QB Drew Plitt was placed on injured reserve on Monday, paving the way for Luis Perez to move into the starting role. Perez is listed on the first-team on this week’s depth chart. To replace Plitt on the roster, Arlington signed QB Kelly Bryant. Bryant played collegiately at Clemson and Missouri, and professionally in the CFL, IFL, and FCF…The team also placed starting LB Edmond Robinson on IR. Willie Taylor, who is eligible for the NFL Draft in a few weeks, takes Robinson’s place in the starting lineup…Linebacking depth takes another hit in week eight against Orlando as LB Bunmi Rotimi is listed as “out” on the injury report…
To help out at that spot, the Renegades claimed LB Ryan Mueller off waivers from Vegas. He was recently traded to the Vipers in exchange for QB Luis Perez. He lasted just a week with Vegas…The return of OL Jake Stetz from injury bolstered their offensive line: Stetz was the second-highest-graded offensive player last week per PFF…Despite their loss to Seattle, Arlington is still in the driver’s seat for the second playoff spot in the XFL South. They remain one game up on San Antonio with three games to play…With the Renegades playing in Orlando, they’ll have a watch party at Blue 22 Sports Grill.
Running back Pooka Williams in DC Defenders preseason scrimmage. (Twitter)
DC Defenders
The Defenders lost their first game of the season last weekend against Orlando. Matt McCrane missed two field goals in the loss, both in the fourth quarter. He had missed just two field goals all year coming into the game…Lost in all the drama was that WR Chris Blair set an XFL season-high for receiving yards in a game (139)…Even with the loss, DC is still one game up on both Seattle and St. Louis for the XFL North division title….DC added a couple of players with NFL pedigrees to their defensive backfield in S DJ Swearinger and CB Isaiah Johnson. Swearinger was a second round pick of the Houston Texans in 2013 and has played 110 NFL games since then. His signing has received a lot of local press, as he previously played for the Washington Redskins in the NFL in 2017 and 2018…
Johnson was a fourth round pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2019 and has played in a handful of regular season NFL games…A third signing of the week by DC is a re-signing, that being RB Pooka Williams. He was released by St. Louis on March 21 after being claimed by them from DC…Williams replaces RB Raymond Calais, who was released….To accommodate the new signings, DC placed C Mike Maietti and CB KJ Sails on IR. This is Maietti’s second trip to injured reserve. Ty Clary replaces him in the starting lineup. Sails was a deep backup who played 60 defensive snaps across six weeks, but he was a key cog on punt and kick coverage teams…DC has a watch party for their game at Seattle, taking place at Walter’s Sports Bar in Washington, DC.
QB Brandon Silvers missed his first game of the season last week, leading to backup Cole McDonald getting the start. Houston ended up losing their third game in a row, after starting the season 4-0…As of Thursday, LB Tim Ward has two “DNP” practices this week. Silvers has been limited, meaning his status for Saturday’s game against San Antonio remains up in the air…In the XFL South, Houston is still the class of the division. They’re one game ahead of Arlington and two games ahead of San Antonio with three to go…K Hunter Duplessis was placed on injured reserve this week. He had been 5-for-6 on field goals for the season. Austin Jones was signed to take his place. Jones, out of Alabama, was 7-for-11 kicking in the USFL in 2022…
Starting strong safety Sean Davis was also placed on IR. Jordan Mosley takes his spot in the starting lineup, and CB Stephen Denmark takes his place on the roster. Denmark was claimed off waivers from San Antonio, where he had been on IR…James Moore is now listed as the starting RT over Tommy Champion. Champion started the first five games of the season…New receiver Michael Bandy played just 12 offensive snaps against St. Louis last week…LB Trent Harris re-took the XFL sack lead with 7.0, one-half sack ahead of second place. He’s also tied for the league lead in tackles for loss with 10…Houston has a watch party for its fans as they visit San Antonio coming up.
Orlando Guardians
Orlando earned the first victory in franchise history, doing so in style, beating the undefeated DC Defenders in a thriller on Saturday night…KD Cannon scored a TD in his first game as a Guardian. He was recently signed from DC, where he had spent the first half of the year on IR…TE Jordan Thomas also scored a receiving TD in his first game with the Guardians. Both he and Cannon were added last week..,With G Fred Lauina and G David Moore inactive, OL Jalen Spady was the only backup lineman active, and he was used when TJ Storment was hurt in the first qurter…At 1-6, Orlando can still make the playoffs with three wins, three Arlington losses, and two San Antonio losses…Orlando is down to three quarterbacks after San Antonio claimed Paxton Lynch off waivers. Deondre Francois and Quinton Flowers, in that order, will now back up Quinten Dormady…
Devin Darrington has overtaken Jah-Maine Martin as the starting running back per the week eight depth chart…OT TJ Storment was placed on IR this week. OT TJ Bradley was signed to be the backup offensive tackle. Bradley had been on the team’s IR and was released last week…Abdul Beecham moves over to start at right tackle in place of Storment. David Moore now starts at RG over Fred Lauina…TE Cody Latimer pulled ahead of Seattle WR Jahcour Pearson for the XFL lead in receiving yardage with 488…The Guardians have begun taking 2024 season ticket deposits…Despite the big game last week, Orlando is still the only XFL team yet to reach 10,000 Twitter followers. San Antonio and Vegas, two of the other new franchises for 2023, surpassed that milestone some time ago.
San Antonio Brahmas
Kurt Benkert became the fourth starting QB for San Antonio in four weeks, but he was not immune to the team’s apparent jinx at that position. He suffered three fractured ribs in the game against Vegas and was placed on injured reserve…Paxton Lynch was claimed off waivers from Orlando in a corresponding move. Lynch had lost his starting job to Quinten Dormady and was the odd man out in the Guardians’ QB room. He’ll likely be inactive this week as he acclimates himself to the playbook…The Brahmas are expected to turn back to Jack Coan to start this week against Houston. Coan returns to health after missing the last two games due to injury…Last week, Fred Brown notched the first kick return for a touchdown for the XFL in 2023, a 96-yarder he took to the house…San Antonio is two games behind Houston for first place in the XFL South, just one game behind Arlington for second place and the final playoff spot…
C Jordan McCray was released from IR this week. He’d be a welcome addition to a thin offensive line if he were to re-sign at some point. In addition to Benkert, the team also placed WR Jalen Tolliver on injured reserve. Tolliver was a three-game starter for San Antonio this year. Nick Holley was added for WR depth. Holley played 209 snaps across six games for the Roughnecks this season before being released on March 29…On the injury front, G Maea Teuhema and DE Mike Tverdov are at risk of missing this week’s game, having been listed as “DNP” for two days of practice as of Thursday…Emmanuel Butler is listed as the starter at one WR spot over Travis Toivonen, who was previously listed as a starter on the week seven depth chart…Brahmas players will be at a local Dick’s Sporting Goods for a meet-and-greet on Saturday afternoon…Tickets have gone on sale for the XFL Championship game, being held at the Alamodome in San Antonio on May 13.
Seattle Sea Dragons
Seattle has won five in a row after an 0-2 start to the season, yet the Sea Dragons find themselves tied for second in the XFL North. They gained a game on first-place DC last weekend, leaving them just one game behind the division lead…The big news for Seattle this week was the signing of NFL veteran RB Phillip Lindsay, first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Lindsay replaces RB Morgan Ellison, who was placed on IR. Lindsay is listed as the backup to Darius Bradwell for this week…OT Liam Jimmons, LB Jordan Evans, and LB Sharif Finch were all listed as “DNP” on the team’s Thursady injury report. Evans and Jimmons have both missed the last two games due to injury….Sea Dragons players are also doing a meet and greet at Dick’s Sporting Goods, in Tukwila, Washington, just outside of Seattle.
A win against Houston on Sunday allowed St. Louis to gain a game on first-place DC. They are now one game behind with three to play. They’re also tied with Seattle for the second and final playoff spot in the XFL North…LG Steven Gonzalez was hurt in the fourth quarter, replaced by Dallas Warmack. Gonzalez returned a few plays later…Donny Hageman set an XFL record with a 59-yard FG against Houston…
QB AJ McCarron was also hurt, though he returned and finished the game. He’s been on the injury report all week as “limited,” and is officially listed as “questionable” but is expected to play…CB Tim Harris is the only player slated to miss the upcoming game due to injury…St. Louis made no transactions this week…This week’s home game is being advertised as a Cancer Awareness Game, where $5 from every ticket sale will be donated to the Siteman Cancer Center…St. Louis and San Antonio both end the regular season with three home games in a row.
Vegas Vipers
After trading QB Luis Perez to Arlington, Vegas surprised many by opting to start Jalan McClendon over Brett Hundley. McClendon’s last start was in 2018 for Baylor. He led the Vipers to a 26-12 victory over San Antonio…Vegas is three games behind St. Louis and Seattle for second place in the XFL North with three games to go. They play St. Louis this weekend…Vegas made a change at kicker this week, releasing Bailey Giffen. Giffen was 1-for-2 on field goals last week, hitting from 39 but missing from 34. Giffen was 6-for-13 on the season. The team signed Sam Sloman to replace him. Sloman was a 2020 NFL draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams. He’s 10-of-13 on field goals in games with the Rams and Tennessee TItans. He spent some time on the practice squad of the San Francisco 49ers in 2022…
Vegas also filled out their QB room by signing D’Angelo Fulford. Fulford, out of Division III Mount Union, has been in CFL training camp as well as in the IFL and MLFB since turning pro in 2020…The injury report for the Vipers heading into week eight is extensive, with 10 players listed as “probable.” Those most at risk of missing the game against the Battlehawks are LB Martrell Spaight, listed as “doubtful,” and WR Jeff Badet, who has already been ruled out. Matthew Sexton will likely pick up more snaps with Badet sitting…CB Jamar Summers was thrust into the starting lineup the same week he was signed. With Adam Sparks inactive due to injury, Summers ended up playing 61-of-63 defensive snaps…OL Michael Miller was the subject of this week’s XFL “Know My Name” feature (also below) …2024 season ticket deposits are now available for Vegas.
