Arlington Renegades Make Ten Roster Additions

The Arlington Renegades continue to reload their championship team with ten more players being added to the roster.

On Friday night, the league announced multiple team additions to their rosters that included Arlington adding ten players to their roster. XFL NewsHub’s Mike Mitchell reported Friday night that the league conducted a rights draft with all eight teams. Not all players have signed or will sign with their XFL teams, but the teams will at least own their rights should they want to play in the XFL.

Arlington was split down the middle with five offensive players and five defensive players added. Their two most added positions were defensive back and offensive line where they added three players at each position. Seven of the ten players added have been drafted in the NFL prior to the XFL.

Who The Arlington Renegades Have Added

Anthony Gordon, QB

In 2019, Anthony Gordon was one of the best quarterbacks statistically in college football that season recording over 5,500 yards and 48 touchdowns for Washington State. He would go on to be undrafted in the NFL Draft in 2020 signing with the Seattle Seahawks. Gordon would bounce between two other teams before being last waived by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022.

What makes Gordon’s storyline with Arlington interesting is that he has already announced via Twitter that he is not going to join the Renegades. He also announced in his tweet that he is retired from football.

Adding Gordon was an interesting move by the Renegades as they continue to stack up at the quarterback position. Six quarterbacks are listed on the roster and if Gordon wanted to join the team, it would make seven. Luis Perez would be the front-runner to win the job so it might be tough competition for any quarterback coming in. Gordon at least has an option should he want to get out of retirement to play.

Bobby Hart, OT

In one of the bigger moves made by Arlington, Bobby Hart is a well-experienced offensive lineman who has seen his share of NFL games played. Hart was originally drafted in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He would start at right tackle in 2016 and 2017 for the team before signing a contract with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2018. Hart would hold the right tackle position for Cincinnati for three seasons before being released. He would go on to play for the Buffalo Bills three times, Miami Dolphins, and Tennessee Titans.

With 67 starts to his resume and plenty of experience playing in the NFL, Hart is a big pickup for the Renegades that are looking to bring in offensive linemen for more consistency. His biggest strength in his game is run blocking which was what he used often in the NFL. Arlington was one of the worst teams in the league in rushing, so the team is focused on improving on that. Hart will compete for a starting spot if he stays on the level he played at when he was in the NFL.

Darrell Henderson, RB

NFL fans will recognize Darrell Henderson as his time as one of the primary running backs for the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams drafted him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft where he played more than three full seasons with the team. During the Rams’ Super Bowl run, Henderson was their starting running back putting up career-high numbers rushing for 688 yards and recording eight total touchdowns. Last season, he was released by the Rams in the middle of the season signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars but was cut by them in December.

Henderson is a dynamic back who can run with quickness and catch out of the backfield. He has a feel for a younger version of former Renegades running back Lance Dunbar. Leddie Brown filled that role last season for Arlington as they look for more weapons on offense. With Henderson’s speed and De’Veon Smith’s power, they could make for an intriguing one-two punch to improve the running game in 2024.

Josh Jackson, DB

Former Green Bay Packers defensive back Josh Jackson was added to an already deep Renegades secondary that recently signed Jamar Summers to replace the loss of Darren Evans who is now in the NFL. Jackson was a second-round pick of the Packers in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was more known as a depth player in the secondary recording 90 tackles, 12 pass deflections, one fumble recovery, and one touchdown in his career. Jackson played for four other NFL teams after the Packers with limited playing time.

The secondary for Arlington continues to be impressive as they continue to add players with previous NFL experience. He was plenty of competition with DeVante Bausby leading the cornerbacks. Josh Hawkins will hopefully be returning from the ACL injury he suffered with the Renegades last season as he will be in line to start. Jackson could easily earn a spot on the roster, but he will have to battle for a top-three corner spot with how good the Renegades are looking.

Grant Haley, DB

Another defensive back who has NFL experience, Grant Haley went undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft signing with the New York Giants. He played two seasons with the Giants and played another season with the New Orleans Saints recording his only NFL interception with them. Haley would spend a season and a half with the Los Angeles Rams winning a Super Bowl with the team.

Haley is elusive and quick with his feet and knows what it takes to be a good role player in the secondary. As previously mentioned in Jackson’s section, the secondary for Arlington is deep and has a lot of talent and experience. It will be a challenge with all these secondary players they have. Don’t count Haley out of those as he should be able to compete for a roster spot.

Harrison Hand, DB

Harrison Hand started his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings getting drafted by them in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Hand spent two seasons with Minnesota before joining the New York Giants and Chicago Bears in 2022. His current stats in the NFL include 34 tackles, four pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and one interception.

Good experience in the league and has shown that he can play a key role in the secondary. He will face tough competition like the other two players. It’ll be interesting to see how Arlington will handle bringing back players who have played in the system in 2023 compared to the new players coming into 2024. There could be a reality that the three players added may not join the team so it could depend on who joins.

Sean Harlow, C

Sean Harlow was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. Harlow played with the Falcons on and off for four seasons while also playing for the Indianapolis Colts and the Arizona Cardinals. He appeared in 33 games and started eight of them in his six NFL seasons.

Harlow is more known for playing center and will most likely be the position he will battle to start. He will have to compete with Cameron Hunt which will be a challenge as Hunt performed well at center for the Renegades last season. Arlington did not have a true backup center though so if Harlow could play any of the guard positions, that could be his ticket to getting a roster spot.

Dru Samia, OG

Dru Samia was a fourth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings during the 2019 NFL Draft. Samia played for two different teams, spending two seasons with Minnesota and two seasons with the New York Jets. He played in 15 games and started in four of the games in his career.

Arlington Renegades head coach Bob Stoops has some familiarity with Samia as he played under coach Stoops at Oklahoma where he was First-Team All-Big 12 and won Big 12 Co-Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2018. Knowing coach Stoops could help Samia make the transition as he knows what to expect from his former coach. There still will be a challenge of making the roster battling for roster spots with Mike Horton, Jake Stetz, and Brian Folkerts.

Quinton Bell, LB

Quinton Bell was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft. While he was on the practice squad, Bell was cut by the Raiders in the middle of the 2019 season. He would go on to spend two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and two more with the Atlanta Falcons. Bell recorded three tackles and won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2020.

He will be more of an outside linebacker which means he could be the replacement for Willie Taylor who has signed with the NFL. Bunmi Rotimi was Taylor’s backup so Bell will battle for a spot on the roster there. Arlington also had Will Clarke and Ryan Mueller from last season’s team as outside linebackers. If Bell can perform well in pass coverage and is able to rush the quarterback, he could find his way onto the team.

Storey Jackson, LB

After posting over 100 tackles in 2021 for Liberty in his last season in college, Storey Jackson would go undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft. Jackson signed with the Dallas Cowboys after the draft but would be a part of their final roster cuts. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns back in December to join their practice squad. Cleveland waived Jackson back in May after he had signed a futures contract in January with the team.

Jackson only has one NFL game under his belt, so he is the youngest and least experienced player on this list. His tape shows he is a strong tackler and can perform well blitzing the quarterback. He will most likely battle at outside linebacker as Arlington looks for more pass rushers at linebacker so he will need to show off his speed on the outside to win a spot on the team.