Quarterback
Pre Minicamp Roster: Cardale Jones, Tyree Jackson
Listed Training Camp Roster: Cardale Jones, Tyree Jackson, and Vad Lee
What’s Changed: The DC Defenders head to Houston with two high potential quarterbacks in Jones and Jackson. Vad Lee has kept his place in the QB room after a solid Minicamp.
Running Back
Pre Minicamp Roster: Donnel Pumphrey Jr., Jhurell Pressley, Khalid Abdullah, John Thomas, Ryan Yurachek (Tight end in college), Nick Brossette (listed on the current roster, but not listed in the shared Training Camp roster)
Listed Training Camp Roster: Donnel Pumphrey Jr., Jhurell Pressley, Khalid Abdullah, John Thomas
What Changed: The DC Defenders have removed Ryan Yurachek from the roster. Nick Brossette is still listed on the Defenders webpage roster here, but not listed on the Training Camp roster here. Honestly, I don’t really know what’s going on there. Is he injured, not reporting, etc? You’ll see that there are other areas of the roster like this.
Questions: Nick Brossette has Tweeted about the Defenders as recently as December 25th here, so he likely is involved with the team. Brossette has had a recent NFL tryout with the Seahawks and was on the Lions practice squad as recently as September.
Wide Receiver
Pre Minicamp Roster: Terrence Alls, Jamal Curtis, Rashard Davis, Deion Holliman, Lavern Jacobs, Tre McBride, Max McCaffrey, Richard Mullaney, Jaylen Smith, Justin Thomas, De’Andre Thompkins
Listed Training Camp Roster: Frank Brown, Malachi Dupre, Deion Holliman, Tre McBride, Max McCaffrey, Richard Mullaney, Tyler Palka, Eli Rogers, De’Andre Thompkins
What Changed: Jacobs, Thomas, Smith, Alls, Curtis, and Davis are all off the roster. The Defenders added one of the best receivers in the league, Eli Rogers, in the Supplemental Draft. Additionally, they added Division 2 QB turned WR Tyler Palka and LSU Malachi Dupre in the same Supplemental Draft. DC Defenders lost their top draft pick, Rashard Davis, to the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, where he caught his first career NFL pass in week 17. Davis is now playoff-bound and expected to be active during the wildcard. Additionally, Frank Brown has been added to the roster after a solid career at Bethune-Cookman and a short stint in the CFL.
Questions: The publicly available roster here has Jordan Westerkamp listed on the roster. Westerkamp has been Tweeting about the XFL as recently as December 29th. He is not listed on the Training Camp roster here.
Tight End
Pre Minicamp Roster: Orson Charles, Khari Lee (34 games NFL experience), Adrien Robinson, Dimitrios Tsesmetzis
Listed Training Camp Roster: Donnie Ernsberger, Derrick Hayward, Khari Lee, Adrien Robinson, Dimitrios Tsesmetzis
What’s Changed: When Orson was drafted by the Defenders, he immediately became one of the biggest tight end names in the league. Unfortunately for the Defenders, he was whisked away to the NFL for multiple stints. NFL experienced Donnie Ernsberger was taken in the Supplemental Draft to pick up the slack. Former University of Maryland Tight End Derrick Hayward was also added to the roster.
Offensive Line
Pre Minicamp Roster: James O’Hagan, Ronald Patrick, Jon Toth, Chris Brown, Rishard Cook, Chase Farris, Terronne Prescod, Cole Boozer, Randall Harris, Trae Moxley, Kyle Murphy, Casey Tucker, Logan Tulley-Tillman, Toby Weathersby, De’Ondre Wesley
Listed Training Camp Roster: Cole Boozer, Chris Brown, Malcolm Bunche, Richard Cook, Chase Farris, Randall Harris, Dorian Johnson, Jordan Morgan, James O’Hagan, Ronald Patrick, Terronne Prescod, Jon Toth, Logan Tuley-Tillman, De’Ondre Wesley
What’s Changed: In: Malcolm Bunche (5 NFL teams, CFL, AAF), Dorian Johnson (4th round NFL draft pick), Jordan Morgan (CFL). Out: Trae Moxley, Kyle Murphy, and Casey Tucker.
Keep your eyes on @XFLNewsHub for the defensive transaction report.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Konnor Fulk excelled in the Sports Management Program at Georgia Southern University. He spent several seasons working with the Washington Redskins in fan engagement, strategy, and sales strategy. Additionally, Mr. Fulk continues consulting services across the sport of NASCAR. Konnor has a longstanding obsession with the concept of Spring Football and is looking forward to sharing his expertise and opinions about the XFL relaunch. Connect with Konnor on LinkedIn or give him a follow on Twitter @XFLKonnor
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