Ballage (New Record) and Bowden (New Team) Updates

Former Miami Dolphins running back Kalen Ballage made his UFL debut, while Lynn Bowden Jr. is headed for another league

Arlington Renegades running back Kalen Ballage (4) carries the ball on a 77-yard touch run during the first half against the San Antonio Brahmas at Choctaw Stadium. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Kalen Ballage provided a flashback to his one shining moment with the Miami Dolphins when he made his UFL debut this weekend.

Ballage reminded everyone of his big-play potential in his Arlington Renegades debut — almost seven years after he was drafted by the Dolphins. The former fourth-round pick rushed for 110 yards on only nine carries, highlighted by a 77-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. 

THE LONGEST RUN IN UFL HISTORY!!!!

🚨77-YARD TD RUN FOR KALEN BALLAGE🚨 pic.twitter.com/MjTNRdaVAQ

— United Football League (@TheUFL) March 29, 2025

The former Arizona State standout had difficulty establishing himself in the NFL, though he showed glimpses of his big-play ability early with the Dolphins. Next Gen Stats clocked him at 21.87 mph during a 75-yard touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings toward the end of his rookie season in 2018.

Despite the home-run potential, Ballage struggled with consistency in the NFL, averaging just 1.8 yards per carry on 74 attempts in his second season — which, in his defense, came during the Dolphins' rebuilding (or tanking) 2019 season. Ballage totaled 110 carries for 326 yards with Miami, averaging less than 3 yards per carry over his two seasons in South Florida.

The New York Jets waived Ballage after three games in 2020, but he signed with the Chargers' practice squad later that week. He carved out a steady role in Los Angeles, rushing for 290 yards and three touchdowns over 11 games, which included two starts. 

In 2021, he signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but 107 of his 190 snaps were on special teams, and he averaged just 3 yards per carry on 12 rushing attempts.

The San Antonio Brahmas selected Ballage in the sixth round of the 2023 XFL draft, but he was placed on the team’s reserve list roughly a month later. He resurfaced early in 2025, signing with the Renegades on Jan. 17.

Ballage stole the show in the 33-9 win over the Brahmas, but former Liberty tailback Dae Dae Hunter was Arlington’s workhorse, carrying the ball a team-high 16 times, but for only 45 yards. St. Louis Battlehawks’ Jarveon Howard leads the UFL with 115 rushing yards after Week 1. His 74-yard scamper fell just short of Ballage’s record-setting run.

The 10-game UFL regular season runs from late March to early June. Next Sunday, Ballage and the Renegades will face former Dolphins UDFA Kirk Merritt and the Houston Roughnecks, with kickoff slated for noon EDT.

LYNN BOWDEN UPDATE

The UFL rosters revealed over a month ago included another intriguing former Dolphins player, Lynn Bowden Jr., as a member of the D.C. Defenders, but his career has apparently taken another turn.

Bowden now is part of the training camp roster for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League.

Bowden played only one season for the Dolphins after being acquired in a trade with the Raiders in August 2020, but he was impressive enough that rookie year that him winding up in the UFL at any point seemed unlikely at the time.

But his career went sideways after that promising 2020 season and he was out of football in 2024 after the New Orleans declined to extend a qualifying offer as restricted free agent and no other team signed him.

After spending the 2021 season on IR, Bowden was released by the Dolphins in August 2022 and wound up playing one game with the New England Patriots that season and 15 games with three starts with the Saints in 2023.