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The XFL, America’s new professional football league, finalized its official two-day draft. The new league is launching 19 years after the original Vince McMahon version with a goal to provide former NFL players as well as players who didn’t quite make it a second chance.
The Rebirth of the XFL
The XFL’s inaugural season is set to begin this upcoming February.
The structure of the draft is different from that of other sports leagues. One quarterback will be assigned to each of the eight teams. From there, the draft is broken down into five phases, with four of them being based on positional groupings.
Each of the four phases will have 80 picks before the final phase. In phase five, teams will work through the remaining player pool until the rosters are complete.
More than 1,000 players are participating in the draft. Out of the initial pool, 568 players will be drafted. These selected players will fill the 71 roster spots on the eight XFL teams.
Day One Recap
Yesterday, the league completed its first three phases with the positional groupings skill positions, offensive lineman, and defensive lineman. Also the quarterbacks for each of the eight teams were assigned. Here is a list of the quarterbacks for the season:
- Cardale Jones (Ohio State) — DC Defenders
- Brandon Silvers (Troy) — Seattle Dragons
- Landry Jones (Oklahoma) — Dallas Renegades
- Aaron Murray (Georgia) — Tampa Bay Vipers
- Jordan Ta’amu (Ole Miss) — St. Louis BattleHawks
- Phillip Walker (Temple) — Houston Roughnecks
- Matt McGloin (Penn State) — New York Guardians
- Luis Perez (Texas A&M) — Los Angeles Wildcats
XFL commissioner and CEO, Oliver Luck, says that every team got their preferred quarterback. He added that coaches were smart in how they prioritized the quarterbacks that were available.
Former Gators Found New Homes in the XFL
Running back Matt Jones was selected by St. Louis Battle Hawks as their sixth pick of the seventh round of the offensive skill player draft. Jones had a productive career in his first three years in the NFL. However, he was released prior to the 2017 NFL season due to an injury.
The Tampa Bay Vipers picked up offensive lineman Martez Ivey as their second round fifth pick. Ivey was a four year starter on the left side of Florida’s offensive line. Despite his personal success at Florida, Ivey was not picked up in the NFL draft last season. but now, he looks to make an impression and explode in the XFL. He was the fifth pick of the second round of the OL pool by Tampa Bay.
The New York Guardians selected Ian Silberman in the eight round of the offensive line phase. Previously, Silberman played for five teams in six NFL season after entering the draft as a graduate student from Boston College.
Defensive lineman Leon Orr was also drafted in day one to the Los Angeles Wildcats. Will Hill, Quinterrius Eatmon, Matt Elam are other Florida graduates who will feature in the 2020 kick-off season.
