Tuesday, February 4, 2020

XFAlpha Podcast Notes - Episode 13

The XFL season is nearly upon us, and that means that we are dropping episodes like we're Pharrell, because trust me when I tell you that these episodes are hot. On this episode, we tackle our last position group, the safeties as well as talk about the biggest acquisitions or near acquisitions in the XFL. We've got kicker news and a guy joining the league who both Jonah and I believe is the best receiver in the XFL. Notes and download information below.

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SAFETY

  1. St. Louis Battlehawks
    1. Herb Miller - FAU defensive back where he wasn’t even a starter. 
    2. Will Hill - Florida safety who reminds us that Twitter used to be good. Everyday Should Be Saturday broke down some of his greatest hits from 2010, and I just need to highlight some of those. Oh, as for football? Well, he was a three year starter for the Gators. He went undrafted but played four seasons in the NFL with the majority of the time being a starter and even got a pick-six on Drew Brees. Unfortunately, the Ravens released him when they learned he had failed a drug test and would be suspended ten games. That was his fourth drug related suspension. This is a guy who is slightly older but would probably still be in the NFL if he did not have drug issues. If he can keep things together, he’s likely the most skilled safety in the entire league. 
    3. D’Montre Wade - Murray State safety that had a two interception game against Missouri State one time. The Battlehawks are already referring to him as the real D-Wade. That’s bold. 
    4. Dexter McCoil - Safety out of Tulsa who did not get much love from NFL teams despite having 18 interceptions in college. He headed up to Canada where he dominated for the Edmonton Eskimos before the Chargers signed him, and he ended up playing 2016-2017 in the NFL. He’s bounced around practice squads since then, but this is a guy who has shown he knows how to produce, and he’s been very close to making it back in the NFL. He’s not super young, but I think he will be one of the better safeties in the league this season. Also, at 6’4” 220, he also has linebacker potential. He believes cocomelon is the wave. 
    5. Kenny Robinson - The best safety in the league. Robinson played the last two years for West Virginia where he was a first-team All-Big 12 selection but was dismissed from the team due to a code of conduct violation. Since he was only a sophomore, he couldn’t declare for the NFL Draft so has chosen to go into the XFL where he can raise his draft stock for April’s draft. This guy was a big-time performer in college and was likely headed towards being a mid-round pick and possibly higher if he impressed at the combine. He’s so young and still improving so it should be very interesting how things work out for him as it may influence future college players to make the transition to the XFL as a bridge to the NFL.
    6. Joe Powell - Maybe the greatest player in the history of Globe Institute of Technology. He has basically played in every minor league football organization out there since graduating in 2014. 
    7. Darius Hillary - Former Wisconsin Badger. 
    8. Harold Jones-Quartey - From the University of Findlay, so you know, he LOVES to fight. He played 29 games with the Bears, and I still remember nothing about him.
  2. Dallas Renegades
    1. Derron Smith - Fresno State safety that had 14 picks over his sophomore and junior seasons along with four sacks in his junior year. He came back for his senior year, the numbers dropped off, he didn’t get invited to the combine and fell to the Bengals in the sixth round. From 2015-2017, he still played in 38 games so he managed to stay fairly active, so this is a guy who stuck around for a while and is fairly recent to the NFL so I could see him doing well in the XFL, especially since the guy has a great nose for the ball.
    2. Kurtis Drummond - Michigan State safety who was two-time All Big Ten for the Spartans. He still didn’t get drafted but signed with the Texans where he primarily contributed as a special teams player from 2015-2017 but has not caught on since then. He’s recent enough that he’s an intriguing guy for me, especially with the success he had in the best football conference in the nation. Jonah, he had some good advice for you when he said, Stop doing it for the gram, and start doing it for yourself. 
    3. Montrell Meander - Grambling State defensive back.
    4. Doyin Jibowu - The pride of Fort Hays State, unable to make the Bears roster this past season.
    5. Ronald Martin - LSU Safety that was once traded by the Jets for a long snapper. That long snapper recently signed a four-year deal to remain with the Jets. 
    6. Jalen Harvey - Arizona State guy who didn’t play safety until his senior year in college. He managed 70 tackles, but no interceptions in 2018. His youth and newness to the position makes him a guy to keep an eye on. He could be a great success or could be one of the first cuts. 
    7. Marwin Evans - One-year starter at Utah State that played 32 games, primarily on special teams for the Packers from 2016-2017 but hasn’t made a roster since. 
    8. Ryan Moeller - Colorado safety that made a name for himself in the Alliance with two interceptions in his first two games. 
  3. Seattle Dragons
    1. Kentrell Brice - Louisiana Tech safety that who had a ridiculous pro day which helped get him signed by the Green Bay Packers. He played from 2016-2018 with the Packers before being a final cut with the Buccaneers this year. He’s very much a guy that is right on the edge of making an NFL roster, so I think he could be a very valuable addition for an XFL version of the Legion of Boom. 
    2. Cody Brown - Two-year starter at Arkansas State.
    3. Jordan Martin - Safety at Toledo before one year at Syracuse. 
    4. Tyson Graham - South Dakota safety. 
    5. Santos Ramirez - Arkansas Defensive Back. 
    6. Godwin Igwebuike - Northwestern safety that I can’t believe is not with the Seahawks as he set the damn combine on fire. He seems like a super athlete with great change of direction. He played with the Buccaneers and 49ers last year but was unable to make an active roster this year. And if you like genetics, his uncle was an NFL kicker for Tampa Bay in the 80s. 
  4. Los Angeles Wildcats
    1. Jordan Powell - Defensive back out of Widener. They are actually working him out at linebacker.
    2. Ahmad Dixon - Second-team All-American defensive back out of Baylor who crapped the bed at the combine and fell to the seventh round to the Cowboys. He managed to get in 11 games in 2015 and recovered a fumble for the Bears while purposely sabotaging the Vikings with zero stats. He’s been playing in Canada mostly since then. 
    3. Jerome Couplin - William & Mary safety who played in 18 NFL games over 2014-2015 but has not been back since. 
    4. Marsean Diggs - Stefon Diggs’s brother so Jonah is going to be way too high on him for that reason alone. Went to Iowa Western before transferring to UAB. At 6’3”, he’s pretty tall for a safety.
    5. Jaleel Wadood - 5’9” DB out of UCLA where he started all four years. Just graduated in 2017 but failed to make an NFL team, but this is a guy who may have been overlooked because of his size but can still make a big impact.  
    6. LaDarius Wiley - Three-year starter at Vanderbilt who just graduated in 2018. 
    7. Brandon Bryant - Played at Mississippi State and left for the supplemental draft. He’s been clocked at 4.24 seconds for a 40 yard dash. I don’t believe that time, but it does probably mean he’s fairly fast.
  5. DC Defenders
    1. Rahim Moore - Second round pick by the Broncos out of UCLA in 2012. During his sophomore year, he had ten interceptions, so the guy would seem to be a bit of a ballhawk. He had nine interceptions over five seasons in the NFL but hasn’t been able to make an active roster since 2015. It’s tough to see much potential in Moore at this point.
    2. Tyree Kinnel - Michigan safety who recently became a father to a baby girl. 
    3. Carlos Merritt - The pride of the Campbell Camels. 
    4. Matt Elam - Matt Elam was a pretty damn good safety for the Florida Gators before leaving after his junior year and getting drafted by the Ravens with the last pick of the first round in the 2013 NFL Draft. He had a strong rookie year where he was a full-time starter but did struggle with injuries and his playing time decreased with his last action being in 2016. Then we get into the issue of multiple arrests, the first being caught with 126 grams of marijuana which seems like a lot, but it’s only slightly over a quarter pound of weed. Weed does not weigh much, so that’s a lot, but it’s not like this guy is a drug kingpin. Maybe he just wanted to get really, really high. He also was charged with battery and theft when he tried to steal his ex-girlfriend’s cell phone. He did get the phone, but in the scuffle, she ended up with his phone, so he basically just ended up with a phone trade. That’s not great, but also not terribly worrisome as there was nothing terribly violent about the exchange, just some scrapes. And he’s a perfectly average height guy at 5’10”. Okay, that’s a little tall, but I’ll still represent for him.
    5. Max Redfield - Was a big time prospect at Notre Dame before transferring to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He started two years for them and had some time in the Alliance, so he’s young enough and has been successful enough to be slightly intriguing.
    6. Tre Sullivan - Out of Shepherd U who played for the Eagles and won a Super Bowl ring. He was at least at one time a big wrestling fan as he posted a birthday picture from his younger years where he has a wrestling shirt, had wrestling plates and napkins, and even a birthday hat with The Rock on it. 
  6. Tampa Vipers
    1. Marcelis Branch - Safety out of Robert Morris. He is fairly woke on Twitter.
    2. Micah Hannemann - Safety out of BYU that just graduated in 2017 but is also already 25 years old. Appears to be related to Cub outfielder, Jacob Hannemann. 
    3. Robenson Therezie - Went to Auburn before playing for the Falcons in 2015-2016 and even got an interception against Jonah favorite, Zach Mettenberger. He’s been on some practice squads since then. Like all Auburn players, half of his tweets are War Damn Eagle. 
    4. John Green - I wrote this dude’s name down and now can’t find any information on him.
    5. Robert Priester - 5’9” safety out of Wyoming. 
    6. PJ Locke III - Texas safety that likes to play video games and just graduated last year. He’s mildly intriguing. 
  7. New York Guardians
    1. Dravon Askew-Henry - West Virginia Mountaineer who played Bandit Safety after starting nearly all four years in school. Fresh out of college, so he’s one of the more intriguing safeties out there. 
    2. Demetrious Cox - Started his last two years for Michigan State and played in four games for the Panthers in 2017. He had to pay over $1,000 to resolve an assault where he set his burrito down so he could repeatedly punch the cab driver when he was very drunk.
    3. Andrew Soroh - Defensive back out of FAU. 
    4. Max Lyons - Southeastern Louisiana product that has fun hair and had three picks his senior year in 2017. 
    5. Wes Sutton - Northern Arizona safety that graduated in 2018 so at least he’s fresh.
    6. Aaron Taylor - Safety out of Ball State.
    7. AJ Hendy - Safety out of Maryland. He managed to play one game for the Dolphins in 2016. 
  8. Houston Roughnecks
    1. Trae Elston - Went to Ole Miss and played in 14 games in 2017 before not making the league the last two years. 
    2. Marqueston Huff - Three-year starter at Wyoming and had a big senior year which helped get him drafted by the Titans in the fourth round. He played from 2014-2016 in the NFL but has not been back since. These are the type of guys that I tend to have my doubts about their ability to make it back. 
    3. SaQwan Edwards - New Mexico safety that was once arrested for rape but the charges were dropped.
    4. Ed Reynolds - Stanford safety that I thought would make a good pro. I was wrong. He won the Jack Tatum award his junior year for best college defensive back, stayed another year when all of his stats fell off and was drafted in the fifth round by the Eagles. All of that production in college never translated to the pros as he played in just 16 games over three years with his last action being in 2016. This is a name we know, but not a name we’ll need to know this year in the XFL.
    5. Kendall Adams - Former Kansas State safety. He’s 220 pounds so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a move to linebacker in his future.
    6. KJ Dillon - West Virginia safety that was a fifth round pick by the Texans in 2016. He played in just five NFL games that year and has not played since. If you ever see him in the forest fighting a grizzly bear, help the Bear. He also loves chicken tender subs from Publix. People LOVE Publix.
    7. Fred Payne - Western Carolina safety, proud Catamount. 
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