphasis they hope, in time, helps them become more mainstream both with a female and an international audience.

NFL version of the NY Knicks

Finally, just so I have it in print, because I put it down in a Breer Report video this week and on our podcast with Conor Orr, I have who I think is the NFL’s version of the New York Knicks. And that, by the way, doesn’t mean I see them winning the Super Bowl this year. It means I see the parallels as too striking to ignore.

Miami Dolphins fans can take this any way they want …

• Both the Knicks and Dolphins were iconic in the early 1970s, playing in venues that became legendary at multiple levels of their respective sports (Madison Square Garden and the Orange Bowl), and winning pairs of championships. As result, the franchises were elevated to becoming flagship brands for their leagues.

• In the 1980s, both drafted singular superstars who’d keep their teams contending through the rest of the millenium—Dan Marino in Miami and Patrick Ewing in New York.

• In the 1990s, after years of knocking on the door, both franchises brought in a big-name coach with multiple rings who was in a short-lived retirement to try and get those superstars over the top. For the Knicks, it was luring Pat Riley to New York. For the Dolphins, it was poaching Jimmy Johnson from the Fox set.

• After Johnson and Riley failed to win titles and Marino and Ewing departed, both franchises fell into a decades-long malaise, with only short upticks along the way, that eroded their advantage as destinations for free agents and trade targets.

• Both had interesting blips midway through that malaise. For the Dolphins, it was the Wildcat offense leading to an AFC East crown in 2008 (that team was the only team other than the Patriots to win that division between 2003 and 2019). For the Knicks, it was Linsanity in 2012.

And now, the Dolphins can only hope that Malik Willis is their Jalen Brunson, as an undervalued former second-round pick coming aboard to spark their latest rebuild.

Far-fetched? Maybe. But the idea that Brunson is the best player on a title team would’ve been, too, four years ago when he joined the Knicks.

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