In this column I look at how UFL College Draft picks performed during the NFL season for XFL Conference teams. For USFL Conference teams, click here.
Arlington Renegades
First-round pick QB John Rhys Plumlee (Seahawks) is undergoing a transition similar to that of former Stallion Alex McGough, from quarterback to wide receiver. Plumlee was a QB in training camp with Pittsburgh but also returned kicks in the preseason. He was on a few practice squads during the year before ultimately being put on Seattle’s 53-man roster in early January, officially as a receiver. Plumlee never got into a regular season game.
LB Amari Gainer (Raiders) and LB Bo Richter (Vikings), fifth and sixth round picks of the Renegades respectively, also finished the season on their teams’ active rosters. Gainer, out of North Carolina, played all 17 games as a reserve, making five tackles. He was a special teams stalwart for Vegas, playing 80% of the snaps on the year there, while seeing the field for just 12 snaps on defense. While Gainer made the team out of camp, Richter started on the practice squad before being promoted. He played in 14 games, with eight tackles and a fumble recovery. He too excelled on special teams, playing 71% of the snaps and only 29 all year on defense.
Two other Renegades draft picks finished out the season on injured reserve. NT Pop Aumavae (Panthers) was injured very early in camp and was placed on IR in late July. DT Taki Taimani (Vikings) played in seven games before an ankle injury prematurely ended his rookie campaign. To that point, he had made three tackles in playing 70 defensive snaps. On Thursday, Taimani was recently designated for return in time for the playoffs. LB Kalen DeLoach (Jaguars) was a practice squad signing of Jacksonville in December. He hasn’t been signed to a futures deal yet. WR Drake Stoops (Rams), son of Arlington head coach Bob Stoops, has been on LA’s practice squad all year and like DeLoach, has not appeared in a game.
Three draft picks remain unsigned by NFL teams as of this writing. One, OT Griffin McDowell, has already signed his letter of intent with the Renegades. He is the only Arlington draft pick to do so. The ball appears to be in the court of OT Spencer Rolland and C Briason Mays as to whether or not they want to join the UFL. Rolland spent two months on Green Bay’s practice squad, while neither McDowell nor Mays had so much as a workout reported during the 2024 campaign.
D.C. Defenders
The only team in which all of its 2024 College Draft pick are spoken for, D.C. is therefore one of three teams (along with the Stallions and Brahmas) whose draft has yet to bear any fruit for 2025. Seven players ended the season on practice squads (with two already having signed futures deals), two on active rosters, and one on injured reserve. OT Gottlieb Ayedze (Raiders), the first round pick, worked out for five teams during the season after failing to make the Philadelphia Eagles out of camp. Eventually, he signed with the Raiders’ practice squad in September. He quickly inked a futures deal with Vegas after the season.
D.C. is in need of a quarterback now that Emory Jones, their key off-season signing, is tied to the Atlanta Falcons. QB Kedon Slovis (Texans) could be that guy. Currently on Houston’s practice squad, Slovis is likely to be offered a futures deal once their season is complete; if he sees a path to quick playing time in D.C., could that change his mind? The Defenders drafted two quarterbacks; their second, QB Tanner Mordecai (49ers) is the other player to have signed a futures contract in the aftermath of the regular season. He was on San Fran’s practice squad all year.
Like Ayedze, OT Garret Greenfield (Buccaneers) was popular on the workout circuit. In between stints on the practice squad of the Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants, and finally the Bucs on New Year’s Day, Greenfield was brought in for a look by six teams. After not making the team out of camp, Washington added RB Michael Wiley (Commanders) to their practice squad in late August. Despite being there all year, he was not elevated for any games.
LB Dallas Gant (Eagles) found himself on the practice squad of the Minnesota Vikings until late October when he was released. He wasn’t a free agent for long as Philadelphia picked him up a week later. Gant was elevated twice by the Eagles and played in two games, the final two of the season, where he picked up a tackle on special teams. S Omar Brown (Packers) is the final practice squad Defender draft pick. After attending training camp with Denver, Brown was signed to Green Bay’s initial practice squad. He was elevated three times, playing in two games, participating in a total of eight snaps on defense and 16 on special teams. Five of D.C.’s practice squad players are on playoff teams and therefore are not eligible to be signed to futures contracts yet.
When final cuts are made at the end of camp, there is a cluster of waiver claims made of those players. LB Curtis Jacobs (Patriots) was one of those, cut by Kansas City but claimed by New England. He played in nine games, almost exclusively on special teams (136 snaps compared to 23 on defense), though he did start two games and make four tackles. Jacobs landed on IR after suffering a head injury against the Rams. He was designated to return and began practicing prior to week 17, but was never activated.
A pair of defensive linemen round out the Defenders’ draft haul, both making the same team as UDFAs: DT Leonard Taylor (Jets) and DE Braiden McGregor (Jets). Taylor was frequently active as a backup, playing 14 games. He made 24 tackles, four of them for loss, and 1.5 sacks. McGregor was brought along more slowly: He got seven games under his belt, making six tackles in a fraction of the snaps. D.C.’s best shot at getting something out of their draft class for 2025 is for the five remaining practice squad players to spurn futures contracts after their seasons come to a close.
San Antonio Brahmas
The Brahmas are in the odd position of having one of their draft picks agree to terms – but with another team. Ninth round pick CB DJ Miller was signed by the Michigan Panthers, as San Antonio apparently somewhere along the way renounced his rights. The only other draft pick eligible to sign is WR Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin. Griffin worked out for six teams during the NFL season after camping with the Raiders and spending some brief time on the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad early in the 2024 campaign.
All other Brahmas draft picks are currently spoken for in the NFL. Three players ended the year on practice squads of non-playoff teams, and they’ve all been signed to futures deals. They include DE Jamree Kromah (Bears), C Sincere Haynesworth (Cardinals) and WR Joshua Cephus (Jaguars). Kromah was a UDFA of the Bears who the Patriots plucked off their practice squad in mid-September. He spent three weeks as a healthy inactive for them before being released and soon after re-signed to Chicago’s practice squad.
Haynesworth was injured in camp and placed on IR by the Saints. Released a few days later, he ended up being signed to their practice squad in late October. He had two different tours of duty on their practice squad. Haynesworth wasn’t among the first wave of futures signings by New Orleans, so Arizona swooped in and signed him after the season concluded. Cephus spent all year on Jacksonville’s practice squad, elevated for one game in December where he played six offensive snaps.
Three San Antonio draft picks are on practice squads of teams currently in the playoffs, and those three players were selected in the first three rounds. Their first round pick, DT Gabe Hall (Eagles), has spent all season with Philly’s practice squad. DE Gabriel Murphy (Vikings) was another player who got hurt in camp and placed on IR. He was activated in November, waived, and re-signed to the team’s practice squad. He was elevated for two games, playing a healthy 35 snaps on defense and making one tackle.
Like Hall, OT Donovan Jennings (Packers) has been on his team’s practice squad for the entirety of the season as well. CB Miles Battle (Patriots) had a fortuitous end to his 2024 season. An undrafted signing of the Chiefs, Battle was out of the game until the Patriots signed him to their practice squad in mid-October after working him out twice. Then, just before the final game of the season, Battle was one of four players New England signed to its active roster from the practice squad. That was Battle’s only game of the year. He played 18 snaps on defense and allowed just one reception on six targets, making two tackles and knocking down three passes.
It’s not easy to make Baltimore’s team as an undrafted rookie, yet that’s what S Beau Brade (Ravens) did. Out of the nearby University of Maryland, Brade played 11 games as a core special teamer (he played 70% of ST snaps in those games), making three tackles. He was in on just 11 snaps on defense.
St. Louis Battlehawks
Only Houston has signed more of it’s 2024 College Draft class than St. Louis. The Battlehawks have six that are expected to come to camp, with one more right now eligible because he is not on an NFL roster. None of the six signees spent time on an NFL roster or practice squad during the season. Two of the team’s draft picks are ineligible to sign because they were on a practice squad and have since re-upped on futures deals.
DT Pheldarius Payne (Colts) started his career as a Houston Texan, but ended up getting cut. It took until December for him to find another home, this time in Indianapolis. The Colts liked what they saw in that short period of time enough to offer him a futures deal, which he accepted. LB Carl Jones, Jr. (Bears) was with Chicago all year, first in training camp and then on the practice squad from day one. He was elevated and played in one game, where he saw time exclusively on special teams (playing 44% of the snaps there that day).
The only Battlehawk draft pick to be on an active roster is RB Cody Schrader (Rams). A St. Louis native who played his college ball at Missouri, it would’ve been a great story for him to suit up for the Battlehawks. Schrader was one of a host of waiver claims after final cuts, brought to Los Angeles via the San Francisco 49ers. A weekly inactive until the final game of the season when the Rams sat many of their key contributors, Schrader ran once for three yards and caught a pass for six yards in his only two offensive snaps, adding 10 on special teams.
