D.C. Defenders Breakdown: Jordan Ta'amu Fate, Changes, Dispersal Draft Options
Under the leadership of coach Reggie Barlow and director of player personnel Von Hutchins, the D.C. Defenders had the best regular season of any spring pro football team in 2023. Despite going 9-1, there could be some significant changes as they march toward 2024 in the newly-merged United Football League.
Continuity
In the world of spring pro football, continuity is king. See the Defenders' new league mates, the Birmingham Stallions, who are shooting for a third straight championship under Skip Holtz.
The Stallions have stability in their staff and their schemes, offensively and defensively. Couple that with tremendous scouting work by GM Zachary Potter, and what you have is a model built for continued success.
Reggie Barlow led the D.C. Defenders to the XFL Championship Game in 2023.
The Defenders have similar ingredients to maintain a high standard.
D.C. fell short of accomplishing what Birmingham did in 2022 and 2023. But the Defenders, thanks to adept personnel work by Hutchins and stellar coaching by Barlow, Fred Kaiss and Gregg Williams, established themselves as an elite team.
Home Field Advantage
Wait till USFL teams get a load of what games are like at Audi Field.
Outside of maybe XFL rival, St. Louis, no team in spring pro football has had a better home-field atmosphere or advantage than the Defenders have at Audi Field. Dating back to 2020, the Defenders are undefeated at home, sporting a 9-0 record, including the playoffs.
Barlow's squad will maintain that competitive edge in the new UFL. However, maintaining the mojo on the roster and coaching staff will be challenging.
Defenders Departures
Defenders tight ends coach Cody Crill, who did a masterful job helping out in D.C.'s elite ground attack, is heading to the Thundering Herd to coach Marshall's offensive line.
It's the byproduct of spring pro football that players and coaches will have these leagues as a springboard to advance their careers.
USFL and XFL teams have seen this firsthand. There's not only better financial reward in the NFL and college, but better long-term stability than in a spring league.
Losing coaches and players is inevitable for teams in these leagues. The positive for the Defenders in 2024 is that they are not losing their leader.
Barlow, the XFL Coach of the Year in 2023, was a candidate for several Power 5 jobs this offseason. Sources close to his situation state that Barlow passed on several offers because he loves the position he is in of leading a pro football team. It would take a similar position for him to make the jump, and it won't be long before the NFL comes calling.
Roster Turnover/Changes
In pro football, roster turnover from year to year is commonplace, but in spring leagues, even more so. Not only do you lose some of your best coaches and players to the big league or college programs, but there are also departures of players or coaches were looking to have one last hurrah in the pros before moving on.
The Defenders have seen five different players from their 2023 squad retire. DT Caraun Reid, OL Liam Ryan, TE Ethan Wolf, DL Jacob Panasuik and OT Alex Jensen — all with varying ranges of experience — are hanging up their cleats.
Some players and coaches take different career paths after sampling a year of spring ball. For example, there's quarterback D'Eriq King. The dynamic dual-threat signal-caller is moving on to the next phase of his professional career: coaching. And like he did on so many scrambles in college and with the Defenders last year, King is swiftly making his way up the coaching ranks.
The former Miami Hurricane and Texas high school legend has made a quick ascent from offensive analyst for SMU to being named quarterbacks coach with the ACC-bound Mustangs.
King has not signed a letter of intent to come back and play for D.C., where he scored eight touchdowns in seven games as a backup to league MVP quarterback Jordan Ta'amu.
Will MVP Quarterback Jordan Ta'amu Return?
It's the status of Ta'amu that holds the most intrigue heading into 2024.
Ta'amu, who had his yearly cup of coffee in the NFL with the Vikings this past summer, seems like a no-brainer returnee to the Defenders.
However, the player salary structure in the new UFL may change that equation.
The expectation is that all UFL quarterbacks will be paid the same, likely in that $53,000 range for 2024. A year ago, XFL 2023 splurged on a few of its quarterbacks, signing Jordan Ta'amu, AJ McCarron and Brett Hundley to deals in excess of six figures.
With 10-win bonuses, including a conference championship game, the average Defenders player pocketed some extra cash beyond their weekly regular season and training camp salaries. Non-quarterbacks on the D.C. Defenders, who were active for all 12 games last season, netted close to $80,000. It would have been $92,500 for a player like RB Abram Smith if they had beaten the Renegades in the championship game.
It's why, during Dany Garcia's post-game presentation of the North Championship trophy to D.C., the Defenders' players can be heard in the background yelling, "Richest Team In The League." They netted an extra $8,000 each for that victory.
Ta'amu was probably smiling in silence. He made a decent five-month day playing in the XFL after jumping ship from the USFL.
But with the XFL and USFL eliminating their competition by joining forces. The need to pay above market for signal-callers will not be there. It's no secret that league ownership groups, FOX and RedBird Capital Partners, have enacted a fiscally responsible plan for their leagues. Cutting any and every corner that can be cut. That method of operation will most certainly continue in the joint UFL.
One downfall to scaling back pay for select quarterbacks is the very real possibility that teams from the Canadian Football League could come calling. Jordan Ta'amu has been a popular name on CFL team negotiation lists. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a team that has had Ta'amu on their wish list.
If the UFL decides to low-ball Ta'amu. The XFL 2023 MVP could choose to take his talents up north.
Right now, the Defenders have only one quarterback listed on their roster of roughly 60 players. That could very well change in the UFL's upcoming dispersal draft process.
Defenders Dispersal Draft Options
The UFL has set the parameters of the Dispersal Draft for all eight teams. Each team will be allowed to protect up to 42 players from its 2023 roster and select up to 20 players from the rosters of teams from their conference that will not be moving forward in 2024 from their previous league.
This means that teams like D.C. on the XFL side will be making selections in the first phase of the Dispersal Draft from a crop of players from the disbanded Orlando Guardians, Vegas Vipers, Houston Roughnecks and Seattle Sea Dragons.
Projected D.C. Defenders Protections
- CB Gareon Conley (LOI commit)
- RB Abram Smith
- WR Josh Hammond
- WR Kelvin Harmon
- WR CJ Johnson
- WR Ty Scott
- WR Brandon Smith
- WR Preston Williams
- TE Alex Ellis
- TE Briley Moore-McKinney
- TE Kahale Warring
- OT Cody Conway
- OT D'Marcus Hayes
- OT Kyle Murphy
- G Adonis Boone
- G Matt Carrick
- G Liam Fornadel
- G Greg Long
- C Ty Clary
- C Lamont Gaillard (LOI commit)
- C Michael Maietti
- DE Jesse Aniebonam
- DE Davin Bellamy
- DE Fadol Brown
- DT Niles Scott
- DT Joe Wallace
- DT Robert Windsor
- DT Gabe Wright
- LB Francis Bernard
- LB Reggie Northrup
- LB Mohamed Sanogo
- CB Michael Joseph
- CB Anthoula Kelly
- CB Parnell Motley
- CB DeJuan Neal
- CB KJ Sails
- S Kentrell Brice
- S Cam Lewis
- S Santos Ramirez
- P Paxton Brooks
- LS Trae Barry
- K Matthew McCrane
Hutchins has his work cut out for him, deciding who to protect on the team's roster and which players to target within the rosters of disbanded teams in the XFL first, and then eventually the USFL conference.
Beyond that, the new roster rules have created limitations of 42 active players on game day, but not at quarterback. The Defenders will likely select one or two signal-callers during the dispersal draft process.
The team will certainly be looking to add at WR, with the likes of Chris Blair and Lucky Jackson in the NFL. In the XFL Dispersal Draft, players like Jeff Badet and Jahcour Pearson will be highly coveted at receiver. But it's the quarterback position that bears watching.
As a result of uncertainty with Ta'amu and King, the Defenders have only one quarterback listed on their current roster — Tennessee State's Geremy Hickbottom. There's no guarantee that he is protected.
Here are some signal-callers that should be on the Defenders' radar from both leagues. Keep in mind that there will be an early run at the top quarterbacks available in each conference.
XFL: Jalen McClendon (Vegas), Brett Hundley (Vegas), Quinten Dormandy (Orlando), Steven Montez (Seattle), Harrison Frost (Seattle), Brandon Silvers (Houston), Lindsey Scott (Houston),
USFL: Case Cookus (Philadelphia), DeAndre Johnson (New Jersey), Troy Williams (Pittsburgh), Aqeel Glass (New Orleans), Davis Cheek (New Orleans), Eric Barriere (New Jersey).
The Defenders are unlikely to get a chance to snap up one of the USFL's top quarterbacks unless one of them slips through the cracks for the Jan. 15 draft.
The USFL quarterback who would best fit the Defenders' offense from this group is the ultra-talented Johnson. Durability has been an issue with him the last two seasons, but Johnson has a Ta'amu-like skill set and can lean into the RPO-based scheme Kaiss operates.
Williams showed some real growth last season and also seems like a good scheme fit. The prized player in this USFL group is Cookus, one of the best quarterbacks in spring pro football the last two seasons.
On the XFL side, there's the grossly underappreciated Dormandy. He had ups and downs with Orlando last season. But the Defenders saw firsthand his potential.
Two possible options from the now fangless Vipers are McClendon, another revelation late in the 2023 XFL season, and veteran Hundley, provided that he returns for another go-around.
There are two young quarterbacks on the now dearly-departed Sea Dragons who could get their shot in 2024, Montez and Frost. Montez profiles as a big-bodied- mobile quarterback who could be an intriguing option and perhaps a better fit in Kaiss' scheme than he was for June Jones in Seattle.
The Defenders might have the same feel in 2024, but they could be vastly different from last year's team. The coming days, and weeks should provide a clearer picture of what awaits.
You can find Mike Mitchell on X @ByMikeMitchell.
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