The 2026 UFL Showcase powered by NOBULL runs Sunday, August 9 at Lindbergh High School in St. Louis. It is the second of 10 stops on the league's showcase calendar, and the players on the field are competing for 2027 UFL roster spots.
Two Power Four quarterbacks, a former five-star cornerback and five players from the St. Louis metro area are among those registered.
The St. Louis area players
Mookie Cooper (WR, Ohio State / Missouri) came out of Trinity Catholic High School as a consensus four-star recruit and a top-100 national prospect. He helped Trinity Catholic win the 2018 Missouri Class 3 state championship. Cooper started at Ohio State, transferred to Missouri and finished four SEC seasons with 91 receptions for 1,174 yards. He also returned kicks.
Jalen St. John (OL, Arkansas / UNLV / Purdue) was a four-star recruit on that same 2018 Trinity Catholic title team. He transferred from Arkansas to UNLV and made Second Team All-Mountain West at left tackle. At Purdue he moved to left guard and allowed one sack in 337 pass-blocking snaps.
Javontez Spraggins (OL, Tennessee) won the 2019 Illinois Class 6A state championship at East St. Louis High School. He played 57 games at Tennessee with 49 starts and made Third Team All-SEC in 2024. Tennessee's offensive line was a Joe Moore Award semifinalist three years running.
Rakweon Ramsey (DL, Missouri Baptist) came out of Belleville East. He made Second Team All-Heart Conference in 2024 with 46 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
Jaylin Vaughn (DL, Quincy University) was a three-time Missouri all-state pick at Fort Zumwalt North, where the Panthers won four GAC Central titles and reached a state championship game. At Quincy he was the 2025 GLVC Defensive Player of the Year with 92 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks in 25 games.
Quarterbacks on the field
Blake Shapen (QB, Baylor / Mississippi State) started for Baylor in the 2021 Big 12 Championship Game and was named Most Outstanding Performer. He finished five seasons at Baylor and Mississippi State with 8,981 passing yards, 59 touchdown passes and close to 10,000 yards of total offense.
Ken Seals (QB, Vanderbilt / TCU) made 22 starts at Vanderbilt before transferring to TCU. He was the Offensive MVP of the 2025 Alamo Bowl after TCU beat USC in overtime. Across five seasons he threw for more than 6,800 yards and 45 touchdowns.
Hunter Watson (QB, Arkansas-Monticello / Iowa Western CC / Sam Houston) led Iowa Western to the 2023 NJCAA national title and made NJCAA Second Team All-America with 30 total touchdowns. At Sam Houston he put up more than 2,400 yards of offense in 2024, took two Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week awards and led the Bearkats to a New Orleans Bowl win.
Defensive names to watch
Nyland Green (DB, Georgia / Purdue / Arizona State) was a consensus five-star recruit, the No. 19 player nationally and one of the top-rated cornerbacks in the 2021 class. He was on Georgia's back-to-back national championship teams, then started at Purdue with 23 tackles, two sacks and five pass breakups. Over five seasons at three Power Four programs he played 47 games with 45 tackles, 10 pass breakups, two sacks and a forced fumble.
Elijah Davis (DL, East Mississippi CC / South Carolina / Troy) was the No. 1-ranked junior college defensive lineman and a top-five overall JUCO prospect. He was All-Region 23 and first-team all-conference at East Mississippi, which won the MACCC championship. He led the Sun Belt with 34 quarterback hurries in 2025 and added 44 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks at Troy.
Player participation is subject to change.
Who is evaluating
St. Louis Battlehawks head coach Ricky Proehl will be on site with league scouts and other UFL personnel. The showcase runs in two sessions, defensive players in the morning and offensive players in the afternoon.
What the showcase has produced
In 2026, 48 players who had previously taken part in a UFL Showcase received training camp invitations. Of those, 39 appeared on active rosters.
The 2026 Battlehawks roster included two of them: wide receiver Steven McBride and linebacker LaVonta Bentley. Both came out of 2025 showcase events.
"The UFL Showcase reflects one of the strengths of the UFL — our ability to identify talent, develop players, and give them an opportunity to compete," UFL President and CEO Russ Brandon said when the league released the 2026 schedule.
The rest of the 2026 schedule
August 9 — St. Louis, Lindbergh High School
September 27 — Houston, C.E. King High School
October 4 — Columbus, Ohio Dominican University
October 11 — Atlanta, Georgia State University
October 25 — Phoenix, Tempe High School
November 8 — Orlando, Celebration High School
November 15 — Louisville, Louisville Male High School
November 21 — Los Angeles, Redondo Union High School
December 5 — Arlington, Choctaw Stadium
The calendar opened August 7 in Washington, D.C., at George Mason University. Registration is at showcases.theufl.com. Players must have graduated high school in 2025 or earlier, be within five years of their last college or pro game, hold no contract with another pro league, and not be enrolled for the 2026 college football season. Full eligibility rules are in our UFL Tryouts 2026 guide, and the showcase schedule announcement has the league's release in full.