The XFL is back! Starting on Feb. 18, teams will take the field with some familiar names both playing and coaching — Martavis Bryant, Hines Ward, Wade Phillips, A.J. McCarron, Brian Hill, Josh Gordon, and more.
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Passing Game Outlook
Named the Brahmas’ head coach, Hines Ward’s experience in that capacity started in 2017 when he was an offensive intern with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He went on to become an offensive assistant with the Jets in 2019 before leaving the professional ranks to take over as Florida Atlantic’s WR coach in 2021. However, this isn’t Ward’s first experience with spring leagues. In 2019, he served as the AAF’s Head of Football Development, giving him some experience in navigating the nuances that come with start-up professional leagues. In Jaime Elizondo, Ward brings with him an Offensive Coordinator with experience in that role having served as an OC for multiple CFL teams with a brief stint as the Tampa Bay Vipers’ coordinator during the XFL’s 2020 season. During that season, his offense was run-centric, posting a 49.5% pass rate, which was 7% below the league average. Then in 2021, his Edmonton Elks finished the season with a 64.0% pass rate, just north of the CFL league average. We should expect Elizondo’s play-calling tendencies to be balanced with near-equal run-pass splits. Assigned QB Jawon Pass ahead of the November draft, the Brahmas added two QBs with NFL preseason experience in Jack Coan and Reid Sinnett. Coan finished his collegiate career at Notre Dame completing 65.5% of his passes with a 25:7 TD:INT ratio before signing with the Colts as a 2022 UDFA. The most traveled of the group, Sinnett has appeared in six NFL preseason games, completing 59.1% of his passes with a 5:2 TD:INT ratio. With a collective QB group capable of supporting their pass catchers, I’ll have interest in the Brahmas’ aerial attack.
Waiting until Round 3 to take their first WR, San Antonio selected Texas A&M product Kendrick Rogers. The 6-foot-5, 208-pound receiver ran 82.6% of his routes out wide during his senior season and profiles to fill that role again in San Antonio. Opposite Rogers, we can expect Round 4 selection Jalen Tolliver to occupy a meaningful role in Elizondo’s offense. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Tolliver is very familiar with his OC, having racked up 21/297/1 in five games under Elizondo with the Vipers in 2020 and 29/383/4 as an Edmonton Elk in 2021. The combination of draft capital, familiarity, and ability should make Tolliver an early key contributor. Ward and Co. snagged TEs in back-to-back rounds, selecting blocking specialists Dylan Parham and Alize Mack. Of the two, Mack possesses more pass-catching upside having caught 36 passes during his senior season at Notre Dame. The team used their next selection on 5-foot-10, 175-pound Terry Wright. Though Wright ran 96.6% of his senior-season routes on the perimeter, the size-speed profile indicates he’s a better fit in the slot at this level. With the selections of T.J. Vasher and Travis Jonsen in Rounds 9-10, San Antonio continued their pursuit of building one of the league’s biggest WR groups with the 6-foot-5, 210-pound and 6-foot-4, 211-pound receivers.
Running Game Outlook
The Brahmas used their first two overall offensive skill-position selections on running backs, with Jacques Patrick in Round 1 and Calvin Turner in Round 2. No stranger to Elizondo’s offense, Patrick was third in the XFL in rushing yards for his Vipers in 2020, amassing 60/254/2 through five games. During that COVID-shortened season, Elizondo showed no issue with using a two-back system, feeding RB1 DeVeon Smith (90) and Patrick (60) 100% of the team’s combined backfield rush share. In Patrick, they have a 6-foot-2, 239-pound back capable of handling an every-down workload. Behind him, they’ll likely use former WR Turner as a pass-catching specialist, as the 5-foot-11, 195-pound RB last served as Hawaii’s primary slot receiver in 2021, leading the team in targets (124) and receptions (74). Having played QB, RB, and WR in college, Turner’s diverse skill set should yield swiss army knife-type usage that can result in positive box-score results, particularly on PPR-friendly sites like DraftKings. Selected in Round 6, I’m not ruling out Kalen Ballage as a key contributor in this likely run-centric offense. Ballage is a 6-foot-2, 231-pound back who carries fourth-round NFL draft capital and has handled 46 career regular-season NFL carries.
