All eight teams have three quarterbacks and a single punter, kicker, and long snapper rostered. Both 2023 Arlington Renegades kicker and punter are back in their camp. In this photo kicker #1 Taylor Russolino works out his leg while #0 Marquette King holds. (Twitter)
UFL teams cut their rosters from 75 to 58 on Sunday. I took a look at each team’s cuts in the UFL Conference and XFL Conference. In this article, I wanted to take a more macro look at the league as a whole after those releases were made and shine a light on some things that stood out to me.
Each team’s quarterbacks, specialists set
…At least, for now. After cut-downs, all eight teams have three quarterbacks and a single punter, kicker, and long snapper rostered. Competition is over at those positions, unless a waiver claim on one of the cuts is made or a team is able to snag a free agent previously not part of the league. With only eight extra players in camp over the next two weeks or so, it didn’t really make sense to have a fourth quarterback or second punter taking one of those valuable spots. Instead, battles will come down to the wire elsewhere on these rosters.
Kickoff ability a consideration in keeping kickers
Two players with a history as kickoff specialists were kept to also kick field goals: Jake Bates with the Michigan Panthers and Donald De La Haye with the San Antonio Brahmas. Bates is a former college soccer player who did not attempt a field goal in three years at Texas State and Arkansas. De La Haye also did not kick any field goals while he kicked off at UCF. What gives? With the kickoff taking place from the 20-yard line, it appears some teams may be favoring kickers with big legs who can steal a bit of field position from the opposing offense. Naturally, teams still must be confident in their ability to nail field goals and put points on the board, but the art of the kickoff, lost in the NFL amid the ease of touchbacks, has become in vogue again the UFL. On the flip side, St. Louis chose Andre Szmyt over Andrew Mevis at the position, and Szmyt kicked off just one year in college. Clearly there are differing philosophies at play here across the league.
Half-dozen All-USFL selections released
One of the surprises of cut-down day was the number of former All-USFL players that did not survive the roster purges. Among them were 2022 All-USFL players DT Reggie Howard (cut by Roughnecks), CB Will Likely (Showboats), CB Channing Stribling (Stallions), S Shalom Luani (Panthers) as well as 2023 selections G Calvin Ashley (Stallions) and K Luis Aguilar (Roughnecks). Some have already pointed to this data as evidence that the XFL had better players in 2023 – though that doesn’t account for a higher number from 2022’s All-USFL team being released when there was no XFL in 2022 and thus no competition for players. Nor does it account for the possibility that USFL Conference teams did a better job at signing free agents and utilizing the dispersal draft this offseason, strengthening their rosters and forcing other talented players out the door. There doesn’t seem to be one, single explanation for why this happened, but amongst fans, it’s already adding fuel to the USFL vs. XFL fire that will likely rage all season.
Offensive lines strengthened in merger
A key area of on-field action expected to benefit from the merger was the offensive line play. It can be argued that there aren’t even enough quality offensive linemen to fill out NFL rosters let alone two eight-team spring leagues. The XFL experienced that dearth of talent last year, in particular with Orlando and San Antonio when, at times, line play was downright embarrassing. Some key players at that position from last year were released in this set of cuts. For Arlington, G Jake Stetz and OT Teton Saltes were two returning linemen who were let go. G Calvin Ashley started nine games for the New Jersey Generals last year but didn’t make the Stallions. OTs George Moore and Chidi Okeke started a combined 13 games for the Renegades and Brahmas last year respectively, but both were waived by the Defenders. Houston moved on from its 10-game starter at center last year, Nick Buchanan. Two deep reserves in 2023, OT Michael Brown with the Brahmas and G Christian Olmstead of the Battlehawks, find themselves out of work. Improvement of the lines across the league will make offenses as a whole better, and that’s what’s going to drive the quality of game play in the UFL.
Teams run it back with 2023 players
XFL and USFL teams both had several ways to acquire new talent in the off-season, from the rookie drafts each held to the summer and fall signings and claims, to the dispersal drafts, to post-dispersal draft free agency. Yet when the dust settled after this round of cuts, most teams hung on to players they carried over from the previous season (offensive line changes notwithstanding). In Birmingham, just one of the players released ended the season on the team’s active roster. D.C. retained all the players they brought back from last season’s championship game appearance. St. Louis waived just one from 2023. Even the Brahmas, who had a wholesale roster change with the move of the Roughnecks staff to San Antonio, only released three from last year. Each team appears to have returned anywhere in the neighborhood of 25-35 players from last year, at least for those whose head coaches are back. Those coaches seem to prefer the continuity of players that have done it before for them, at least so far. We’ll see if that holds true when the final eight cuts are made on March 23.
