4 Takeaways from the Birmingham Stallions’ Statement Win

Sometimes “meaningless” games aren’t meaningless at all. 

The Birmingham Stallions have lost three games this season. Two of them were to playoff teams (DC and St. Louis). The other loss?

The Memphis Showboats. 

In case you forgot, the UFL’s first overtime game was a 24–20 thriller that saw Memphis come out on top. 

That loss made this 46–9 win even sweeter. 

With the win, the Stallions sit atop the USFL Conference at 7–3. They will now head into the playoffs this weekend against the Michigan Panthers. 

There were many positive takeaways from this game, but the biggest might be the QB carousel seemingly coming to a halt. 

QB 1

5 different QBs have played for the Birmingham Stallions this season, but none as well as J’Mar Smith. 

Coach Holtz still claims he doesn’t know who will start at QB in the playoffs, but we all know it will be J’Mar. 

With each passing game, J’Mar has looked more and more comfortable under center. The win over Memphis was no different. 

He started the game a red-hot 8/8, and didn’t slow down until halftime. 

• 13–17
• 127 yards
• 1 td, 0 ints

Andrew Peasley came out to start the second half, but Smith did more than enough to show he’s the guy going into the postseason. 

Despite joining the team midseason, Smith has outperformed every other QB on the roster this season. 

• 52–80 (65 %)
• 758 passing yards
• 6 td, 1 int
• 90 rushing yards, 1 td

Another thing that was clear in the Memphis game was who J’Mar should be handing the ball off to in the postseason. 

RB 1

another tuddy for Ricky! 💪

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/KHRp4c49C1

— B2B2B CHAMPION STALLIONS 🏆🏆🏆 (@USFLStallions) June 1, 2025

Ricky Person Jr. has had an interesting season. 

He’s rarely been on top of the depth chart and didn’t get all that many carries. Despite all that, he’s consistently played well. 

All year, he’s displayed a running style that showcased both his physicality and elusiveness. He’s consistently created more yards than were blocked for. 

Sunday’s game was no different. Person’s hard running helped open up the big lead. 

• 9 carries 
• 42 yards (4.6 average)
• 2 tds

With another great performance, Person finishes the season as the Stallions’ leading rusher. 

• 76 carries
• 310 yards (4.1 average)
• 5 tds

Establishing the run will be important in the playoffs. The deep ball opens up opportunities in the run game and vice versa. 

While J’Mar Smith and Ricky Person Jr. will be in the backfield next week, there is someone who likely won’t be. 

QB 4 or 5?

In the postgame press conference, Coach Holtz stated that playing Andrew Peasley in the second half was part of a plan to evaluate him. He’s been with the team for several weeks, but due to injury, he hasn’t seen a lot of game time. 

That evaluation was important because Matt Corral comes off the IR this week. Additionally, Alex McGough has been practicing and may return at some point. 

If one or both of them come back, someone will be the odd man out. That man looks to be Peasley. 

That doesn’t mean that Peasley played poorly. He’s just the least experienced person in the QB room. 

Against the Showboats, Peasley wasn’t perfect, but he did do some good things. 

• 9–14
• 93 yards passing
• 22 yards rushing

Peasley is a talented young QB who has proven he can make plays with both his arm and legs. He will almost certainly get another shot at playing professional football, but it won’t be this postseason. 

Of course, the offense doesn’t play alone, the defense will play a huge role moving forward as well.

DL 2?

The front seven for the Birmingham Stallions has played well all year, but the last couple of weeks have been somewhat down. 

Missing Bradlee Anae has been tough for the defense. He’s trending in the right direction, and they expect him back for the postseason. However, he could use some help.

Myjai Sanders is a guy who has been coming on lately. Against Memphis, he showcased the impact he can make. He was responsible for 2 of the Stallions’ 3 sacks on the day. 

If Anae can come back as his normal disruptive self, he and Sanders would form a formidable one-two punch. That would be enough to keep opposing QBs up at night.