This is the second part of an eight-part look at each UFL team’s 2026 season.
Part One: Columbus Aviators
What went right
Dallas was the best team in the UFL for the first three weeks of the season, cutting through their opponents like a hot knife through butter. QB Austin Reed was the presumptive league MVP, setting single-game passing records left and right, making Head Coach Rick Neuheisel look like a genius for going with Reed over veteran Luis Perez as starter. Receiver Tyler Vaughns was the main beneficiary of Reed's attention, putting up big numbers of his own. The defense was creating turnovers. Everything was coming up Renegades.
What went wrong
Basically the rest of the season after those first three weeks. Six losses in a row followed. The offense never looked as smooth as it did in those first three weeks, with Reed in particular getting derailed. His receivers didn't help, dropping numerous passes. The run game was inconsistent. The team gave up more than 30 points in three of those six losses. It's hard to account for what led to such a staggering downturn after the hot start. The defense getting bullied in that first loss to Columbus, where the Aviators ran them into the ground, may have lingered with Dallas, just unable to get out of the funk that brought on.
Stat to note
The discrepancy in performance between Reed and Vaughns in the team's wins versus losses was stark. In Dallas's four wins, Reed completed 61.3% of his passes for 925 yards, adding 12 touchdowns to just one interception. In the six losses, his completion rate was under 50% (49.7), he threw for 998 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. The story was similar for Vaughns: 26 of his 41 catches on the year came in four wins, as did five of his seven touchdown catches. He also stretched the field more, averaging 14.0 yards per reception in Dallas victories against only 10.8 yards per catch in the six losses.
Offensive MVP
When big plays were needed in the passing game, it was WR Tyler Vaughns often the one making them. In his fourth year as a Renegade, Vaughns set his personal spring football bests in receiving yardage, yards per reception, and touchdowns. His uncanny chemistry with Reed right off the bat was notable since he'd mostly only been catching passes from Luis Perez the past few seasons. Like most Dallas offensive players, Vaughns experienced some lulls in the middle weeks of the schedule, though it's debatable how much his lack of production in those games goes on his or Reed's shoulders.
Defensive MVP
There was one player who seemed to make splash plays nearly every game, and that was DT Kevin Strong. He capped a notable season in the middle of the Dallas defense with two sacks against St. Louis in Week 10, matched up against an accomplished interior offensive line of the Battlehawks. Strong put up 27 total tackles, four tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. He gets docked a little bit for the leaky run defense as he's the first line of defense in that regard. However, he put a lot of quality reps on tape throughout the season.
Special Teams MVP
A relatively unknown at the position, even by punter standards, P Brendan Hall was selected by Dallas in the Specialists Phase of the 2026 Draft. He played collegiately at SMU and then FCS powerhouse Montana State before earning a rookie minicamp tryout with the Green Bay Packers in 2025. Hall led the UFL in punting this year at over 50 yards a kick - a UFL single-season record. Granted, the rules were changed this season to discourage shorter punts, artificially increasing the average. And Hall had the fewest opportunities of any full-time punter in the league with just 18. Listed as 6'9", Hall put every ounce of his outsized size into his kicks to aid in the field position battle.
Most likely to succeed (in getting NFL opportunities)
Reed and Vaughns will be interesting cases: How will NFL teams weigh their peaks against their valleys of the 2026 UFL season? Both probably deserve another NFL shot, with Reed more likely to get one given that Vaughns hasn't been in an NFL training camp since 2022. Had Dae Dae Hunter not gotten hurt, and depending on the severity of his injury, he could get called in for a workout. Drake Stoops, Seth Green and Curtis Hodges are among the other skill position players on offense worth naming here. Several defensive players, while talented, feel as if their NFL well has run dry. Strong, Domenique Davis, and Shaun Wade should be on NFL radars. Willie Taylor III will be an interesting case: Like Hunter, he ended up on IR, so his health will be a factor. But he showed real pass rush juice even though his only NFL opportunity came three years ago.
QB concern level for 2027 (1-5)
After trading Luis Perez to the Battlehawks mid-season, the Renegades finished the year with just two true QBs on the roster in Reed and Luke Lehnen. Lehnen played in five games but threw just two passes, owing to his role as an option QB. If Reed sticks on an NFL team, is Lehnen ready for a promotion? Only Dallas coaches know the answer to that. Next season really hinges on the future of Reed and whether he returns. If he does, despite his ups and downs of 2026, there should be a level of comfort with him starting once again. If not, at the very least, Dallas will be looking for two quarterbacks, infinitely more difficult to find in this environment than just one. With the wildcard of Lehnen and the veteran Reed as options right now, I'll split it down the middle and call it 2.5.
Head coach return scale (1-5)
Neuheisel replaced the departed Skip Holtz as one of the most fun head coaches to listen to on the sidelines. The two veteran college leader share a lot of similarities in how they view spring football's place in the ecosystem of the sport. In a league full of young or first-time coaches, Neuheisel's presence is necessary for the credibility of the UFL, but also as a shoulder to lean on for those newer coaches. After all, they're building this thing together. Given his age, Neuheisel may not be in this for as long a haul as others - though he's also probably not using it as a steppingstone to a college or pro coaching job, either. This league desperately needs continuity after switching out the majority of its head coaches last year. I think Neuheisel should be good for another year or two. How confident am I? I'm hedging with a 3.5.
Offseason needs for 2027
The difference in Austin Reed returning or not is the difference between Dallas needing to find one, third-string QB, or needing to find two including one of starting caliber. The offense seems pretty well set with even some unusual depth along the offensive line. They could look to add another running back as starter Ellis Merriweather struggled to the tune of 3.2 yards per carry. Three of their key defenders, DE Taco Charlton, LB Donald Payne and CB Ajene Harris, are over 30 years old and another starter, LB J.T Tyler, will be 29 when the next season begins. Those are ancient ages in spring football years. Dallas needs to start grooming their replacements and just get younger overall on defense. Neuheisel was very loyal to his players last year, releasing only one during the season and replacing every injured player with one he released at final cuts. All of that said, Dallas simply can't enter next season with Colton Theaker as their kicker after he hit just 50% of his field goals in 2026.