Each week, Greg will present what we learned from UFL games over the previous weekend.
-The first Derby Classic was not quite a classic. I applaud Mike Repole and the UFL for trying to brand certain regular season games as special. Having Louisville host a game the weekend(ish) of the Kentucky Derby was a smart play. Unfortunately, the game, and the Kings' performance, didn't live up to the billing. One week after thrashing the Renegades, Louisville reverted back to their early-season woes: An ineffective ground game and inconsistent pass game. Too many drops, too many penalties. St. Louis's defense, the best in the league, was able to tee off on QB Chandler Rogers, pinning their ears back and blitzing every down when the running game wasn't working. The Kings' defense held up their end, but it wasn't enough. They've already remade their offensive line room almost completely; it appears as if it's back to the drawing board for the offense.
-Houston is this year's QB snakebitten team. It seems like every year, there's a spring football team that is ravaged by injuries at the quarterback position. This year, that mantle falls to Houston. All three QBs have been felled by injuries at one time or another. Emergency QB Sam Castronova was released before the week six game, indicating Hunter Dekkers was healthy enough to serve as QB3. However, when both Nolan Henderson and Taulia Tagovailoa got hurt against Columbus, it was wide receiver Jontre Kirklin who came in to finish out the game. Houston did sign QB John Rhys Plumlee after the game to give them more depth at the position while they assess injuries to all three rostered QBs.
-2025 Kickers > 2026 Kickers. Spring football has developed kickers for the NFL at a rate above and beyond any other position, and 2026 was supposed to re-emphasize that with the addition of the four-point field goal and extra-point kicks. However, all has not gone according to plan. Extra points have been missed at an alarming rate - 12 in six weeks - and a few teams are hovering around 50% field goals made. It's notable that only Matt McCrane returns as a kicker from 2025. Some, like Harrison Mevis and Lucas Havrisik, have moved on to the NFL. Rodrigo Blankenship was drafted by Birmingham but decided to chase an NFL deal (he remains unsigned). Players like Matt Coghlin, Chris Blewitt and Tristan Vizcaino excelled last year but were not picked up for 2026.
-D.C. benefits from continuity. It should be no surprise that D.C. is 5-1 and alone in first place in the UFL standings. The championship-winning team from 2025 was blessed with more continuity on their coaching staff and roster than any other team in the league. The Defenders were the only squad to return last year's head coach, Shannon Harris, who also brought back much of the coaching staff. Several of the players have been in the offensive and defensive systems for as many as four seasons. It's like some teams are still adding two plus two, while D.C. is dealing in calculus. With the UFL Championship announced as being played at Audi Field in D.C., the Defenders may get another break by having a home game if they reach that point.
-DTR is the real deal. I took some flak on social media for my preseason hyping of Dorian Thompson-Robinson on various platforms when it turned out that he didn't even win the starting job in Orlando. I'm happy to crow about his performance over the last two weeks since the trade to Birmingham. His numbers against D.C. could be written off as a fluke with the Defenders not having any tape on him as a Stallion in that offense, even though he had a scant few days to digest the playbook. Against 4-1 Orlando, though, Thompson-Robinson added some much-needed energy and leadership to the Birmingham team. They came out ready to hit the Storm in the mouth, and they did just that, to the tune of a 20-17 victory. DTR played a big part in knocking off one of the best teams in the league - and the team that traded him to Birmingham. With four teams sitting at 2-4 and one game out of a playoff spot, the Stallions have vaulted themselves back into the conversation thanks in large part to their new QB.