Turnover is inevitable in spring football as players retire, earn NFL contracts, or teams simply find the next wave of young talent looking for an opportunity. In 2025, the Battlehawks have seen a decent amount of turnover moving on from 17 players, and bringing in 23 new faces for Anthony Becht’s staff. With the offseason in it’s final stretch, below are Five new Battlehawks to get excited about this season.
Max Duggan QB
Any QB in professional football is going to get extra attention and replacing a prolific QB like AJ McCarron is surely going to put a lot of eyeballs on Duggan. Between St. Louis moving on from McCarron, Bruce Gradkowski taking an NFL coaching position, and his college career the pressure is on for Duggan who looks to return to the NFL.
Chase Allen TE
The Battlehawks Tight End room has been vastly underutilized in the passing game over the past Two years with 28 receptions across 21 games (postseason included). With the addition of Allen the Battlehawks should be able to maximize their 11 personnel packages adding another dynamic to their offense.
Kemoko Turay EDGE
Even after the addition of 2023 DPOY Pita Taumoepenu the Battlehawks still managed 19 sacks once again in 2024. With Turay, the Battlehawks believe it or not get a bit younger at the position (Travis Feeney 32, 14.5 sacks and Taumoepenu 31, 11.5 sacks), and add an explosive defender whose recorded 12 career NFL sacks.
Denzel Mims WR
With turnover taking place in the Battlehawks room, it appears Denzel Mims will get the nod to start across from Hakeem Butler in 2025. Mims was a 2nd round pick in 2020, recording almost 3,000 career yards at Baylor. The former Jet should be a welcome addition to the St. Louis offense which will have a new QB and Offensive Coordinator.
Rodrigo Blankenship K
Specialists have traditionally been some of the most successful players to earn and capitalize on their opportunity in spring football, with Blankenship teeing up to be next in line. Replacing Andre Szmyt, Blankenship has 56 Field Goal Attempts through 24 games in the NFL and like many others is primed to continue the strong play of specialist in the UFL.
With the UFL season less than 45 days away, the “new faces” in St. Louis will all have an opportunity to make an early impact in 2025. With the Battlehawks looking to reload for the upcoming season, St. Louis will not just the above-mentioned players to contribute but all 23 new members of the team to bring a championship to the UFL’s most passionate fan base.
1 Comment
by Ken Granito
I have previously written how Mike Riley would be an excellent coach to help St. Louis, but other choices could include Chris Miller the old quarterback and former Houston Roughneck OC who has been winning state titles in Oregon. Miller was recently interviewed saying he would start to look for college opportunities. Other candidates could include Matt Cavanaugh, Brad Childress, Kevin Gilbride. All of these would provide solid offensive playcalling and experience along the way. Please note that these four are in addition to Mike Riley who I think we be the best fit as he has most recently been coaching. And lastly the most intriguing option woukd be Mike Martz. Could it be the Greatest Show on Turf 2. I had mentioned in one of my other comments that if this were to happen Riley should be able to sign a QB to battle with the others in camp. I feel that option should also be given to Martz and Gilbride.