RJ Young, Fox Sports National Football College Analyst
The United Football League‘s initial rosters for its 2024 season were announced Monday.
Following the merger of the USFL and XFL, each of the eight UFL teams selected players from its respective conference’s player pool in a dispersal draft. The full list can be viewed here.
Heading into training camp next month, some teams already have come away with players who have made their mark on spring football over the last two years and enjoyed memorable careers at the collegiate level.
The USFL and XFL have had a combined 150 alumni receive NFL contracts over the past two seasons. Two USFL alums, KaVontae Turpin and Brandon Aubrey, earned NFL Pro Bowl selections as members of the Dallas Cowboys.
Players who perform at a high level can return to the NFL or, in the case of Aubrey, get a first chance. USFL and XFL postseason award winners become high-demand players at the NFL and CFL level.
So here you’ll find no Jordan Ta’amu. No Alex McGough. No Frank Ginda. No McCleod Bethel-Thompson.
Here’s how things shook out for each squad, with noteworthy selections highlighted.
- Italics: Denotes 2022 All-USFL selection
- Bold: Denotes 2023 All-USFL or All-XFL selection
- +: Denotes two-time selection across both leagues
1. Birmingham Stallions
Skip Holtz’s two-time USFL champions return not just their head coach but key members on both the 2022 and 2023 title teams. Among them are wideout Victor Bolden, quarterback J’Mar Smith and tight end Jace Sternberger.
However, the Stallions left the first dispersal draft without the 2023 USFL MVP, quarterback Alex McGough, and the league’s best kicker, Brandon Aubrey.
Still, no team has been as dominant as the Stallions over the last two years, winning 21 of 24 games and going undefeated in the USFL playoffs.
Former Kansas State QB Adrian Martinez projects as the Day 1 starter. In 2022, he helped lead the Wildcats to a Big 12 title while passing for more than 2,800 yards and rushing for more than 500, with 27 total TDs.
The addition of former Philadelphia Star Channing Stribling makes the secondary formidable. Stribling recorded seven INTs in 2022 and eight over the past two years.
Number of All-USFL players selected: 6
Noteworthy players:
Adrian Martinez, QB, Kansas State
Chris Orr, ILB, Wisconsin
Kyahva Tezino, ILB, San Diego State
Scooby Wright, ILB, Arizona
J’Mar Smith, QB, Louisiana Tech
Willie Yarbary, DL, Wake Forest
Amari Rodgers, WR, Clemson
Jace Sternberger, TE, Texas A&M
Channing Stribling, CB, Michigan
Calvin Ashley, OT, Auburn
Victor Bolden, WR, Oregon State
JoJo Tillery, S, Wofford
Deon Cain, WR, Clemson
Carlo Kemp, DE, Michigan
Marcus Baugh, TE, Ohio State
CJ Marable, RB, Coastal Carolina
Binjimen Victor, WR, Ohio State
Marlon Williams, WR, Central Florida
2. Arlington Renegades
Despite going just 4-6 last season, Bob Stoops’ Renegades rode into the XFL playoffs and proceeded to win the XFL Championship. The return of quarterback Luis Perez, who finished with the fourth-most passing yards in the XFL with 1,636, already gives Stoops’ squad continuity other teams will lack at the most important position on the field.
Perez is the only quarterback to feature in the playoffs of both leagues and one of just two returning starters — along with Stallions QB J’Mar Smith — to a championship team at the position.
Former All-USFL LB Donald Payne returns to the Renegades and remains the only player in either league to record a 100-tackle (117) season as a Houston Gambler in 2022. Ajene Harris, the leader across both leagues in INTs last year with five, also returns to Arlington.
Number of All-XFL and All-USFL players selected: 3
Noteworthy players:
Luis Perez, QB, Texas A&M Commerce
Deontay Burnett, WR, USC
Davontae Lambert, DT, Auburn
Lindsey Scott, QB, Incarnate Word
Colin Schooler, LB, Texas Tech
Holton Ahlers, QB, East Carolina
Vic Beasley, LB, Clemson
Cam Brown, DB, Ohio State
Jake Lacina, OL, Augustana
Adrian Ealy, OT, Oklahoma
Bobby Evans, OT, Oklahoma
Marquette King, P, Fort Valley State
Donald Payne, LB, Stetson
Jalen Redmond, DE, Oklahoma
Dru Samia, OL, Oklahoma
Christian Sam, LB, Arizona State
De’Veon Smith, RB, Michigan
LaRon Stokes, DE, Oklahoma
Tyler Vaughns, WR, USC
3. D.C. Defenders
D.C. finished 9-1 in the 2023 regular season and is undefeated (9-0) at Audi Field dating back to 2020. Opponents might fear the beer snake, but Defenders fans might fear heading into 2024 without XFL Offensive Player of the Year Jordan Ta’amu behind center.
After the first dispersal draft, Ta’amu isn’t listed on any UFL roster. Spring football is all about transactions, though, with the CFL signing free agents all while players are figuring out their 2024 futures with the 2023 NFL regular season coming to an end.
But 2023 XFL Coach of the Year Reggie Barlow has two and a half months to identify his starter at QB while riding the XFL’s leader in rushing, Abram Smith, who ran for 791 yards and seven TDs in 10 games.
In his last season at Baylor, Smith rushed for a school-record 1,601 yards.
Number of All-XFL players selected: 5
Noteworthy players:
Liam Fornadel, OG, James Madison
+Davin Bellamy, DE, Georgia
Michael Joseph, DB, Dubuque
Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State
Jordan Evans, LB, Oklahoma
Reggie Northrup, LB, Florida State
Abram Smith, RB, Baylor
Trent Harris, LB, Miami
4. Houston Roughnecks
Curtis Johnson’s Gamblers missed the playoffs, going 5-5, but looked impressive down the stretch in a strong South Division.
Though the Gamblers rebranded as the Roughnecks, the XFL franchise, the 2024 Roughnecks used the 2023 Gamblers roster to select protected players and were allowed to select additional players in the dispersal draft from the USFL’s pool of players and not the XFL’s pool of players.
And they still managed to pull out nearly twice as many All-USFL or All-XFL players as the next closest franchise with nine. One more reason the Roughnecks rate highly is because they are returning a starter at quarterback, Kenji Bahar, who became a better player as the season progressed and featured one of the league’s most talented receiving corps, led by returning pass catcher Justin Hall.
Hall caught 47 passes for 515 yards with four TDs.
Despite this, the Roughnecks return the 2023 USFL Offensive Player of the Year in running back Mark Thompson, two-time All-USFL defensive tackle Toby Johnson and the 2022 USFL Defensive Player of the Year in Chris Odom.
Number of All-USFL players selected: 9
Noteworthy players:
Mark Thompson, RB, Florida
Adam Rodriguez, DE, Weber State
Gabriel Sewell, LB, Nevada
Reuben Foster, OLB, Alabama
Isaiah Pryor, LB, Notre Dame
Chris Odom, DT, Arkansas State
Reggie Howard, DT, Toledo
Jeffrey Johnson, DT, Oklahoma
+Toby Johnson, DT, Georgia
Isiah Hennie, WR, Sacramento State
Justin Hall, WR, Ball State
Anthony Ratliff-Williams, WR, North Carolina
Isaiah Zuber, WR, Kansas State
Jarrett Guarantano, QB, Washington State
Kenji Bahar, QB, Monmouth
T.J. Pledger, RB, Oklahoma
Paul Adams, OT, Missouri
Isaiah Battle, OT, Clemson
Woody Brandom, TE, South Alabama
Braedon Bowman, TE, Sam Houston
Manny Bunch, S, Tulsa
Olive Sagapolu, DT, Wisconsin