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Passing Game Outlook
After serving as head coach of The Spring League Generals, Bart Andrus is getting the band back together in the USFL as the HC for the Philadelphia Stars. Andrus is a true minor league football OG, spending time as the HC of NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals, the CFL’s Edmonton Argonauts, the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks, and the XFL’s Team 9 before finding a home with The Spring League Generals. In short, Andrus lives for alt football nearly as much as everyone reading this, and he’s bringing many members of his Spring League championship team back with him, including quarterback Bryan Scott, who the Stars took with their first overall selection. Before joining Andrus at the minor league ranks, Scott went 763-1,205 (63.3%) for 9,073 yards, 77 TDs, and 22 INTs in 32 collegiate games and sniffed around NFL mini-camps before ultimately signing with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2019. After a COVID-19 canceled CFL season, Scott was selected by Andrus in The Spring League draft and actually beat out former LSU QB Zach Mettenberger for the team’s starting job. He would go on to rack up 1,102 yards and 13 total TDs en route to a TSL championship and MVP trophy. While TSL stats are hard to come by, at nearly every stop in Andrus’ storied journey, he’s been a pass-first play caller, dropping back at a 60.1% clip. With Scott once again under center in his system, I’m expecting another pass-happy attack.
In getting the band back together, Andrus used his first two wide receiver selections on former TSL generals Devin Gray and Jordan Suell. Gray initially signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a 2018 UDFA, spending the next four seasons on NFL practice squads, where he went for 17/264/0 in 17 preseason appearances.
What Suell lacks in NFL pedigree, he’ll make up for in chemistry with Scott. While 2020 TSL stats are virtually impossible to come by, the 6’6”, 205-lb Suell was one of Scott’s favorite targets during their time together with the Generals. In Andrus’ 3-WR sets, the big-bodied receiver on the perimeter is going to earn plenty of looks.
The Stars added another big body in 6’4”, 229-lb Brennan Eagles. Eagles played collegiately at Texas, where he posted a 28/469/5 final season. He signed as a 2021 UDFA with the Dallas Cowboys, appearing in one preseason game.
With the TSL Generals, Scott had an affinity for targeting big-bodied tight ends in the red zone, so the Stars used their first TE selection on 6’ 4”, 230-lb Bug Howard. In his final collegiate season at North Carolina, Howard recorded a 46/718/7 receiving line on an 18.3% target share. After running an impressive 4.58 40-yard dash, he was signed as a 2017 UDFA by the Indianapolis Colts. He would spend the next four seasons on NFL practice squads before getting waived by the Bills ahead of the 2021 season.
Running Game Outlook
Andrus added another ex-General to the squad during the running back portion of the draft, selecting Darnell Holland with his first pick. Holland was part of the three-man committee with the 2021 Generals, where he actually played behind Stars supplemental draft pick Paul Terry, who led the ‘21 squad on the ground, going for 39/240/3 in six games.
Matt Colburn rounds out what is likely to be a three-headed RBBC. Following a collegiate career at Wake Forest where he racked up 521/2,400/14 on the ground, Colburn was signed by the Los Angeles Rams as a 2019 UDFA, getting 15 carries in four preseason games. He was last seen with the XFL’s New York Guardians, though he only appeared in two games.
A combination of Andrus’ pass-first nature, a crowded committee, and a noticeable absence of pass-catching ability saps much of the fantasy value from this backfield as a whole.
