The UFL double-dipped on the weekend of October 19-20, with two tryout events in San Diego. Nick Novak hosted a specialists Showcase on Saturday, followed by a standard Showcase on Sunday. Michigan Panthers offensive lineman Ryan Nelson sent along a video from the Showcase posted on the Panthers’ social channels (and re-posted by the UFL), showing Michigan head coach Mike Nolan and offensive line coach Tim Holt at the workout. A sampling of players who attended the event are below. Thanks to Shady Sports Network and Pro Level Sports Management for a few of the names.
LB Matthew Barrett (St. Nobert): Over his final two seasons at St. Norbert college in Wisconsin, Barrett, a Michigan native, compiled 158 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. His production peaked as a senior, with 97 tackles and 11.5 tackles for loss. His pro football odyssey has taken him to Europe, where he has played three seasons in the German Football League, for teams in Romania, Poland, and Germany.
LB Amin Black (Villanova): Undersized at just 5’9″, Black saw immediate action as a freshman in 2017, playing in 11 games. In total, he played 40 games, made 182 tackles, had 23 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, including 94 tackles and 13 tackles for loss in his senior season of 2021. In 2022, Black was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm without a license and possession of marijuana, among other charges. The next year, Black signed with a team in the European League of Football, but abruptly quit the Munich Ravens via social media post. Prior to that, he had been the leading tackler in the German Football League. Black has talent, as evidenced by his ranking at 163 among 2022 draft-eligible linebackers by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler.
S Daron Bowles (Wingate): Another Showcase veteran, Bowles tried out at the XFL Showcase in Orlando last year. He came to Wingate via Kansas State and Diablo Valley Community College. He played extensively at DVCC, shining in particular in his sophomore year where he tallied 55 tackles, six tackles for loss, three passes defensed and an interception. From there, he became a Wildcat in 2017, redshirting that first year. Bowles played one game in 2018 then moved up to 10 games of special teams action in 2019. He played more at Wingate in 2021, where he made 33 tackles, defensed a pass and recovered a fumble. Bowles was a part of the HUB Football camp back in 2022, yet another way for players to try out in front of pro scouts and decision-makers.
G/C Josh Castro (Nevada): Castro’s nomadic collegiate career ended at Nevada, though he didn’t suit up for any games for the Wolfpack in 2023. He was a July transfer, getting a late start in camp with the program. Castro came to Nevada from Cal Lutheran, where he likely had his most college success. He was a Second Team All-SCIAC selection in 2022. Following high school, Castro spent two years at Santa Monica College, where he played as a freshman and sophomore. As a junior, he moved to Azusa Pacific, where the season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The football program was then cut, so he went to Angelo State, where he didn’t play in his one season there. He found refuge at Cal Lutheran after that.
LB Cecil Cherry (UT-Martin): Cherry’s story was written about on this site by editor Mark Nelson in January of 2023, just after he had been signed by the XFL’s Vegas Vipers. The story details Cherry’s unique journey to spring football. He was released by the Vipers on February 9 as part of their final set of cuts. He’ll look to make his way back onto a roster, this time in the UFL, at the San Diego Showcase.
WR Nick Culp (Arizona Christian): A Hawaii native, the 6’3″ Culp has the size teams salivate over when it comes to the wide receiver position. In 2018 as a sophomore, Culp started three games and caught nine passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. The following season, his last, he had eight grabs for 110 yards. Despite this being his junior season, he did not play in the COVID year of 2020 and graduated in January 2021.
DL Lance DeSorbo (Wagner): Initially at Palomar College, a community college in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, DeSorbo played eight games across two season there, racking up 27 tackles, two sacks and six tackles for loss. He made a coast-to-coast move in jumping up to the FCS level with Wagner, moving from California to New York. In two seasons with the Seahawks, DeSorbo had 46 tackles, for for loss and half a sack. He also forced a fumble. Heading into the 2024 NFL Draft, DeSorbo ranked #155 on Dane Brugler’s list of interior defensive linemen in The Athletic.
DE Nick Evans (Charleston): The 2023 Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the Mountain East Conference, Evans shined as an edge player in his finale. In 12 games, he had 12 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks for Charleston. He has good size at 6’4″ and 245 pounds. Evans played two years at Charleston, Just three days before the UFL San Diego Showcase that Evans attended, he signed with the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League for the 2025 season. Out of high school, Evans first took the JUCO route, then went to University of Texas-San Antonio before landing at Charleston.
WR Bryce Goggin (Southern Oregon): Balancing football and track and field at Southern Oregon, Goggin was successful at both. As a member of the track team, Goggin specialized in hurdles, achieving the status of conference champion in 110-meter hurdles. On the football field, he made All-Frontier Conference First Team in 2021 with 51 receptions for 802 yards and eight touchdowns. Aside from that final season, Goggin’s college resume is thin in part due to the pandemic and a year missed due to injury. He signed with the Oregon Blackbears of the AFL for 2024, but the team folded before the season could conclude.
RB Luis Gonzalez (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth): A bigger back at 6’1″, 235 pounds (slimmed down to 210 pounds per a post by his agency), Gonzalez was a frequent contributor out of the backfield for the D-III school. In particular, he had a nose for the end zone, scoring a combined 29 rushing touchdowns over his final two seasons. For his career, he averaged 5.3 yards per carry (6.3 as a senior). His receiving numbers were lacking, catching just 28 passes over those four years. In 2021 and 2023, Gonzalez was named Second Team All-MASCAC.
ED Jeremiah Jackson (Davenport): Colleges are known to fudge the height and weight of their players a bit on the school’s official website. You may not find a bigger discrepancy than with Jackson, whose vitals on the Davenport site are listed as 6’7″ and 240 pounds; in Brugler’s draft guide, his verified measurements are 6’4″ and 217 pounds (he’s the 108th edge player listed there). Whatever the numbers, Jackson finished 2023 as an honorable mention All-GLIAC player, tying for the team lead with nine tackles for loss. He spent one year at Davenport as a transfer from Fort Hays State. In March, Jackson signed on with Edmonton of the CFL and also had a stint with the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League.
TE J.J. Jones III (New Mexico State): A WR/TE hybrid, Jones spent much of his amateur career at Dartmouth before transferring to New Mexico State for his final season of 2022. Jones had a modest stat line of six catches for 50 yards (8.3 average) as an Aggie. His breakout season at Dartmouth was his final one in 2021: Among the accolades he received was Second Team All-Ivy League at tight end. That season, he caught a career-high 10 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown. Jones recently signed with the Harrisburg Stampede of the American Indoor Football League.
DB Jahsim Mathurin (Connecticut State): Mathurin’s journey is best summed up if you click the hyperlink on his name: In short, one year playing football at Connecticut State is all the college time Mathurin spent playing the sport. He moved on to the semi-pro ranks and got in front of decision-makers at various tryout events across the country. If the UFL Showcase is a success and a team comes calling, he’ll look to sign his first pro contract. Mathurin is just 23 years old and he’s doing everything he can to keep his name in the alternative football mix.
DL James Nyamwaya (Merrimack): In 10 games as a senior in 2022, Nyamwaya registered 5.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss. Most impressively, those stats came without making a start. Prior to Merrimack, he played at Division III Curry College. In 26 games across three seasons, he raked in 136 tackles and nine tackles for loss. Impressive for the Kenyan-born Nyamwaya, who didn’t play football until high school. Ranked as the 47th interior defensive lineman in the 2023 draft by Brugler, Nyamwaya signed on with the Pittsburgh Steelers for training camp. Though he didn’t make it, he moved on to other football ventures, namely in the IFL, where he was part of the Massachusetts Pirates and Arizona Rattlers.
WR Eli Rogers (Louisville): These Showcases are often places where the overlooked or undervalued get an opportunity, for perhaps the first and last time, to work out in front of pro scouts. Then there are the Eli Rogers’ of the world. No stranger to spring football, Rogers played in the XFL in both 2020 (D.C. Defenders) and 2023 (Orlando Guardians). He was also a draft pick of the USFL’s Tampa Bay Bandits in 2022. One of the many victims of the merger between the two leagues, Rogers, 32 when the UFL season opens next March, isn’t ready to give up on football quite yet. He has three seasons’ worth of NFL experiences and 78 receptions for 822 yards to his name.
WR Isiah Scott (West Virginia State): A part-time player at Youngstown State, Scott found paydirt when he transferred to West Virginia State for his final year of eligibility in 2019. There, he caught 59 passes for 1,003 yards and 11 touchdowns, good for 17.0 yards per reception. In 11 games, he went over 100 yards receiving in four of them, and had three multi-touchdown games. Scott turned pro and went into the Indoor Football League in 2023 with the Arizona Rattlers, where he made nine receptions for 139 yards and three TDs.
LB Sean Rae Trotter (Japan): Out of Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, Trotter played American football there, earning an invitation to the 2024 Hula Bowl, one of several college all-star games attended by scouts of the major football leagues here in the States. During the game’s official weigh-in, he measured 6’2″ and 221 pounds. He’s considered an edge rusher, but Brugler had him in his draft guide as the 112th-ranked linebacker. Naturally, not much is known about his play in Japan, but the fact that he earned a Hula Bowl invite – and a spot in Brugler’s rankings – means there’s some talent there.
DL Brayden Utley (Baylor): Coming in just a few spots below Nyamwaya on Brugler’s 2023 iDL rankings (58th, to be exact), Utley attended the XFL Combine in 2023. At Baylor, he was a rotational interior lineman, playing most of his time under head coach Dave Aranda, well-regarded as a defensive coordinator at the college level. When Utley didn’t receive any interest from XFL teams after the Combine, he hooked up with the Tucson Sugar Skulls of the IFL for 2024. There, Utley amassed seven tackles for loss and a half sack, in addition to blocking two kicks.
RB KeShawn Williams (Arkansas-Pine Bluff): Though he spent several seasons at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, his 2017 stands out over the rest. He carried the load that year, toting the rock 125 times for 703 yards and seven touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 332 yards. None of his other seasons approached those numbers. In 2015 and 2019, he averaged nearly seven yards per carry in limited touches. He missed all of 2018 due to injury. In 2024, he surfaced with the Sioux Falls Storm of the IFL. He averaged 2.9 yards per carry but had nine rushing touchdowns.
S Jevanni Witter (Mount Union): Witter was an active member of the Mount Union team, primarily on special teams. His defensive statistics are sparse, totaling 43 tackles in 39 career games. His top season was as a senior in 2022, when he made 19 tackles and his only tackle for loss in his career. Witter’s lone interception came in 2021, the same season he set a career-high with three passes defensed. In the National Arena League, Witter suited up for the Colorado Spartans. He also hosted a podcast on Youtube called “Everything Football.”
