Tag: XFL draft

Two former Spartans selected in 2023 XFL rookie draft

Two former Spartans were selected in the 2023 XFL rookie draft:

Michigan State has had two former Spartans selected in the 2023 XFL rookie draft. Former offensive lineman Matt Carrick and Jarret Horst were both selected to play in the XFL.

Horst was selected by the Orlando Guardians, while Carrick was selected by the D.C. Defenders. Both former Spartans will look to play their way into an NFL contract.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on Twitter @Cory_Linsner.

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Former Oregon OL George Moore selected in XFL supplemental draft

Former Oregon Ducks offensive lineman George Moore was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 XFL supplemental draft by Arlington.

The XFL is back after a two-year hiatus, stemming first from the COVID-19 pandemic and then with legal issues forcing owner Vince McMahon and president Oliver Luck out the door.

New ownership, backed by movie star Dwayne Johnson, revamped the league and brought eight teams into the mix for 2023.

The first XFL draft took place in November and saw five former Oregon Ducks, including defensive back Mykael Wright and wide receiver Jaylon Redd – added to rosters.

The XFL then held a supplemental draft on New Year’s Day, hoping to capitalize on the end of the end of the USFL season and many players’ expiring contracts.

One more Duck will join the XFL: offensive tackle George Moore was selected in the fourth round of the supplemental draft by the Arlington Renegades.

Moore was with the Ducks from 2017-2021, helping pave running lanes for star running back CJ Verdell and Travis Dye, among others.

His NFL career fizzled, and now he’ll try his luck in the XFL which is set to begin play on Feb. 18, 2023 – shortly after the Super Bowl concludes the NFL season.

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List of former Tennessee Titans selected in XFL Draft

Titans LEGEND Vic Beasley headlines the list.

After another brief hiatus, the XFL is set to return in 2023 under a new ownership group led by The Rock and Dany Garcia.

You could make a strong argument that this is arguably the most optimistic people have been about the future of a legitimate spring football league.

The XFL finally finding long-term success would be a good thing for a couple of reasons. For starters, it would provide competitive football to watch during the NFL offseason.

Secondly, it would also give plenty of talented football players another opportunity to develop their skill set while simultaneously gaining exposure and getting paid for it.

The XFL recently held its draft for the upcoming season to fill out the rosters, and unsurprisingly, there were plenty of familiar names selected by the eight official franchises.

In total, 14 former Tennessee Titans players were selected throughout the draft process. Let’s take a closer look at which for Titans players you can expect to see come Spring 2023 (check out the full results here).

5 former Oregon Ducks selected in 2022 XFL Draft

Five former Oregon Ducks, including wide receiver Jaylon Redd and defensive back Mykael Wright, were selected in the 2022 XFL Draft.

The rebirth of the XFL after a nearly twenty year hiatus didn’t go so well in 2020, thanks almost entirely to COVID-19 which ended the season prematurely.

Shortly after the season’s end, legal issues between Oliver Luck and Vince McMahon ultimately killed the reboot after less than one full season. But new ownership – backed by movie star Dwayne Johnson – has the league on track to restart again in February of 2023.

Things are starting to really come together now that the XFL draft took place earlier this week, just a few days after each team was assigned a pair of quarterbacks to begin the season.

While names like AJ McCarron and Ben Dinucci will grab the headlines, there are a lot of other extremely talented football players set to participate in the XFL this year – including five former Oregon Ducks, each who were selected during the position group portions of the XFL draft.

Below is a look at each player selected, and where they are set to play starting in a few months:

Kyle Sloter among 27 ex-Broncos selected in XFL draft

Kyle Sloter is back for more spring football. He’s one of eight ex-Broncos joining the Arlington Renegades in the XFL.

Arlington Renegades coach Bob Stoops apparently likes what he’s seen from the Denver Broncos’ scouting department in recent years. 

Stoops picked eight former Broncos in the XFL draft earlier this week, including fan-favorite quarterback Kyle Sloter and veteran safety Rahim Moore.

Before joining the XFL, Sloter starred in the USFL with the New Orleans Breakers last spring. He then went to training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars but failed to make their 53-man roster.

Denver had 27 total former players selected in the XFL draft ahead of the league’s return to play in the spring. The XFL will have eight teams in 2023 with the league set to kick off on Feb. 18, just one week after the Super Bowl.

Given how many former Broncos they have, the Renegades might end up being a fan-favorite in Denver. Another team to watch is the Houston Roughnecks. Houston will be coached by Wade Phillips, who served as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator when they won Super Bowl 50.

The full list of ex-Denver players now set to play in the XFL can be seen below.

2022 XFL Draft: 19 Mountain West Players Selected On Day One

The newly revived XFL held the biggest part of its draft on Wednesday, featuring 19 former Mountain West athletes.

2022 XFL Draft: 19 Mountain West Players Selected On Day One

The newly revived XFL held the biggest part of its draft on Wednesday, featuring 19 former Mountain West athletes.

Contact/Follow @MattK_FS and @MWCwire

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Can you smell what the revamped league is cooking?

After its brief revival got curtailed by financial problems and the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, the XFL is back in action for a third time, under new leadership, and held the most extensive part of its inaugural draft on Wednesday.

The newest version of the football league, first debuted by Vince McMahon back in 2001 and brought back in 2018 before Dwayne Johnson took the reins in August 2020, will feature eight teams whose roster constructions began yesterday with their quarterback selections and continued today with a four-part selection process. As with the revived USFL earlier this year, the Mountain West was well-represented with 19 overall selections who played at nine different schools.

Former Hawaii running back Calvin Turner Jr. was the first former player from the conference to be selected, taken in the second round by the San Antonio Brahmas from the offensive skill pool with the 14th overall pick. The Brahmas also selected the first former Mountain West star out of the subsequent defensive backs pool, as well, taking San Diego State cornerback Luq Barcoo with the second overall pick there.

Among the defensive front seven pool, former Boise State defensive end Curtis Weaver got the conference’s first call from the Seattle Sea Dragons. They picked the all-time Mountain West sack leader in the third round at pick #18.

In the offensive line pool, however, the Houston Roughnecks used the first overall pick to select former San Jose State offensive tackle Jack Snyder, who holds the school record for career starts and was a key contributor on the Spartans’ conference championship team in 2020.

Of the eight XFL teams, the St. Louis Battlehawks led the way with five Mountain West selections in all and every team but the Orlando Guardians had at least one pick from the conference. As far as which Mountain West schools had the most draft picks, the Hawaii Warriors can now boast of five: Turner Jr., Cedric Byrd, Cortez Davis, Rojesterman Ferris, and Kohl Levao. San Diego State had four picks, while Boise State, Fresno State, and Wyoming had two each.

Arlington Renegades

  • Josh Watson, LB, Colorado State — defensive front seven pool — round 10, overall pick #78
  • Jake Stetz, OL, Boise State — offensive line pool — round 7, overall pick #50

D.C. Defenders

  • Cortez Davis, DB, Hawaii — defensive backs pool — round 6, overall pick #45
  • Anthoula Kelly, CB, Fresno State — defensive backs pool — round 3, overall pick #20
  • Kahale Warring, TE, San Diego State — offensive skill pool — round 10, overall pick #80

Houston Roughnecks

  • Cedric Byrd, WR, Hawaii — offensive skill pool — round 3, overall pick #24
  • Jack Snyder, OL, San Jose State — offensive line pool — round 1, overall pick #1

St. Louis Battlehawks

  • Kevin Atkins, DL, Fresno State — defensive front seven pool — round 5, overall pick #38
  • Daishawn Dixon, OL, San Diego State — offensive line pool — round 7, overall pick #55
  • Youhanna Ghaifan, DL, Wyoming — defensive front seven pool — round 4, overall pick #26
  • Brian Hill, RB, Wyoming — offensive skill pool — round 6, overall pick #24
  • D’Angelo Ross, DB, New Mexico — defensive backs pool — round 8, overall pick #62

San Antonio Brahmas

  • Luq Barcoo, CB, San Diego State — defensive backs pool — round 11, overall pick #2
  • Kohl Levao, OL, Hawaii — offensive line pool — round 8, overall pick #59
  • Calvin Turner Jr., RB, Hawaii — offensive skill pool — round 2, overall pick #14

Seattle Sea Dragons

  • Jacob Capra, OL, San Diego State — offensive line pool — round 3, overall pick #19
  • Rojesterman Ferris, DB, Hawaii — defensive backs pool — round 8, overall pick #58
  • Curtis Weaver, DL, Boise State — defensive front seven pool — round 3, overall pick #18

Vegas Vipers

  • Clayton Bradley, OL, UNLV — offensive line pool — round 5, overall pick #36

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Your guide to the XFL 3.0, from the 2022 Draft format to QB selections and more

XFL 3.0 is slated to kickoff in February. 1,700 players will vie for 528 roster spots — starting with Wednesday’s draft.

The XFL is back — and under new management. Partners Dwayne Johnson,  Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital Partners bought the spring football league from former owner and disgraced WWE head Vince McMahon in 2021, promising to reopen the league that got off to a roaring revival only to be shuttered by COVID-19 two years ago.

XFL 3.0 won’t kick off play until 2023, but the eight-team league is deep into preparations for its grand re-opening. The league’s inaugural draft — you know, if you don’t count the previous two versions — will begin Wednesday, November 16 at 11:30 AM E.T. as each franchise selects the player it hopes will be its starting quarterback for ’23 and beyond.

That will kick off a two-day process that will stock each team’s roster in advance of a February 18 opening day. But the XFL’s draft, since it’s starting from scratch (again) isn’t exactly like the NFL’s version. Here’s how it works:

Former Jets camp standout thriving in the XFL

Former Jets wide receiver Tre McBride is thriving with the Los Angeles Wildcats in the XFL.

A former Jet is making his presence known in the XFL.

Tre McBride, a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Wildcats, is enjoying a ton of success in the rebooted league. He was inactive for the Wildcats’ first game of the season and didn’t record any catches the following week, but McBride has been on a tear ever since.

Against the DC Defenders, McBride had five receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns. The following game, against the New York Guardians, McBride had eight catches for 127 yards and one touchdown. Then, last week against the Tampa Bay Vipers, McBride added another three catches for 35 yards and a touchdown.

In four games with the Wildcats, McBride has totaled 16 catches for 271 yards and four scores.

The Jets signed McBride to their practice squad in December 2017. He later signed a reserve/future contract with the team. That summer, McBride became a training camp darling before going on to catch five passes for 49 yards in the preseason. However, the Jets cut him before the start of the 2018 season.

McBride, originally a seventh-round pick by the Titans in 2015, has also made stops with the Bears, Redskins and Jaguars. In the XFL, McBride was drafted by the Defenders in the second round before being traded to Los Angeles for Rashad Ross.

If McBride continues his strong play in the XFL, there could be a chance he ends up back in the NFL.

Ex-Broncos punter Marquette King lands in XFL

Former Raiders and Broncos punter Marquette King plans to play in the XFL in 2020.

Former Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos punter Marquette King was selected by the St. Louis BattleHawks in the supplemental round of the XFL draft last week. King will begin playing in the new league in February.

After spending the first six years of his career with the Raiders, King signed a three-year, $7 million contract with the Broncos last April. His time in Denver was shortlived due in part to a thigh injury.

Before being placed on injured reserve (and later being released), King averaged 44.1 yards per punt in four games last year with a net average of 39.7 yards per punt. He was replaced by Colby Wadman.

Wadman hasn’t exactly been a fan favorite since taking over punting duties. The second-year punter is averaging 43.8 yards per punt this season with a net average of 38.4 yards per punt. Both of those averages are below King’s totals from 2018.

Last week, King tweeted a message of support for the punter that replaced him.

King implied that the Broncos’ coaching staff had him change his punting technique last year which hurt his consistency. King seems to believe that the same thing is happening to Wadman this year.

Tom McMahon has been Denver’s special teams coordinator since 2018.

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Tanner McEvoy, Darius Hillary selected in XFL Supplemental Draft

Two former Wisconsin Badgers, Tanner McEvoy and Darius Hillary, were selected in the XFL supplemental draft on Friday.

Two former Wisconsin Badgers have been added to XFL rosters after safety Darius Hillary and wide receiver Tanner McEvoy were selected in the league’s supplemental draft on Friday.

McEvoy was selected by the Tampa Bay Vipers and Hillary went to the St. Louis Battlehawks.

McEvoy and Hillary join two other Badgers – Olive Sagapolu and Garret Dooley – on XFL rosters as the league looks to reboot in 2020, just after the conclusion of the NFL season.

McEvoy was perhaps the most interesting recent player in Badgers history, having played quarterback and safety while at Wisconsin. He completed 65 passes for 709 yards and five touchdowns in 2014, while also racking up 45 career tackles and seven interceptions as a defensive back.

He entered the NFL as a receiver however, and spent two seasons with the Seahawks and one with the Dolphins before finding his way to the XFL.

Hillary spent four years with the Badgers from 2012-2015, racking up 138 combined tackles with 18 passes defended and one interception. He went undrafted and bounced around multiple practice squads, appearing in one NFL game with the Browns in 2017.

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