It would be unfair to bump McCarron from the top spot given his statistical output in week ten, even if St. louis didn’t end up making the playoffs. With the Battlehawks needing to pour on the points against Orlando to have a puncher’s chance at making the postseason, McCarron all but put the team on his back. He was the steadying hand all season for Anthony Becht’s squad, the veteran in command who had the respect of his teammates. All of that would’ve meant nothing though, had he not produced on the field with aplomb – which, of course, he did. It also doesn’t hurt that he spurned potential NFL offers to sign with the XFL, a rallying cry the league used to tout its bona fides early on.
DiNucci closed the gap in the last few weeks, but not enough to overtake McCarron. As a consolation prize, his team did get into the playoffs over McCarron’s Battlehawks. If he could just cure himself of those pesky end zone interceptions, the sky would be the limit. DiNucci brought a gunslinger’s mentality to the QB spot for Seattle, extending plays with his legs and letting his talented receiving corps do the rest. It’s hard to imagine him not getting a shot back in the NFL this summer; if that isn’t in the cards, he’ll be welcomed back in the Emerald City.
DC Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu XFL Week 8.
The spring football veteran operated offensive coordinator Fred Kaiss’s offense to near-perfection this season. Ta’amu avoided major mistakes and was even the focal point of the offense down the stretch as teams keyed in on stopping DC’s run game. He was effective no matter what he was asked to do. Ta’amu didn’t put up the numbers of some of his contemporaries because of the early-season run-first nature of the offense. His ability to gain yardage with his legs should be mentioned as well. He’ll take the Defenders into the playoffs as favorites to win the championship.
XFL DC Defenders running back #4 Abram Smith, March19, 2023. (Twitter)
Given his role as DC’s workhorse back throughout the first nine weeks, there was thought that the team may look to rest Smith in a meaningless week ten game against a feisty San Antonio defense that would be playing for their playoff lives. That wasn’t the case; in fact, Smith played all but two snaps on offense. He only carried 10 times however, getting back on track somewhat with a 4.4 yards per carry average after a couple of down games. Seattle’s defense will challenge Smith and the Defenders in the North Division Championship. If Ta’amu is able to make some plays in the pass game to prevent Seattle from loading the box, Smith could exploit that.
Last week: 3 receptions, 42 yards, 14.0 avg., 1 TD
Season stats: 60 receptions, 670 yards, 11.2 avg., 4 TD
Like McCarron and DiNucci ahead of him on this list, Pearson used week 10’s tiebreaker-initiated offensive outburst to pad his season stats. He didn’t finish the season as strongly as he started it, in part because other Sea Dragon receivers emerged as threats, like Jordan Veasy and Juwan Green. Pearson had to split his target share with them. If you had asked observers before the season began to name their top 5-10 MVP candidates, players 1-4 presented here likely would’ve appeared on that register. Pearson is the outlier, the one that came out of nowhere to lead the XFL in several receiving categories. In a league of opportunity, Perason certainly made the most of his.
