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Multiple Ex-Seahawks Highlight XFL’s First Draft Grouping

The XFL will host its inaugural draft later this month with approximately 1,000 players hoping to continue playing professional football.
Corbin K. Smith|
Multiple Ex-Seahawks Highlight XFL’s First Draft Grouping
Multiple Ex-Seahawks Highlight XFL’s First 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.

The first grouping featuring more than 200 players was revealed by the XFL on Monday, including five players with previous Seahawks ties.

Headlining the group, former Seahawks backup quarterback alum Jake Heaps will be looking to return to professional football. The Skyline High School alum most recently was with the practice squad of the CFL’s BC Lions in 2017 after two brief stints in Seattle.

Since being released by the Lions two years ago, Heaps has been a radio host on ESPN 710 Seattle and also taken on a coaching role with the Russell Wilson Passing Academy.

Along with Heaps, former Seahawks defensive tackle Sealver Siliga, long snapper Drew Ferris, linebacker Azeem Victor, and receiver Floyd Allen also hope to latch on with the XFL.

Easily the most recognizable name of the group, the 29-year old Siliga offers six seasons of NFL experience. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots in 2015 and signed with the Seahawks the following offseason, appearing in four games before being waived in November.

Ferris signed a three-year deal with the Seahawks in May 2016, but he didn’t last long with the team, as he was released in early August before ever appearing in a preseason game. He’s most recently played for the Orlando Apollos in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football league.

Victor, a former standout at the University of Washington, spent close to a month with the Seahawks practice squad during the 2018 season. He currently is on the practice squad for the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL.

As for Allen, he participated in rookie minicamp for the Seahawks in May before latching on with the Texans. The ex-Ole Miss receiver was released on August 31 during final roster cuts and remains unsigned.

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Corbin K. Smith
CORBIN K. SMITH

Graduating from Manchester College in 2012, Smith began his professional career as a high school Economics teacher in Indianapolis and launched his own NFL website covering the Seahawks as a hobby. After teaching and coaching high school football for five years, he transitioned to a full-time sports reporter in 2017, writing for USA Today's Seahawks Wire while continuing to produce the Legion of 12 podcast. He joined the Arena Group in August 2018 and also currently hosts the daily Locked On Seahawks podcast with Rob Rang and Nick Lee. Away from his coverage of the Seahawks and the NFL, Smith dabbles in standup comedy, is a heavy metal enthusiast and previously performed as lead vocalist for a metal band, and enjoys distance running and weight lifting. A habitual commuter, he resides with his wife Natalia in Colorado and spends extensive time reporting from his second residence in the Pacific Northwest.

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