The UFL is finally here!!!
If you missed last season’s spring Football seasons in the XFL and USFL, it’s okay. Both leagues just got better.
In early January, it was announced that the USFL and XFL had decided to join forces and create the UFL, an 8-team spring football league designed to expand the game of Football. Since the League is scheduled to kick off on March 30th, here are ten players you should pay attention to and where you can see them play.
10. WR Amari Rodgers – Birmingham Stallions
Amari Rodgers is a new face in the UFL with a lot of promise. Rodgers will be The former Clemson Tiger. He was a stud in his Collegiate days, playing alongside current Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawerence. But his NFL career has been spent as a return specialist and utility receiver. He spent three years with the Green Bay Packers and will be. The Stallions are coming from a USFL Championship before the League merged with the XFL. Rodgers will join a dynamic passing game including former Carolina Panthers, Ole Miss QB Matt Corral, and former Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez.
9. QB Luis Perez – Arlington Renegades
If this is your first time watching the XFL, you might not know who Arlington Renegades QB Luis Perez is. He’s the former Texas A&M Commerce WB that took the League by storm last season by leading the Arlington Renegades to a Championship in 2023 after being traded to the team mid-season. In the championship game, he threw for 288 yards and scored three points on his way to winning MVP in a victory over the DC Defenders. Perez will be one of the most experienced spring football QBs in the UFL this season, and his veteran presence could lead the Renegades back to another Championship.
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8. P Marquette King – Arlington Renegades
Another reason to follow the Arlington Renegades is their punter, yes their punter, Marquette King. King was a dominant punter in the NFL for six years, spending three years with the Denver Broncos, where he was an All-Pro in 2015, and spending three seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders. For some reason, King was then let go in 2018, and since then he’s been a part of the XFL Community.
So why a punter?
King is excellent TV; after Booming punts and putting his defense in a great field position, you can see King celebrating and bringing life to the Renegade special teams unit. The same things many assume got him removed from the NFL, such as his punt celebrations, are what he continues to do unapologetically as a member of the XFL.
7. LB Reuben Foster – Houston Roughnecks
If you followed Reuben Foster during his playing days at the University of Alabama, you likely thought he’d be a dominant force in the NFL. Foster had 115 tackles for the Crimson Tide his senior season and was a unanimous First-Team All-American. But after a few injuries, his NFL career would be cut short, and he’d find himself in the spring football leagues, being a dawg, as usual. Last season with the Pittsburgh Maulers, Foster picked up 52 tackles and one interception in eight games played. Foster will be with a new team his spring in the Houston Roughnecks. Technically, they are the USFL’s Houston team, the Gamblers, but they rebranded into the XFL’s Roughnecks team.
6. CB DJ Daniel – Memphis Showboats
Last season in the USFL DJ Daniel shut down a lot of receivers in the League. He tied for second in Interceptions on the season with three. The former Georgia Bulldog was one of two DBs on the New Jersey Generals to make an interception for the team last season, and he will be called upon to do the same in Memphis. He is also a solid tackler, as he recorded 30 tackles as well in 2023, and his physicality was a big key to his success.
5. DE Taco Charlton – Birmingham Stallions
At the University of Michigan, Taco Charlton was a monster at DE. As a Senior, he picked up 116 tackles and 19 sacks for the Wolverines. That led him into a six-year NFL Career with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, and Chicago Bears.
Charlton will likely be the best pass rusher on the Birmingham Stallions and the key to their defense. They’ve already added a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball and will now need their defense to compete on the same level to contend for a Championship.
4. DE Pita Taumoepenu – St.Louis Battlehawks
Pita Taumoepenu didn’t have much of an NFL career, but he was lights out last year in the XFL. Pita was the XFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, and he will be defending his crown on a new team. The much-needed change of scenery will provide a lift for Pita and help his new team. Last year, he was making game-changing plays for a team that was never in the game in the Las Vegas Vipers. Because of the UFL merger, he will now be with the St.Louis Battlehawks, a team that finished second in the XFL last season. Pita could be the difference in this team being the best in the UFL this season if he has another season as productive as his last.
3. RB Darius Victor – Memphis Showboats
Everyone loves Vito or Darius Victor, the football example of thick thighs saving lives. Last season, Vito was literally unstoppable, posting record-breaking numbers in the USFL with the New Jersey Generals. He posted 1,121 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns, 300 receiving yards, and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Somehow, he didn’t win USFL Offensive Player of the Year last season, but he did win the award in 2022. Victor will surely be a dominant force in 2024 with Memphis. He’s the type of player the UFL is made for, a talented offensive weapon who has struggled to find his place in the NFL, so he makes the most of every opportunity given to him in the spring leagues.
2. QB Matt Corral – Birmingham Stallions
Coming out of Ole Miss in 2022, many people believed Matt Cornell would have a promising career in the NFL as a backup. The Carolina Panthers drafted him, and he never played with the team after suffering a season-ending injury. Corrall now finds himself as a member of the Birmingham Stallions fighting for the starting QB job in a talented QB room. He will be competing against Adrian Martinez. This is Corral’s second chance at Football, and I see him as a candidate for league MVP if all goes right.
1. QB Jordan Teamu – DC Defenders
Jordan Teamu led the DC Defenders to the best record in the XFL last season as they finished 9-1 on the year. For the Defenders to have the same success this season, Teamu will need to be just as effective, especially after the loss of Abram Smith, the Defenders and the XFL’s leading rusher in 2023, who suffered a leg injury in camp. Teamu, the former Ole Miss Rebel, was efficient and a leader for the Defenders, playing alongside former Miami QB D’Eriq King. Teamu will undoubtedly have to produce some in the run game without King and Abrams this season. The Defenders will go as far as Teamu can take them in the 2024 season.
