Ranking UFL Teams By Position Groups (Defensive Edition)

This is part two of my rankings of each UFL position groups heading into the first week of the regular season. This edition focuses on the defense and special teams, with a final ranking based on a 1-8 score from each group. The offensive position groups ranking column can be found here.

Defensive Line

1. Michigan Panthers: This may be one of the best position groups in all of the UFL. In particular, they’ve got incredible depth with little drop-off between their first and second lines.
2. Birmingham Stallions: Birmingham has some really fascinating new faces this year, including Bradlee Anae, Ronnie Perkins, Myjai Sanders and Perrion Winfrey. Plus they return heavy-hitters from last year.
3. St. Louis Battleahwks: It will be interesting to see how the rotation shakes out. Three players return but they added some beef in Kyler Baugh, Phil Hoskins, and Isaiah Mack. All should see playing time.
4. Houston Roughnecks: Their strength is up the middle with big tackles Olive Sagapolu and Glen Logan. On the outside, first round College Draft pick Eyabi Okie should help bring some pass rush juice.
5. San Antonio Brahmas: They rank lower than you’d imagine because of their lack of depth – they only list five players as defensive linemen on the roster. Many of their expected ends are listed at linebacker, but players like Prince Emili, Jacob Sykes and Caeveon Patton could be difference-makers.
6. Memphis Showboats: Josiah Bronson returns after a stint in the NFL in 2024. They also bring back a couple of other interior players in P.J. Hall and John Atkins. Most of the changes come on the edge in an effort to better get to the quarterback.
7. Arlington Renegades: This group could move up the rankings quickly. Chris Odom was a key addition in the off-season on the outside, and former Iowa Hawkeye Dayvion Nixon is one to watch at DT. There are question marks elsewhere.
8. D.C. Defenders: Six linemen return from a defense that struggled last year. Pass-rusher Nelson Ceaser was added at end and could see substantial playing time. Another new face, Devonnsha Maxwell, will look to bully offensive linemen with his overwhelming power.

Linebackers

1. San Antonio Brahmas: A Wade Phillips defensive position group at the top of the list? Shocking, right? Tavante Beckett and Jordan Williams are the top linebacker duo in the UFL. Safety Tariq Carpenter is now listed at LB and could be a chess piece for coordinator Will Reed to move around the field.
2. St. Louis Battlehawks: If Beckett and Williams are the best LB duo in the UFL, Mike Rose and Willie Harvey are a close second. There’s great depth with Carson Wells and Chris Garrett. Callahan O’Reilly showed well when Rose was hurt last year. Pita Taumoepenu couldn’t repeat his 2023 XFL Defensive Player of the Year season off the edge; can he right the ship this year??
3. Birmingham Stallions: They list only four linebackers on their roster, so expect to see them play nickel as their base. It’s still an accomplished group, especially with the recent return of DeMarquis Gates.
4. Michigan Panthers: Frank Ginda has been the heart-and-soul of the Panthers defense the last few years. Donovan Mutin is a key off-season additions to go along with returnees Noah Dawkins and Javin White.
5. Memphis Showboats: I’m perhaps higher on this group than most. They’re young and they’ll make mistakes, but rookies Steele Chambers and Yvandy Rigby have tremendous upside. Obi Melifonwu, a second round NFL draft pick at safety, has been playing LB and is now listed there.
6. D.C. Defenders: A rookie last season, Momo Sanogo was thrown into the fire and responded well. He’ll be counted on even more this season. Anthony Hines and Ferrod Gardner are also back, though much of Gardner’s contributions came on special teams.
7. Arlington Renegades: Renegades linebackers were exposed in coverage too often last season. They needed to get younger and faster but the jury’s out on how successful they were at that. Caleb Johnson and Charlie Thomas III are the only new players at LB, and both ran fast 40 times coming out of college.
8. Houston Roughnecks: It’s Marvin Moody, J.T. Tyler and depth that has a lot of question marks. Drew Lewis has largely been a bit player in spring football. Xavier Benson is a rookie. Jamie Jones didn’t make it through the season on San Antonio’s roster last year.

Defensive Backs

1. San Antonio Brahmas: The UFL’s second-leading tackler, Jordan Mosley, is back to anchor San Antonio’s talented secondary. There’s more turnover here than you’d think for the Brahmas, with the biggest name newcomer being former NFL second round draft pick Greedy Williams.
2. D.C. Defenders: I love the Michael Ojemudia signing, as the former Iowa Hawkeye has a chance to stand out in this defense. Acquiring Kiondre Thomas in a trade with Houston gives D.C. more depth at corner, while also retaining Deandre Baker. At safety, Tayler Hawkins joins hold-overs Deontay Anderson and Montae Nicholson in what should be a much-improved group.
3. Birmingham Stallions: The Stallions added a couple of Badgers in Faion Hicks and Rachad Wildgoose. They’ll battle for playing time with the likes of Mario Goodrich and Steven Gilmore. Several safeties return, including Kenny Robinson, JoJo Tillery, and A.J. Thomas.
4. Arlington Renegades: Three players had two interceptions apiece for the Renegades last year, and each one returns this year. A couple of potential key contributors: Former seventh round NFL draft pick Chris Claybrooks at corner, and Nico Bolden, who played for the Battlehawks last year. Most of the new additions figure to be depth pieces.
5. St. Louis Battlehawks: On the positive side, the team got two key contributors from 2023 back in Nate Meadors and Lukas Denis, both of whom were out of spring football and in the NFL last year. Two of their corners are College Draft picks, so the depth is iffy on the outside.
6. Michigan Panthers: Michigan’s whole tends to be greater than the sum of its parts, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see this group end up much better than their projection here. Michigan went heavy on safeties in their defensive backfield.
7. Houston Roughnecks: There’s some talent here with Markel Roby at safety and Colby Richardson at corner returning from last year, plus former NFL first round CB Damon Arnette as the key signing this off-season. It’s just that other teams improved at this position group as well.
8. Memphis Showboats: Nehemiah Shelton is one of the few Showboats that ended up signed into the NFL this summer. He’s back, as is Kyree Woods. The rest are new, including a few who have donned spring football uniforms with other teams.

Special Teams

1. Arlington Renegades: After going through two kickers last season, Lucas Havrisik should hold down the spot for the duration of 2025. Marquette King at punter and Antonio Ortiz at long snapper are among the tops in the league.
2. St. Louis Battlehawks: After seeing K Andre Szmyt ink a futures deal with the Cleveland Browns, the Battlehawks signed former Indianapolis Colt Rodrigo Blankenship to replace him. Blankenship hit field goals at nearly an 85% clip in the NFL in his three years there.
3. D.C. Defenders: The three-man battery is back for a second season together in D.C., and the Defenders are the only team to run back all three of its specialists from 2024. Paxton Brooks had a strong campaign as a rookie punter.
4. Birmingham Stallions: Like others on this list, Birmingham made a specialist change, bringing in the Thiccer Kicker, all 243 pounds of Harrison Mevis.
5. Memphis Showboats: Matt Coghlin continues to get overlooked for NFL opportunities despite putting up strong numbers in the USFL in 2023, then the UFL last year. Former PIttsburgh Mauler Matt Mengel was brought in to punt.
6. Michigan Panthers: Last year’s UFL star, Jake Bates, is now a Detroit Lion. Michigan replaced him with accomplished Clemson kicker B.T. Potter, though it remains to be seen if he has the same range as Bates.
7. San Antonio Brahmas: Donald De La Haye, a.k.a Deestroying, is still largely untested on field goals, as he was hurt last season before officially attempting one. Cameron Lyons is the new long snapper, taking the place of Rex Sunahara, who is now in the NFL.
8. Houston Roughnecks: With J.J. Molson injured, Chris Blewitt replaces him on the roster. Marco Ortiz was one of the best long snappers in the draft class of 2024 and is the twin brother of Antonio in Arlington. Mike Rivers is a question mark at punter.

Final Tally

1. Birmingham Stallions (20 points)
2. San Antonio Brahmas (22 points)
3. Michigan Panthers (30 points)
4. St. Louis Battlehawks (31 points)
5. Arlington Renegades (38 points)
6. D.C. Defenders (43 points)
7. Memphis Showboats (50 points)
8. Houston Roughnecks (54 points)

If the order looks very similar to last year’s end-of-season standings, well, that’s because it is. The great thing about sports is it’s unscripted: Any one of these teams or position groups could surprise this year and leave us all wondering how we got it wrong. And isn’t that part of the fun?

Greg Parks

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