8 USFL players the Detroit Lions should consider after the league’s first season completed
The first season of the rebooted USFL completed Saturday night in Canton, Ohio. The Birmingham Stallions held off the Philadelphia Stars in a very entertaining and competitive championship game.
Much of the USFL talent pool is filled with players who would love to advance into the NFL. And more than a few showed they have enough ability or unique traits for NFL teams like the Detroit Lions to take a longer look at them now that the USFL season is complete.
Here are eight USFL players who stood out as players the Lions scouting department should dive deeper on in advance of training camp.
Tigers add another player to the USFL as former cornerback signs with the Gamblers.
On Thursday, the Houston Gamblers from the newly-established USFL added former Auburn defensive back [autotag]Ryan White[/autotag] to their roster. After releasing a previous draft pick in Howard Wilson, they made the decision to add White to their roster.
The USFL consists of eight different teams that will play all their games in Birmingham, Alabama at UAB’s Progressive Stadium. The teams will be split into two divisions. There will be 10 games in the regular season. The playoffs will consist of the top two teams from each division in a semifinals round and the winners will face off in the league’s first championship.
White spent a total of four seasons with the Tigers. He played from 2010-2013. In 2010, he was a part of a national championship team. Although he didn’t have a large role on that team, he would finish his Auburn career having played in 31 games. It is also important to note that White accumulated 83 tackles, 1 interception, and 10 pass defelctions while he was on the Plains. The Florida native signed with the Packers practice squad in 2015, but he never saw any on-field action. Now, he joins the Gamblers with hopes of making a name for himself.
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Several other players that will compete in the USFL are John Franklin III, [autotag]Calvin Ashley[/autotag], [autotag]Christian Tutt[/autotag], and [autotag]Sal Cannella[/autotag]. Former Auburn offensive tackle [autotag]Marquell Harrell[/autotag] was slated to join the Michigan Panthers prior to being placed on reserve/did not report. The Tigers will be well represented in the new league. White is the only former Auburn player on the Gamblers. It will be interesting to see how he does with the new opportunity.
Former Auburn player Calvin Ashley is back playing football.
Calvin Ashely is back playing football. The former Auburn offensive tackle was drafted by the New Jersey Generals in the USFL Draft on Tuesday night in Birmingham.
The spring football league’s eight teams drafted tackles from Rounds 5 to 7, making him the No. 11 tackle taken overall.
Ashley came to Auburn as a five-star recruit and redshirted in 2017. He played in five games in 2018 before transferring to Florida Atlantic University and eventually Florida A&M.
He opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns around COVID-19 before signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 as an undrafted free agent.
He spent just three months on the roster before leaving the team and was waived but the Bucs.
The USFL will be a great chance to showcase the athleticism and size (6-foot-7, 330-pounds) that made him such a high-profile recruit.
The league is set to start the season on April 16 in Birmingham. The entire season will be played at Protective Stadium and Legion Field.
Since 2000, Auburn has signed talented players from 20 different states and the District of Columbia. Here are the best of the best.
Since 2000, Auburn has won a BCS National Championship, three SEC Championships, a Heisman Trophy, Lombardi Trophy, National Coach of the Year by three different head coaches … and that is just the beginning. Add in another trip to the BCS title game, two more SEC West titles and two undefeated seasons, and you can see why recruits regularly have the Tigers near the top of their list.
A slew of 5-stars have come to the Plains during that time as well and, while some haven’t worked out as planned, there have been many difference makers such as Derrick Brown, Cadillac Williams and Montravius Adams, just to name a few.
The talent has come from all over the United States as well as the Tigers have gone into 20 different states plus the District of Columbia to find some of the players players in the nation.
But who are the best of the best? We take a look at the top signee from each state since the beginning of the 21st century.
