B.J. Daniels Among Ex-Seahawks in XFL’s Second Draft Grouping
Bracing for their inaugural season, the XFL will conduct a two-day draft on October 15-16 with each of the eight teams in the league selecting 71 players.
Throughout this week, the league will be releasing names for approximately 1,000 players who will be available in the draft. Quarterbacks will be assigned to each team and then a snake-style draft will follow with five phases based on specific position groups.
After revealing the first group of players on Monday, more than 200 players were announced as draft eligible by the league on Tuesday, including former Seahawks backup quarterback and receiver B.J. Daniels.
Originally picked by the 49ers in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Daniels bounced back and forth between the Seahawks active roster and practice squad during two seasons with the Seahawks. Playing in six regular season games during the 2015 campaign, he caught two passes for 18 yards.
Seattle waived Daniels in December 2015 and he appeared in two games for Houston after being signed off the practice squad. Since then, he most recently played for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders of the CFL in 2018.
Joining Daniels in the XFL draft pool, several other notable former Seahawks will be hoping to continue their professional football careers in the upstart league.
On the offensive side of the ball, tackle Andrew McDonald spent part of the 2014 season with the Seahawks, dressing for two games. He last played for the San Antonio Commanders of the now-defunct AAF last spring.
Long snapper Nate Boyer, who served multiple tours for the US Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, picked up football after returning from military duty and became a starter at the University of Texas. Seattle signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and he appeared in one preseason game before being waived.
Several former Seahawks defenders will also try to make the cut in the XFL, including linebackers Terence Garvin and Emmanuel Beal as well as defensive tackles Kristjan Sokoli and Taniela Tupou.
Previously appearing in 75 games for four NFL teams in six seasons, Garvin played in 15 games with three starts for Seattle in 2015. Known largely for his special teams contributions, he finished with 17 tackles, one forced fumble, and a sack.
Garvin stood out as one of the few stars in the AAF as a key member of the Orlando Apollos, who were crowned as the league's "champions" before it ceased operations.
Due to an injury, Beal spent his entire rookie season with Seattle on injured reserve. He was released in mid-April and the undersized linebacker didn’t participate in training camp with any NFL team.
Drafted in the seventh round back in 2015, then-Seahawks line coach Tom Cable tried to work his magic and move Sokoli from defensive line to center. The transition never worked out and after playing just eight special teams snaps as a rookie, he was waived in August 2016.
As for Tupou, he earned a spot on the Seahawks roster as an undrafted rookie in 2016 and dressed for the regular season opener as the team’s starting fullback. He was cut soon after, however, and after brief stops with the Falcons and Cardinals, he played for the San Diego Fleet in the AAF this past spring.
