Full Recap of XFL Draft

| American Football | 10/17/2019

The inaugural XFL Draft is now complete as the second day and fourth and fifth five phases took place on Wednesday. After two days and 16 hours of live drafting, each of the eight teams has 71 players on its inaugural rosters.

Day two of the draft included a college trend-setter, an NFL-experienced focused Defensive Back Phase, and more quarterbacks drafted onto XFL rosters.

Robinson officially starts pro career

Kenny Robinson was one of the most exciting and ground-breaking players in the XFL Draft Pool. The former West Virginia cornerback opted to join the XFL instead of continuing to play at the college level. Now he has a home in St. Louis with the BattleHawks.

Robinson could potentially pave the way for other college players to view the XFL as a viable option to be drafted in the NFL Draft as he’ll have a chance to develop as a player and mature as a young professional.

But he won’t be guaranteed anything in terms of playing time. The BattleHawks drafted two cornerbacks and two safeties before him, and Kenny will need to earn his spot during the course of mini-camp and training camp. He will get a chance to learn behind Will Hill, a 29-year-old safety with four years of NFL experience known for his physicality and professionalism.

Stay tuned to see if Robinson earns playing time, shows off his All-Big 12 talent, and continues to blossom as a defensive back with a lot of upside potential.

Recent NFL players make up key picks in Defensive Back draft

Throughout much of the XFL Draft, teams appeared to favor players recently released from NFL teams, especially early in each phase of the draft. That was most notably true for the defensive backs, where six of the first nine selections recently spent time with NFL teams.

Led by Derron Smith at the top of the DB phase, the New York Guardians set the tone for picking recent NFL players by drafting eight players with former NFL ties.

Conversely, the Los Angeles Wildcats were the only team to not select a recent NFL player in the Defensive Back phase. Through 10 rounds, they focused on players at XFL workouts and other leagues to fill their defensive backfield. Time will tell which strategy worked better.

Every XFL team drafts QB in Open Draft; XFL Showcases played role

After each team was assigned a quarterback before the XFL Draft, all but two (Seattle Dragons and Los Angeles Wildcats) drafted a quarterback on the first day of the draft.

One day two, the Dragons selected two quarterbacks (Joe Callahan and BJ Daniels) to compete with Brandon Silvers, while the Wildcats joined them in taking two quarterbacks (Taryn Christian and Jalen McClendon). Callahan, Daniels, and Christian all attended XFL Showcases.

Joining them in selecting XFL Showcase quarterbacks on day two were New York (Garrett Fugate) and Tampa Bay (Vinny Testaverde, Jr.).

Every team is expected to take three quarterbacks to training camp, but so far four teams (Dallas, Houston, DC and St. Louis) don’t have a third QB on the roster.

Ealy, Broyles two of biggest names in Open Draft

XFL teams found potential difference makers and notable names throughout the open portion.

Ryan Broyles was a former Biletnikoff award winner at Oklahoma, an award given to the best receiver in college football. After taking a brief retirement from the game after playing for the Detroit Lions, Broyles was drafted by the Dallas Renegades and was reunited with his former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.

Kony Ealy, a former second-round pick for the Carolina Panthers made a substantial impact in the team’s Super Bowl run in 2015, tying the NFL record with three sacks in a Super Bowl. He was drafted by the Houston Roughnecks and should compete for a starting job in training camp.

Small school players make huge impact on XFL Draft

While Power-5 schools made up over half of the XFL Draft pool, small schools (FCS, Division II, Division III, Junior Colleges, NAIA) still made up a strong portion of the XFL Draft.

A total of 85 players were drafted from FCS programs, led by WR Rashard Davis from James Madison, who was the first-ever selection in the XFL Draft.

One of the assigned quarterbacks, Luis Perez, comes from Division II Texas A&M Commerce. The highest Division II pick was WR Seantavius Jones (Valdosta State), the fourth pick in the Skill Position Draft to the Tampa Bay Vipers.

The first Division III player selected was WR Deontez Alexander (Franklin College), while the top Junior College player was Nick Truesdell (Grand Rapids JC), who was the fifth overall pick in the Skill Position Draft. Here are totals for players drafted from non-Division I schools:

FCS: 85

D2: 33

D3: 12

Junior College: 1