With some injuries in the secondary and plethora of talent at the Linebacker position the Battlehawks made a defensive swap going into their week 8 matchup vs the Stallions. The Battlehawks waived offseason signing Olakunle Fatukasi and signed Micah Abraham who was released by the Bengals on May 12th.
Abraham joins his father Donnie who is the Defensive Coordinator of the Battlehawks. A Sixth Round-Pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Abraham spent time with the Colts before latching on to the Bengals practice squad for the duration of the 2024 NFL regular season. Abraham signed a futures deals with Cincy, only to be released on the 12th. His brother Devin also spent time with the Battlehawks as the teams Defensive Backs Coach.
Fatukasi was a highly anticipated for St. Louis who brought NFL experience to the team. With the Battlehawks moving on from Elijah Lee, Drew Lewis, and LaKiem Williams, and Johnny Buchanan (“retired”) Fatukasi was primed to bring a plethora of experience for a position group that was bitten with the injury bug in 2024. With Mike Rose, Willie Harvey, and Callahan O’Reilly all staying healthy and playing at a high level the Battlehawks move on from Fatukasi who was inactive several weeks back. The former Rutgers linebacker recorded 21 tackles in 6 games (no starts) during his time in St. Louis.
The Battlehawks are 5-2 going into week 8, as they look to avenge their 2024 loss against the Birmingham Stallions. St. Louis could possibly clinch a playoff berth with a win and some help from the other UFL teams despite losing starting QB Manny Wilkins, and mainstays like Brandon Sebastian and Abdul Beecham. It’s also worth noting that Head Coach Anthony Becht could hit the milestone of winning his 20th career game in his career as well. The Battlehawks are set to take on Birmingham this Saturday at the Dome on FOX at 1PM ET.
