Get ready. The XFL is coming. Eight teams — from the St. Louis Battlehawks to the Dallas Renegades — are ready to take control of the next, great spring football league. Where the Alliance of American Football (AAF) failed, the XFL and commissioner Oliver Luck hope to thrive.
But why in the hell should you bother to watch the XFL? Easy. That's because football is awesome, and the more of it we get, the better off we'll be.
When is the XFL Draft?
From October 15-16, the XFL will hold its first-ever player draft. The league's eight teams will fill 71-man rosters in a snake draft with five phases — skill positions, offensive line, defensive front-seven, defensive backfield, then the "open phase." Each XFL team announces 10 picks in each of the first four phases, then are able to fill their rosters in the fifth. Draft picks are announced in a video conference with the XFL home office in Connecticut, then will be relayed to the public on XFL.com, @xfl2020 on Twitter, and @xfl on Instagram.
The XFL is taking the necessary steps to sustain its growth, including television deals to air games ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, FOX, FS1, FS2. The XFL Championship game will live air on ESPN on Sunday, April 26.
XFL Schedule
Who will you get to see in the XFL? Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and the Oklahoma Sooners' all-time leading passer Landry Jones was the first QB to join. Even former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel has been rumored to join among many other former NFL players. Just a few days before the XFL Draft begins, the league announced a running list of former college football standouts who will available in the draft.
Sadly, iconic former XFL players like He Hate Me won't be available, but you can be damn sure some former college stars and NFL Draft picks will make a splash in the league's first year.
XFL Quarterbacks
Eight QBs were assigned to each of the teams prior to the start of the draft. Perhaps most notable, Landry Jones reunites with his former head coach at Oklahoma, Bob Stoops.
Here are the first crop of XFL QBs before the live draft kicks off:
Dallas Renegades: Landry Jones
DC Defenders: Cardale Jones
Houston Roughnecks: Phillip Walker
New York Guardians: Matt McGloin
Los Angeles Wildcats: Luis Perez
Seattle Dragons: Brandon Silvers
St. Louis Battlehawks: Jordan Ta'amu
Tampa Bay Vipers: Aaron Murray
XFL Draft Pool 2019
Quarterbacks
Austin Allen, Arkansas
Connor Cook, Michigan State
B.J. Daniels, South Florida
Eric Dungey, Syracuse
Tyree Jackson, Buffalo
Zach Mettenberger, LSU
Landry Jones, Oklahoma
Trevor Knight, Texas A&M
Brogan Roback, Eastern Michigan
Darren Thomas, Oregon
Vad Lee, Georgia Tech & James Madison
Running Backs
Cameron Artis-Payne, Auburn
David Cobb, Minnesota
Noel Devine, West Virginia
Lance Dunbar, North Texas
Tarean Folston, Notre Dame
Jonas Gray, Notre Dame
Ryan Green, Florida State
Kenny Hilliard, LSU
Akeem Hunt, Purdue
Ty Isaac, Michigan
Christine Michael, Texas A&M
Rajion Neal, Tennessee
Donnel Pumphrey, San Diego State
Trent Richardson, Alabama
Andre Williams, Boston College
Wide Receivers
Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma
Sammie Coates, Auburn
Ryan Davis, Auburn
Jacoby Ford, Clemson
Quadree Henderson, Pittsburgh
Garrett Johnson, Kentucky
Kahlil Lewis, Cincinnati
Robert Meachem, Tennessee
Vinny Papale, Delaware
Jalen Rowell, Air Force
Jalen Saunders, Oklahoma
Chris Thompson, Florida
Jordan Westerkamp, Nebraska
Terrance Williams, Baylor
Tight Ends
Nate Askew, Texas A&M
E.J. Bibbs, Iowa State
Orson Charles, Georgia
C'yontai Lewis, Florida
Weslye Saunders, South Carolina
Offensive Linemen
Kirk Barron, Purdue
Leon Brown, Alabama
Kyle Chung, Virginia Tech
Thomas Doles, Northwestern
Eric Eberle, Florida State
Tuni Kanuch, BYU
Cyrus Kouandjio, Alabama
Aria Kouandjio, Alabama
Korren Kirven, Alabama
John Toth, Kentucky
Logan Tuley-Tillman, Michigan
Chasz Wright, Penn State
Avery Young, Auburn
Defensive Linemen
Frank Alexander, Oklahoma
Khairi Clark, Florida
Malik Dorton, USC
Kony Ealy, Missouri
Giorgio Newberry, Florida State
Shawn Oakman, Baylor
Ronald Ollie, Nicholls State
Leon Orr, Florida
Scott Pagano, Clemson
Robert Rose, Ohio State
Dante Sawyer, South Carolina
Sealver Siglia, Utah
Will Sutton, Arizona State
Linebackers
Donnie Alexander, LSU
Brandon Bell, Penn State
Freddie Bishop, Western Michigan
Arthur Brown, Kansas State
Terrance Bullitt, Texas Tech
Khairi Fortt, California
Terence Garvin, West Virginia
Josh Kaddu, Oregon
Reggie Northrup, Florida State
Defensive Backs
Trey Caldwell, Louisiana-Monroe
Jonathan Cook, Memphis
Chris Davis, Auburn
Kurtis Drummond, Michigan State
Matt Elam, Florida
Ladarius Gunter, Miami (FL)
Micah Hannemann, BYU
Desmond Lawrence, North Carolina
Raheem Moore, UCLA
Danzel McDaniel, Kansas State
Nick Orr, TCU
Kenny Robinson Jr., West Virginia
Channing Stribling, Michigan
Kickers, Punters and Long Snappers
Roberto Aguayo, K, Florida State
Nate Boyer, LS, Texas
Drew Galitz, P, Baylor
Austin MacGinnis, K, Kentucky
Nick Novak, K, Maryland
Cole Tracy, K, LSU
Brad Wing, P, LSU
