Theodore Levitt once said “Sustained success is largely a matter of focusing regularly on the right things and making a lot of uncelebrated little improvements every day.” the Stallions have taken this approach and run with it this season. While the players they are locking up for 2025 may not be the most noticeable names for casual fans, they are building a solid core to add the final pieces of what they hope will be another championship-caliber puzzle. As of right now, no other team can make a claim they have done it better than Birmingham.
The Stallions have not made as many flashy moves to bring in household names this offseason as they have in years past when they signed players like Matt Corral or Taco Charlton. Now that is not to say it will not happen in the near future, but recently they have focused more on bringing back their players.
NFL Signees Return
With final cuts for the NFL now firmly in the rearview mirror some of the Stallions who signed NFL contracts have begun to make their way back to the UFL for 2025 assuming they don’t receive another NFL call. Jordan Thomas was released by Atlanta, Joshua Pryor by Cincinnati, and Rachad Wildgoose by Detroit, but all three landed on their feet with the Stallions.
Both Pryor and Wildgoose have yet to play a snap for the Stallions. They were early additions to the roster who both received NFL contracts for the 2024 Training camp cycle. Now both will get the opportunity to play professional football in the UFL in 2025, assuming they can beat out some of their competition. In particular the secondary has already seen several players return; Chris Jackson, Nevelle Clarke, Ike Brown, Kenny Robinson, Tj Carter, Juju Hughes, and newcomer Trey Norwood already signing their 2025 contracts.
Wildgoose is an interesting case of a young former NFL Draft Pick who focused on a YouTube channel in his free time during the 2023 season. He seems to have put his channel on the back burner as he tries to revive his football career. He has not posted any content in over 2 months.
https://youtube.com/@motiongoose?si=VfGJQNxuPIbcMdaz
Pryor is a small school prospect who had limited NFL opportunities coming out of college. This resulted in him landing with the Commanders as a rookie UDFA. Attending the HBCU Pro Day at 242 pounds he had a respectable showing although his athleticism was lacking in certain areas. Over the year he spent with Washington he added nearly 40 pounds to allow him to play inside and outside. This helped him get an opportunity with the Bengals before opting to sign with the Stallions once again.
Jordan Thomas looked like he had a real chance at making the Falcons practice squad or roster. Given his ability to play fullback, tight end, linebacker, or special teams he looked like a very valuable depth piece for Atlanta. Ultimately they opted to carry three tight ends on the active roster, and a fourth on the practice squad. Releasing their only true fullback, and Thomas as well. Thomas has so far seen NFL interest each time he’s played in the XFL or UFL. He may as well commit to a return with Birmingham if he is not brought back by an NFL team.
Re-Signing for 2025
Demarquis Gates, Chris Jackson, and Juju Hughes are the latest Stallions to choose to return for 2025. Ironically, Hughes and Jackson and their time with the Stallions were intertwined since the first day Hughes signed.
Chris Jackson signed with the Stallions for the 2024 season after spending the better part of three years in Tennessee with the Titans. Being let go in the final cuts in 2023, he waited it out for just 4 months before signing a UFL contract with the Stallions. On April 23rd he was placed on injured reserve after playing all over the field in four games.
On April 25th Juju Hughes was signed by the Stallions. He would step in as the depth at safety for the next few games. On May 21st the Stallions released Hughes, just in time for Jackson’s return to the lineup in week 9. After week 9, Jackson did not suit up again. Now both players will be given a chance to compete side by side in training camp.
Amari Rodgers is back in the burgundy and beige for the 2025 season. Rodgers has been out of the NFL since October 2023 when the Colts released him from the practice squad.
Rodgers is a versatile player, a wideout who is built like a running back, lining up in the backfield was something he was accustomed to before joining the Stallions. Dating back to college he had seen 32 snaps in the backfield seeing 9 carries for 64 yards. I believe the Stallions, and Rodgers would be doing him a service by lining him up as a runner more often. At 5’9 212 pounds he looks the part, it’s time to utilize him in this manner, and heavily. This could be his best chance of making it back to the NFL. The only question is his fumbles.
Alas in 2024, he saw 15 offensive touches for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. Only one touch came in the running game. He saw more chances to get the ball on special teams, with 20 punt returns for 281 yards. He will need to do a lot more to prove he belongs in the NFL in 2025.
Re-Signing a Real Spring Football Legend
Few players know the power of alternative football leagues like Demarquis Gates. After going undrafted in 2018 he signed with the Cleveland Browns, lasting just over three weeks before being let go. His professional career would get its start in the Alliance of American Football with the Memphis Express in 2019. During what was essentially his rookie season, Gates led the league in tackles (59) and forced fumbles (5) through 8 games before the league folded. He also had 1 sack, and 1 pass breakup.
Just 9 days after the league folded Gates signed another NFL contract. This time with Washington where he stuck for two months. Left a free agent he was selected in round 8 of the 2020 XFL Draft by the Houston Roughnecks. Gates would add five more games, 32 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 pass breakups, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, and 1 recovery to his resume. At this point in 13 games, he had 91 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 1 recovery, 1 interception, and 4 pass breakups.
On March 12th Covid resulted in the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 season. This helped Gates land an NFL contract sooner than he would have if the league had finished its season. Two weeks later Gates was signed by the Minnesota Vikings where he lasted until late in the cut process being waived on August 13th, 2020.
Less than two months later he started the process over again by being selected by the TSL Blues in their October 2020 draft. He would AGAIN watch as a league he played in was forced to cancel at the end of its regular season. This meant that the league played into mid-November before canceling the final week. Once again, Gates found interest at a higher level. This time with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders where he played in five games logging 8 tackles. The well-traveled spring football star had now played in a total of 21 games in five different leagues.
In 2022 he made the jump into league number six being selected by the Birmingham Stallions for the inaugural season in 2022. Gates would play over 800 snaps in 11 of 12 games and win the first-ever USFL championship seeing snaps everywhere from defensive line, to all three linebacker alignments, in the slot or out wide in coverage, he even saw snaps aligned at both safety positions.
He finished the year with 62 tackles, 6.5 sacks, and 1 interception. This performance as well as his versatility helped him earn a contract with the Bears where he stuck through the 2022 and 2023 seasons bouncing back and forth between the active roster and the practice squad. During this stretch he played 194 snaps total during 2022, and 102 snaps (all in the regular season) in 2023. He was released in January of 2024.
Just over a month later the Stallions re-signed Gates and introduced him to his seventh different league when the USFL and XFL merged to form the UFL. Gates has now suited up in the NFL, AAF, XFL 2020, TSL, CFL, USFL, and UFL. Gates missed 3 of 12 games in 2024 but still played 358 snaps. He produced 27 tackles, 3 sacks, and 2 pass breakups. This was his first time signing with an alternative league and returning to it the following season. Gates will be 29 before the second UFL season kicks off, he might have gotten his last chance to play in the NFL, but when your fallback plan is continuing your legacy as one of the greatest to ever play professional spring football, things could be a lot worse for the veteran. It didn’t hurt that he collected over $770,000 in two seasons according to spotrac.com.
New Faces Added to Secondary
Qwuantrezz Knight has been added to the safety room for the 2025 season. Birmingham has traditionally used three safety looks fairly regularly, and due to this, and the way they like to line up situationally their depth safeties tend to see a lot of snaps throughout the year.
Knight will likely be no different in 2025, the 5’11 199 pound defensive back was used in many ways during his college career. Knight saw significant time playing free safety, strong safety, slot, and cornerback, as well as several different facets of special teams in college which has prepared him for the versatile role the Stallions will undoubtedly throw at him next season.
If there is one trait the Stallions are getting in Knight, it is experience, and that does not just pertain to any one position on defense. He played anywhere from up on the line of scrimmage where he was often used to rush the passer or cover a running back, to out wide at cornerback, and he saw a lot of snaps at nearly every one of these roles along the way.
Line of Scrimmage: 311, 2 in NFL Preseason
Box Safety: 555 in college, 24 in NFL Preseason
Slot Corner: 982 in college, 47 in NFL Preseason
Wide Corner: 46 in college
Free Safety: 237 in college, 38 in NFL Preseason, 4 in regular season
He also played on the kick coverage and return units, punt coverage and return, and field goal/extra point block unit. In terms of defensive backs, he could not be any more versatile. Knight is not particularly fast, or quick, but he is fairly agile and had a solid vertical leap at his pro day. Playing in 57 games during college spanning six seasons and three schools, Knight never registered an interception but managed 224 tackles, 26 for a loss, 5 sacks, 7 pass deflections, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery for 20 yards, and 1 touchdown. His coaches praised his football IQ heading into the draft.
After college, he was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers where they kept him on the practice squad two years in a row. However in his second season, in need of depth at defensive back the Arizona Cardinals signed Knight to their active roster in mid-September. His now teammate Tre Norwood, was the 49ers replacement for Knight on the practice squad.
He went on to see regular-season snaps on special teams and at free safety for the Cardinals. He was retained into 2024 but ultimately released in March when the league year began. Knight made an impression in 49ers with fans, and the city. He even got throw out a pitch at an Oakland Athletics’ game with fellow 49er Danny Gray.
These were not the only current or former Stallions making the news recently
In week 3 of the NFL season and week 16 of the CFL season, three players continued to make a name for themselves, with at least one player potentially earning himself more playing time going forward.
Dondrea Tillman saw his first regular season playing time for his first NFL team, the Denver Broncos. He responded by logging 2 sacks, and 3 tackles. Given this was the Broncos’ best defensive performance of the season, and the move to injured reserve for Baron Browning, Tillman should continue to see playing time.
Brandon Aubrey has written his name in NFL History. Early in an eventual loss for the Cowboys, he kicked the second longest field goal in history a 65 harder. Just last week he had set a record for the most consecutive kicks made over 50 yards to start a career. In just 20 NFL games Aubrey has missed just 2 of 38-yard field goals including a perfect 15 for 15 from 50 yards or more.
Aubrey has quickly become a weapon in the NFL, including going 2 for 2 on 60 yards or more. He did fail to convert 3 extra point attempts but he is quickly closing in on historic marks for accuracy. Aubrey has already scored 192 points in the NFL establishing himself as one of if not the best kicker in the league. It’s kind of ironic to look back on the beginning of Aubrey’s football career just three years ago. Aubrey getting a UFL opportunity having never played football before once angered the kicking community, the same community that will now happily parade him as proof there are some great kickers in the UFL and other alternative leagues.
Lorenzo Burns signed with the defending Grey Cup champion, Montreal Alouettes to finish out the 2024 season. Signed 13 days ago, he was elevated to the active roster for their game against Ottawa. He logged 1 tackle in the game, but this was just the beginning of his CFL experience. Burns will likely begin to see a bigger role now that he has had a chance to acclimate himself to the Canadian game.
Final Word
When you have had this much success at any level other teams and leagues will take notice. The NFL has certainly taken notice of the Stallions. With over 30 players signed to NFL contracts in three seasons, they have proven to be the class of the USFL, and UFL in finding recent NFL talent that has fallen out of the league.
Whether that’s the Matt Corral’s, Rachad Wildgoose’s, Demetrius Taylor’s, the Demarquis Gate’s, and Dondrea Tillman’s of the world, they have done a great job of identifying, and developing players before sending them to the NFL. This success has a trickle-down effect that only attracts future free agents looking to get themselves a look at the NFL level. This approach would not work without strong coaching and a strong core of veteran leaders.
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