One of just two teams returning their head coach, offensive coordinator, and Week 1 starting QB for the third straight season, there is plenty of offensive continuity at the top of the Defenders’ organizational chart as they look to bounce back from a disappointing 2024 campaign after finishing as XFL runner-ups in 2023. OC Fred Kaiss figures to get back to his run-heavy ways in 2025 after more balanced run/pass splits, mostly as a result of negative game script, were a consistent theme last season. The year prior, Kaiss orchestrated the XFL’s run-heaviest offense with a paltry 47.9% situation-neutral rush rate, which were true to his play-calling tendencies at the collegiate ranks, where he served as Alabama State’s OC for four seasons, posting a 38.8% pass rate during his time there. Given the personnel decisions made in the offseason — more on that shortly — I think it stands to reason that Kaiss and Co. are eager to get back to their run-heavy ways.
Along with Arlington’s Luis Perez, third-year starter Jordan Ta’amu is one of spring football’s most decorated QBs with stops in the XFL (St. Louis) and USFL (Tampa Bay) before finding a home with the Defenders each of the last two seasons. Ta’amu’s efficiency has dipped in his last two seasons, completing just 57.3% of his passes. But throughout his spring career, he’s at a 60.7% clip for 7.2 YPA and nearly a 2:1 TD:INT ratio. Where Ta’amu had once excelled — particularly for fantasy — was with his legs, posting a 167/883/5 rushing line in the three seasons before a 2024 campaign where he averaged just 4.3 rushing attempts per game. Now ushering in an almost entirely new cast of pass-catching weapons in an already run-heavy offense, our DFS interest in Ta’amu is going to hinge on improved efficiency as a thrower or increased volume as a runner.
With the offseason departures of Kelvin Harmon, Brandon Smith, Keke Coutee, Vyncint Smith, Alex Ellis, and Kaden Smith, D.C. vacates 60.8% of their total 2024 target share. Ty Scott is among those returning who should be expected to earn a significant role in the offense despite the coaching staff’s unwillingness to grant him those honors last year. Scott ran a route on 50.9% of dropbacks, earning a 13.7% target share and 17.6% Air Yards share on a team-high 12.3-yard aDOT. Smith was an efficient per-route receiver, leading the team in YPRR (2.44), lining up on the boundary for 91.1% of his opportunities. Buried behind fellow boundary receivers Harmon, B. Smith, and V. Smith, I suspect we’ll see Scott in a full-time role starting in Week 1. Chris Rowland is the only other WR currently on the roster who was also with the team in 2024. He, too, operated in a part-time capacity, sharing slot duties with Coutee, running a route on 44.4% of dropbacks, 85.5% of which came from the slot, where he earned a 12.3% target share and 15.1% Air Yards share. Like Scott on the boundary, I expect many of the vacated slot reps to be vacuumed up by Rowland.
Offseason additions Cornell Powell, Braylon Sanders, and Jaydon Mickens figure to be involved in replacing the abandoned receiving production. Powell might possess the best pedigree among anyone in the WR room, finishing as Clemson’s second-highest receiver in 2020 before being selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, where he would remain for four seasons, posting a 24/252/3 receiving line in 12 preseason appearances. Powell has shown an ability to play inside and out, but does profile best as an option to replace the perimeter routes run by Harmon and Smith last season. Sanders signed with the Miami Dolphins as a 2022 UDFA, appearing in six preseason games, where he showed an ability to play inside and out. However, he mostly profiles as a perimeter receiver who could add depth behind Scott and Powell. Mickens originally signed with Oakland (!!) as a 2016 UDFA and was able to hang around the NFL at least in part as a return specialist, appearing in 38 NFL regular-season games during his career. While I expect him to claim that role in the UFL, he can also provide depth behind Rowland as a slot receiver, which is where the 5-foot-10, 174-pound receiver most consistently lined up during his NFL preseason appearances.
The biggest news of the Defenders’ offseason is in the backfield, where they’ll get back All-XFL running back, and legitimate difference-maker, Abram Smith, who suffered a torn ACL in practice prior to the 2024 season kicking off. Smith was a workhorse when healthy in every sense of the word the year before, playing on 73.7% of snaps, where he handled 51.3% of the team’s designed rushing attempts while running a route on 48.7% of dropbacks for a 6.3% target share, averaging 17.8 total opportunities per game. He also tied the league lead in total red-zone opportunities (31) and has rare 100-yard and 2-TD upside every time he takes the field. Maybe D.C.’s staff will opt to preserve his legs and give Deon Jackson and/or Darius Hagans more burn this season, but I think it’s more likely we get Smith as a workhorse in one of the league’s run-heaviest offenses, making him a sought-after DFS commodity.
