Ken Whisenhunt and the Memphis Showboats coaching staff have an enviable problem as they head into training camp. They need to decide which of their three quarterbacks will get the nod to be the starter. With a quarterback roster consisting of Troy Williams, Quinten Dormady, and E.J. Perry, the Showboats have three strong quarterbacks with UFL experience.
During the off-season, Whisenhunt acquired former San Antonio Brahmas quarterback Dormady and Perry, the recently released Michigan Panthers star to join Williams. Each of the three men started games in the UFL last season and possesses the skills to lead the Showboats offense this season. Here is a closer look at how they compare.
Troy Williams:
The most familiar name on the roster for Showboats fans is returning quarterback Troy Williams. The 6’2” 30-year-old Williams is a veteran of both the USFL Pittsburgh Maulers and the UFL Memphis Showboats. He led the 2023 USFL Pittsburgh Maulers to a Championship title. During his time with the Maulers, Williams passed for 1,414 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. Showing his mobility, Williams ran for another 341 yards and three touchdowns.
Although Williams began the UFL season as the backup to Case Cookus, he appeared in eight games, starting three. With limited playing time, Williams passed for 592 yards on 58/106 attempts with five touchdowns and five interceptions.
Williams’ best game of the season was against the Michigan Panthers where he completed 18/36 for 240 yards with three touchdowns. The highlight of the game was the UFL’s longest touchdown reception, an 82-yard bomb to wide receiver Daewood Davis. Despite that spectacular play, the Showboats ended up losing 35-18 with Williams picked off twice.
The good news for Williams is that he’ll have a chance to improve his game with a brand-new coaching lineup. Whisenhunt and his staff can work with Williams to reduce the number of interceptions and increase his completion percentage. However, the biggest area of need is reducing the number of sacks. Williams was sacked 15 times last year. While part of the problem stemmed from the Showboats’ offensive line, Williams needs to release the ball quicker in the pocket and gain better field awareness.
But in addition to a new offensive coaching team, Williams will be reunited with three members of the Maulers’ former defensive coaching staff, including new defensive coordinator Jarren Horton. Reuniting with his former DC may help Williams avoid the sacks and regain the Championship form he had with Pittsburgh.
Quinten Dormady
Last fall the Showboats participated in one of the biggest trades of the year when they agreed to send DL Jordan Ferguson to San Antonio in exchange for 28-year-old Quinten Dormady. With their number one draft pick Jason Bean, unavailable to play in the UFL due to his future/ reserve status with the Indianapolis Colts, the Showboats needed to sign a quarterback. When the team acquired Dormady from San Antonio, he became the presumed starter.
For Dormady his trade to Memphis represents a sort of homecoming. Although he graduated from Central Michigan University, as a freshman he committed to Tennessee where he played football for the Volunteers.
Dormady found success with the XFL Orlando Guardians where he met his future Brahmas teammate, wide receiver Cody Latimer. However, when the Guardians did not survive the UFL merger of the USFL and XFL. In January of 2024, the San Antonio Brahmas selected Dormady with their first pick in the dispersal draft.
Although Chase Garbers was named the starting quarterback for the Brahmas, he sustained a broken wrist early in the season and Dormady was tapped to replace him. Starting in relief of Garbers in week 4, Dormady made an impressive UFL debut. He completed 23/37 passes for 269 yards with one touchdown and one interception. In week 8, Dormady had his best game, passing for 320 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scoring plays would make the record books as the Brahmas’ longest touchdown pass, a 52-yarder to running back Anthony McFarland.
Dormady finished the regular season, passing for 1,205 yards with six touchdowns and an equal number of interceptions. Although Garbers returned in time for the Championship title game against the Birmingham Stallions, it was Dormady’s strong performance in Garbers’ absence that took the team to the playoffs.
E.J.Perry
Former Michigan Panthers quarterback E.J. Perry has the most attractive resume of the three. Perry is the youngest at 27 years old. 6’2″ and 210 lbs., he comes from a football family. Perry’s father coached him in high school and he attended Brown University where his uncle was the football coach. At Brown, Perry won the Bushnell Cup in 2021 as the top Ivy League offensive player.
Declaring for the 2022 draft, Perry earned the highest overall athletic score in the NFL Combine. But despite that accomplishment, Perry wasn’t drafted. As a UDFA, he went on to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Over the next 18 months, Perry bounced back and forth between the practice squads of the Jaguars and the Houston Texans. In 2023, Perry signed his first contract with the Michigan Panthers who would obligingly release him when the next NFL opportunity with the Jags or Texans occurred.
But despite several spins of the NFL carousel, Perry never made it off the practice squads. Instead, following the UFL merger, Perry signed in January 2024 with the Panthers for their inaugural season.
Perry’s best game was in week 3 against the Houston Roughnecks. He passed 16/19 for 208 yards including a 66-yard touchdown bomb to Marcus Simms. Later in the game, Perry added another 60 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Although his season was off to a great start, it ended prematurely when he went down with a serious hamstring injury.
Nonetheless, Perry brings an attractive skill set with his mobility. Despite appearing in only a few games, Perry tied for 6th in the league for rushing touchdowns.
The biggest concern Perry brings is his passing game. He has yet to throw a touchdown pass in either the USFL or the UFL. However, the year he won the Bushnell Cup in college, Perry passed for over 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. He added 402 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Given his collegiate record, the talent is there. In all likelihood, this part of his game can be improved with dedicated coaching and hard work.
To start the season, Coach Whisenhunt will probably elect to go with a two-quarterback format relying upon Dormady’s arm strength and switching to either Perry or Williams when the game requires a more mobile offense. Either way, it’s shaping up to be an exciting season in Memphis.
3 Comments
by Rob
Jordan Ta’Amu did NOT play for the Guardians
by Mark Perry
correct. it was fixed.
by Ken Granito
As always you do a great job with bringing together a good article. As I had stated earlier I felt AJ McCarron was likely the way to go. It definitely seems he is no longer an option, at least this year. I would love to cheer AJ McCarron, Darius Victor, Darrius Sheppard, Mike Riley and Ted Cottrell leading the charge for the Generals next year. SHI Stadium would be rocking. I hope UFL can see that vision. While Mike Riley is weeding out candidates for the college football playoffs he could be scouting for the Generals, finding those dynamic playmakers, such as Kavonte Turpin, Darrius Sheppard, Alonzo Moore and Darius Victor.
But let me get back to Memphis and its quarterback situation. To me it will be a great battle in training camp, however Quinten Dormady is the quarterback that is most like the quarterbacks Ken Whisenhunt had success with in the NFL. Phillip Rivers, Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger all thrived under Whisenhunt thus Dormady fits that mold more than Williams or Perry. EJ Perry CLEARLY fits under the Michigan Panthers. Those quarterbacks have the ability to throw, but also play a game with the defense. That game goes with when they see the defense is starting to drop men into coverage and messes with the numbers that way, they take off. I don’t know what Rocky Lombardi does as I am unfamiliar with him, but I hope they don’t come to regret “letting Perry go”. Perry may have been better with DC allowing him to play the D’Eric King role, while also being the number 2 QB. Plus if Ta’amu falters he would be a good fit with the Defenders passing style. To me, Ta’amu is the perfect NFL type player. Size and arm strenghth make him more of a NFL Lite QB, but perfect for this league. I believe in Jordan, however, should he get hurt the fans would love Perry’s heart and guts. He is the perfect #2 passer, capable of giving you 300 yards on a day, but a slow starter who like Rocky Balboa takes some shots to get the feel of the game before he starts to find his way. Even in the believable playoff game against the Maulers in 2023, he started slow and still ended with 300 yards. Either way Perry should be better after all this is done as he will really clean up his passing abilities. The thing that should be interesting to see. When EJ Perry feels he is not in the flow of the game, he gets out of it by running at the first daylight opening he sees. It will be interesting to see how Whisenhunt reacts to that. It should also be interesting to see if the UFL will allow that to be covered by network TV much the way the McCarron vs Battlehawks coaching staff was covered. It’s funny how the league felt good about covering the drama. The problem is that drama is really not a good thing in life and now the best passer the league has is now sitting at home. I mean McCarron knocked the UFL on other venues, but I wonder if he felt this was ok as the league allowed it first. The old “do what I say, not what I do” doesn’t always work. This stated, the league is a living growing thing. Think about it as a 10 year old with good grades. For the most part it does what it is supposed to do, but the league is still finding its way. As the league enters its pre-teen years, I hope it really comes together to become something the rest of us can all count on.
Fact checking: Hi In one part of the article you say he threw a 66 yard touchdown. I believe it was 76, though that could be another touchdown, but later in the article you state he has thrown any touchdowns across the USFL or UFL.