The Battlehawks are calling in some reinforcements, coming off their first defeat of the season. After placing Marcell Ateman on the Reserve List, and dealing with a Jaryd Jones-Smith suspension, St. Louis has signed former Defenders Chad Hasen and Pooka Williams to fill their two roster open spots.
The move to bring Hansen and Williams, serves to give the Battlehawks Receiving Corps a bit of support with not only Ateman going on the reserve list, but also Hakeem Butler and Steven Mitchell appearing on the injury report. Brian Hill whose been battling injuries all season, was also listed on the injury report with a Hamstring injury.
Hansen was a late signing by the Defenders on Jan 25th, but would be released on Feb 25th, due to an illness. Since coming out of Cal in 2017 Hansen has been with 8 NFL teams recording 26 receptions for 330 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Pooka Williams joins the Battlehawks, after also getting released by the Defenders during the early parts of the season. A tweener at Running Back and Wide Receiver, Williams was an All-Conference player at KU, before becoming a UDFA in 2021 and latching onto the Bengals. He’d spend 2021 on the practice squad, before getting released in August of 2022, before getting drafted by the Defenders in the Seventh round of the November XFL Draft.
The Battlehawks also place Safety Allie Green IV on the reserve list per the team website. Green a Safety out of Mizzou, was projected to be a starter for the team, however injuries derailed his progress and led to his release in early February.
Between suspensions, and injuries Coach Anthony Becht and DPP Dave Boller are digging deep to do some re-tooling of the roster with only three days left till their return to the Dome on March 12th. With the solidification of the receiving corps by the additions of Hansen and Williams, look for Darrius Shepherd and Austin Proehl to step up in Week 4, with Ateman out due to injury, and Butler still nursing and injured hamstring. Currently the Battlehawks roster returns to 51, this Thursday morning, after Wednesday night’s transactions.
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