Welcome to the debut edition of the UFL Mailbag here on UFLBoard.com. While this is the first of its kind under the UFL banner, I penned five mailbag columns while the XFL was in business. Consider this YOUR opportunity to be a part of UFLBoard.com by sending your questions – ANY questions – about the league either via e-mail (g_man9784@yahoo.com) or by using the hash-tag #UFLMailbag and sending it my way on Twitter/X @gregmparks. I hope to have enough questions to write this column often during the UFL season, so don’t hesitate to ask away whenever the spirit moves you!
Questions may be edited for length and clarity.
Conner asks: “Hey Greg! Just wondering if we’re hearing any chatter on a potential video game? I remember hearing of the interest in regards to making the game in 2020, before COVID killed our season. With The Rock at the helm of TKO do you think this potentially gets done this time around?”
While Dwayne Johnson is now a board member of TKO (the holding company created in the WWE/UFC merger), I’d hardly call that being “at the helm” of the company. I’m also not sure if that would have any impact on the UFL getting a video game deal. All that being said, I think it will take a while before a UFL video game gets made. The UFL would have to find a licensing partner willing to spend the money required to make the game, and right now, I doubt the interest level in the league warrants the money and time it would take to create such a game.
Certainly this is something the UFL would want as it would put more money in their pocket and spread word about the league to those in gaming circles, reaching a potentially new audience. But it takes two to tango and I’m not sure if there are companies out there clamoring to make such a game at this point. The UFL is definitely in “walk, not run” mode in terms of creating a brand, identity, and getting a product onto the field. A video game feels like a conversation to be had further down the road the way this ownership group is rolling out the league.
Jake asks: “What is the tightest skill position battle in your mind? Especially curious about WR.”
I recently wrote a column looking at each team’s top position battle to watch as we approach final cuts on March 23. Narrowing it down to skill positions as Jake asks, however, and you’ll see that nearly every receiver room is tight when it comes to numbers. I look at San Antonio with nine (ten if you count TE Alize Mack as a big WR, since the offense run by A.J. Smith doesn’t use TEs), St. Louis with nine, Arlington with eight, Birmingham with nine, Memphis with eight – each of those teams is going to have to cut one or two players, and each of those cuts will be difficult.
As far as the other skill positions across the league, most teams are set at running back, quarterback, and tight end. Houston has four tight ends, and while most teams keep three, Houston did roster four last year. So they may not cut from that group. Memphis has five, and I wrote about that position as their most competitive in the column above. The majority of the battles remaining in camp are at receiver, linebacker, defensive back, and across both lines. I think that’s where most of the cuts will come from on the 23rd.
It’s a different conversation if you’re talking about battles for starting jobs at those positions. Unfortunately, we have little to go on in the way of camp coverage to get a bead on how starting lineups may take shape. I think there could be real QB competition in San Antonio, Birmingham and Houston as far as who opens under center in week one. At running back, St. Louis, D.C. (thanks to Abram Smith’s injury) and San Antonio intrigue me with how they’ll rotate their backs. One under-the-radar player at receiver who has constantly been making plays that have shown up on social media is Sy Barnett with Arlington. If you want to read the tea leaves on who gets the most playing time at receiver, I’d start with the returning players on each team and go from there.
Ren asks: “Does the fact that they reintegrate the previous teams depend on the success of the UFL? Is the NFL’s idea to integrate the UFL as another conference? Or there will be no more franchise expansion?”
The NFL is likely watching the developments of the UFL closely, and some fans believe this whole spring football experiment will eventually lead to the NFL investing in some major way. That’s not what UFL ownership is looking for however, as they’d prefer to exist as their own entity and sell franchises to local ownership groups. Expansion of the UFL, whether it’s bringing back previous XFL/USFL teams or trying out new markets, most certainly depends on the league’s success out of the gate. It would be wildly irresponsible from a financial perspective to start expanding before the league can sustain itself.
While I appreciate the optimism of D.C. defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, his recent comments about league expansion, where the UFL would double the amount of teams by year three, seems like a best-case scenario rather than what they should be counting on. Expansion is a fun topic that everyone likes to talk about – inherently because expansion assumes a certain level of league success – but I’d rather see the UFL get its footing with these eight franchises for a few years before they make any moves to add to that.
Ed asks: “What’s been some of the biggest challenges in merging these two leagues and getting them to work in harmony?”
Any time you have billion-dollar companies trying to play in the same sandbox as you had with FOX and RedBird Capital, there are bound to be egos in the way. Setting aside what each had built with the XFL and USFL and finding a middle ground likely was difficult, whether you’re talking about the cities chosen, on-field rules, leadership structure of the UFL or anything else that would force a choice of keeping something from one league over something from the other. Those are decisions that affect people’s livelihoods and were hopefully taken seriously. UFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Darryl Johnston, who came over from the USFL, often talks in interviews about how everyone involved needed to set aside egos to do what was best for the league.
When the XFL and USFL were in merger talks, there was very little that leaked out in terms of the process of coming to an agreement, so we can only speculate on some of those challenges. Certainly the hurdle of getting governmental approval of the merger may have been the biggest and most important. Once they had that, they could really go full-steam ahead and iron out all the details. I think another challenge was likely working with the USFL Player’s Association. The XFL did not have player representation, so trying to untangle the web of half of your players being covered under that PA and half not, while also negotiating with the PA to work out player contract details for a third league (the UFL) may have taken some time and effort.
Kevin asks: “Which team is the biggest underdog with the highest probability of making the playoffs (and dare I say, winning it all)?”
I think the consensus top teams in the UFL are probably Birmingham, St. Louis and D.C. I’ve seen some differing opinions on Arlington. I think we’ll learn a lot about where they are in week one when they face the Stallions. So in some ways, you could say the Renegades fit the bill, as crazy as it sounds with them already having won the XFL Championship last year. In a league like this, if you have a quarterback, that can solve a lot of your ills. That’s what Luis Perez did for Arlington last year. So if you look at other teams that may have a strong QB but questions elsewhere on the roster, I look at Case Cookus in Memphis and E.J. Perry in Michigan. I’m not sure if I’d call them “underdogs” per se, but if those quarterbacks perform at the level expected of them, it gives those teams a puncher’s chance to not only make the playoffs, but do some damage once there.
