The XFL, the ill-fated football league that failed in 2001, is getting a reboot that promises to be more about the game and less about celebrity status.
In August, the XFL released the name of the eight teams that would be split into two divisions within the league. The XFL East consists of the New York Guardians, D.C. Defenders, Tampa Bay Vipers, and the St Louis BattleHawks while the XFL West houses the Seattle Dragons, Los Angeles Wildcats, Dallas Renegades and the Houston Roughnecks.
The New York Guardians, coached by Kevin Gilbride, will play in MetLife Stadium. The Defenders will employ Pep Hamilton as head coach and will play at the Audi Field in Washington D.C. The Vipers will be led by Marc Trestman and will call the Raymond James Stadium home, and the BattleHawks will play in the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri under the leadership of Jonathan Hayes.
The XFL West hosts two teams in Texas: the Dallas Renegades will be coached by Bob Stoops and will play in the Globe Life Park and the Houston Roughnecks will play at TDECU Stadium in Houston under June Jones. The other two teams are on the West Coast in Seattle, where the Dragons will play CenturyLink Field under the leadership of Jim Zorn and in Los Angeles, where the Wildcats will call the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California home and Winston Moss will coach the team.
The league will begin to play on Feb. 8, 2020, the weekend after the Super Bowl, and the season will last 10 weeks through Apr. 12. There are two playoff games scheduled for Apr. 18 and 19 and the championship game is slated to be the following week on Apr. 26.
The XFL has yet to release its official rules, but some of the potential differences between this league and NFL will carry over from the original XFL, and there are other probable differences that will come into play when the rules are released. It is expected the XFL will allow more than one forward pass in some cases, will not have any fair catches or PATs, but there will be three different scoring opportunities based on yardage after touchdowns.
There will also be a continuous clock up until the two-minute warning. The play clock is expected to be 25 seconds and the instant replay clock will be 30 seconds. The XFL also will not be subject to the NFL’s college eligibility rules and will allow players out of high school to play in the league.
On day one of the draft, the teams announced their quarterback positions and then the skills positions, offensive line and defensive front seven players were drafted, filling 30 of the spots on the team rosters.
The first quarterback to openly sign with the XFL was Landry Jones, and he will play for Dallas. The rest of the following quarterbacks were announced Tuesday morning prior to the start of the draft. Los Angeles will have Luis Perez at the signal-caller position, Phillip Walker will play for Houston, and Brandon Silvers will fill the spot on Seattle’s roster.
In the XFL East, Aaron Murray will play quarterback for Tampa Bay, Cardale Jones will fill the spot in Washington DC, Matt McGloin will play for New York, and Jordan Ta’amu will be on St. Louis’ roster.
The Draft began on day one with the Skill positions phase and ended after the Defensive Front Seven phase players were drafted. We break down the draft for you in a multi-part series, beginning with the Skills Positions Draft phase with the results of the first round as well as highlights from rounds two through ten, highlighting not only the picks at the top and bottom of the list but those teams in the middle as well.
Skill Position Draft
First Round
- Rashard Davis-Wide Receiver-DC Defenders (James Madison)
- Connor Cook-Quarterback-Houston Roughnecks (Michigan State)
- DeAngelo Yancy-Wide Receiver-New York Guardians (Purdue)
- Jeff Badet-Wide Receiver-Dallas Renegades (Oklahoma)
- Nick Truesdell-Tight End-Tampa Bay Vipers (Grand Rapids Junior College)
- Christine Michael-Running Back-St. Louis BattleHawks (Texas A&M)
- Trey Williams-Running Back-Seattle Dragons (Texas A&M)
- Elijah Hood-Running Back-Los Angeles Wildcats
Round 2
- Rashad Ross-Wide Receiver-Los Angeles Wildcats (Arizona State)
- Kenneth Farrow-Running Back-Seattle Dragons (Houston)
- Brogan Roback-Quarterback-St. Louis BattleHawks (Eastern Michigan)
Round 3
- Jhurell Presley-Running Back-DC Defenders (New Mexico)
- Sammie Cates-Wide Receiver-Houston Roughnecks (Auburn)
- Cameron Artis-Payne-New York Guardians (Auburn)
Round 4
- Brandon Barnes-Tight End-LA Wildcats (Alabama State)
- Jace Amaro-Tight End-Seattle Dragons (Texas Tech)
Round 5
- Khan Lee-Tight End-DC Defenders (Bowie State)
- Deontez Alexander-Wide Receiver- Houston Roughnecks (Alexander College)
Round 6-10 Nos. 4 and 5 picks
Round 6
Cole Wick-Tight End-Tampa Bay Vipers (Incarnate Wood)
Kelvin McKnight-Wide Receiver-Dallas Renegades (Stamford)
Round 7
Philip Nelson-Quarterback-Dallas Renegades (East Carolina)
Rannell Hall-Wide Receiver-Tampa Bay Vipers (Central Florida)
Round 8
Reece Horn-Wide Receiver-Tampa Bay Vipers (Indianapolis)
Lance Dunlap-Running Back-Dallas Renegades (North Texas)
Round 9
Donald Parham-Tight End-Dallas Renegades (Stetson)
Taylor Cornelius-Quarterback-Tampa Bay Vipers (Oklahoma State)
Round 10
Alonzo Moore-Wide Receiver-Tampa Bay Vipers (Nebraska)
Dimitri Flowers-Running Back-Dallas Renegades (Oklahoma)
In the next part of the series, we will break down the rest of the XFL Day One draft picks, including the Offensive Line and the Front Defensive Seven.
Here's how Phase 1, Round 1, Pick 1 played out. #XFLDraft@OliverLuckXFL @XFLDefenders @CoachPepHam @CJ1two@rasharddavis6 pic.twitter.com/b2TaIsjDfJ
— XFL (@XFL2023) October 15, 2019
