Introduction
Thanks to the completion of the league QB Draft the 2026 UFL season has officially begun. The most notable aspect of this year’s QBs is the massive turnover from 2025. Only six quarterbacks are returning (7 if you count the week that Jalen Morton joined the Stallions mid-season as their emergency QB) and an astounding 16 who ended the season on a roster (and didn’t retire or sign with the CFL) have been cut. That’s 57%. There are still four spots open with Dallas, Houston, Louisville, and Orlando, but even if all those teams sign players from last year, that is a stark change of pace.
So, let’s look at the new QB rooms and try a way too early depth chart for all of them:
Team-by-Team Breakdown
Birmingham Stallions
Roster:
- Matt Corral
- Jaren Hall
- Taylor Elgersma
Analysis
Prior to the draft, rumors were already circulating that AJ McCarron wanted to keep Corral in Birmingham for the top spot. Now that it is set in stone, he has to be considered QB1. The issue though is Matt Corral hasn’t exactly set the UFL on fire during his two seasons. He lost the starting gig in 2024 to Adrian Martinez and couldn’t stay healthy enough in 2025 to the point he only started 2 games. He also hasn’t had a UFL season where he’s had more touchdowns than interceptions. Going with Corral is a huge risk and I don’t know if McCarron has a terminal case of I Can Fix Him or if he truly knows how to turn things around.
In case the Stallions have to go to plan B, there’s 5th round NFL draft pick Jaren Hall. He put together stellar numbers at BYU, but ended his time with the Minnesota Vikings in 2023 with a week 17 game where he threw an interception, lost a fumble, and was benched by half time. He hasn’t played a regular season snap since, but he is still young enough to have time to turn things around.
In the emergency slot is Taylor Elgersma, a Canadian quarterback who gained a lot of press after being invited to play in the 2025 Senior Bowl. This alone caused a brief period of him ending up on mock drafts, but didn’t manifest in his name being called. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the CFL draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, so if he stays lost in the depth chart he has more than enough reason to go north.
Columbus Aviators
Roster:
- Jalen McClendon
- Clayton Tune
- Jalen Morton
Analysis
Columbus inherited the Michigan Panthers and kept none of the quarterbacks. Granted, Bryce Perkins is in the CFL now, but neither Danny Etling or rookie Rocky Lombardi stood out in good ways last season.
Instead, Columbus sniped the feel good story of the Houston Roughnecks season, Jalen McClendon. This will be McClendon’s 4th spring team in 4 seasons. The hope will remain that the Columbus coaching staff will take a lesson from Houston and play to his strengths. I am unsure if he was brought in to be the starter or not, but as a primary starter from last season, he has the advantage.
Clayton Tune might be the biggest signing surprise due to him being a Green Bay Packer for the entirety of the 2025 season. He spent all but one week on the practice squad and was promoted to the active roster when Jordan Love and Malik Willis were hurt. He was waived on January 6th and it seems pretty likely he turned down a futures deal in order to play in the UFL.
Tune brings with him a history of excellent collegiate play (which earned him a 5th round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2023) and two NFL starts. The downside is that he was not very impressive in those starts. This last year his completion percentage was 47% and he’s thrown 3 interceptions and no touchdowns over his career. Not to mention he’s also lost 2 fumbles in his minimal experience. It is entirely possible he can turn things around in the UFL, but the track record of struggling NFL quarterbacks in the UFL isn’t great.
Also, Jalen Morton is such an interesting choice. He played well last season for the AF1’s Southwest Kansas Storm and was second in the league in passing yards and touchdowns. That said, his completion percentage was sub-50%. It’s a wild card pick that is perfect for the last QB spot.
Dallas Renegades
Roster:
- Luis Perez
- Austin Reed
- [open spot]
Analysis
The Renegades had to do everything they could to keep Perez. At this point, the Spring King is the Renegades. That said, rumors of retirement follow Perez after every off-season, so you have to ensure that the heir ascendent is ready in the wings. Arlington/Dallas have attempted this with Lindsey Scott and Holton Ahlers, only for both to choose retirement rather than for time to catch up to Perez. So, now, it falls to Austin Reed.
Reed’s college career saw him play for three different direction-based schools (Southern Illinois, West Florida, and Western Kentucky), where he often put up very gaudy numbers. In 2022, he threw for 4,744 yards, tossed 40 touchdowns, and ran for another 224 yards. The problem though is those stats weren’t from the year he graduated. His stats regressed across the board in his final season and Reed went undrafted. The Chicago Bears gave him a shot for a couple of seasons, but he never made it past the practice squad.
Reed’s college numbers show potential, but it makes perfect sense why Perez would get the nod. Depending on who Dallas brings in, Reed may find himself on the bottom of the chart.
DC Defenders
Roster:
- Jordan Ta’amu
- Mike DiLiello
- Spencer Sanders
Analysis
Shannon Harris returns to defend the Defenders’ championship and makes the wise move of not changing a thing. DC is bringing back their entire QB room and (I would assume) will keep the depth chart the same. Ta’amu is the clear starter, DiLiello has been an acceptable backup when need be, and Sanders’ lack of stats his final year of college makes him the natural fit in the back. Running back the same room truly gives DC a the leg up on the other UFL teams.
Houston Gamblers
Roster:
- Hunter Dekkers
- Donovan Smith
- [open spot]
Analysis
Of all the new QB rooms, this is the one that’s the most intriguing. The potential ceiling is huge and the possible bottom would make Curtis Johnson blush.
Hunter Dekkers began his college career as the future of Iowa State football. In 2022 he was named the starter and led the Cyclones to, well, a not great 4-8 record, but he was a sophomore at the time. Despite the bad record, he threw for over 3,000 yards and 19 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. However, before the next season, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation charged seven Iowa State players for illegal sports gambling. Dekkers in particular was found to have lied about his age to use DraftKings, but the charges also accused him of gambling on 26 Iowa State football games. He never started any of those games, but this was enough for the NCAA to kick him out.
Dekkers returned to college ball in 2024 for Iowa Western Community College where he threw 3,806 yards and improved to 32 TDs to 10 interceptions. That said, the switch from Big Ten to NJCAA is a pretty stark dip in competition. He went undrafted, got signed by the New Orleans Saints, and was released & resigned to their practice squad five times this last season. Much like Tune, Dekkers was signed to the Saints active roster on New Years Eve and was only recently released.
Competing against him is Houston local Donovan Smith. Much of the hype around Smith is that he is an imposing figure at 6’4″/219 pounds. The thing though is that didn’t translate to impressive numbers in college. During his time at Texas Tech, he was never able to win the starting spot. In 2023 he transferred to Houston, started for the season, but by week 6 of 2024 he lost the job to Zeon Chriss.
Between the two, Dekkers feels like the clear starter, but that third open spot has the potential to completely shake things up.
Louisville Kings
Roster:
- Jason Bean
- Chandler Rogers
- [open spot]
Analysis
The UFL’s number 1 draft pick finally comes to the league! In 2024, the Memphis Showboats (RIP) spent their pick on Kansas’ dual-threat starter and after inheriting the team, Louisville gets the fruits of that labor. Bean has spent the past couple of seasons with the Indianapolis Colts as a quarterback/wide receiver hybrid. However, he never got called up to the main roster and after a fine preseason this year, he was cut. He did get a few workout invites throughout the season, but remained unsigned.
On the flip side is Chandler Rogers. During his six year college career, he attended five schools: Southern Miss (2019), Blinn College (2020), Louisiana-Monroe (2021-22), North Texas (2023), and California (2024). His best year came at North Texas with 3,382 passing yards and 29 TDs to 5 interceptions, which he used to transfer to Cali. However, he lost the battle for the starting job to Fernando Mendoza and ended the season with 117 passing yards.
Neither player has much post-college info to base things on, but I’d say Bean has the edge due to ending his college career on a high note. That said, there is more than enough opportunity for the unnamed third guy to have a chance to lead.
Orlando Storm
Roster:
- Jack Plummer
- Dorian Thompson-Robinson
- [open spot]
Analysis
This is the quarterback room that feels the most bleak to me. If we’re going entirely on NFL experience, the choice for starter would have to be Dorian Thompson-Robinson. DTR was a 5th round pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2023 and when Deshaun Watson revealed himself to be the worst investment in NFL history, Dorian was thrown to the wolves. In two seasons he started 5 games and threw 1 touchdown to 10 interceptions. The one upside was that he was mobile, which he often had to be. Fans also noticed that the side effect of this was that DTR’s confidence seemed to crater. But hey, this is one of the reasons that the UFL exists: to give players wrecked by bad to impossible situations a chance to rebuild and grow.
On the other hand, we have Jack Plummer. He has yet to play a regular season down, but played very decently at California in 2022 & Louisville in 2023. He topped 3,000 passing yards and 20 touchdowns in both of his final seasons, which earned him a spot on the Carolina Panthers practice squad. The lowlight is this year Plummer had one of the worst preseasons of any NFL QB. He got plenty of playing time, but also threw 3 interceptions, which led to him being cut.
Again, this is a room that could be shaken by whoever gets signed as the third quarterback & I would be surprised if Coach Becht felt satisfied with these two as his only options.
St. Louis Battlehawks
Roster:
- Brandon Silvers
- Michael Pratt
- Ben Wooldridge
Analysis
The Battlehawks kick off the season with one of the six QBs making a return this year: Brandon Silvers. I was unsure whether to put him here or as a backup. He has been a fixture of spring football since 2019 and did fine as the starter for the Houston Roughnecks in 2023. However, in his two seasons with the Battlehawks, he has barely played. I think Silvers at least goes into camp as the potential starter, just because of experience, but it is his to lose.
Michael Pratt is the more likely QB to take the job due to his four years of consistently good play at Tulane. It is hard to ignore a four year starter that put together 9,611 passing yards, 90 TDs to only 26 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 60.6%. The thing that gives me pause though is during this year’s preseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cut him in week 1 due to a lingering back issue. It is more than possible this injury is healed, but it is worth keeping an eye on.
Finally, there is Ben Wooldridge. Thanks to redshirting and covid, Ben completed a seven year college career, but wasn’t a full time starter until the final season in 2024 with Louisiana. As a starter he played fine (2,453 yards, 17 TDs/6 ints), but did lead Louisiana to their first winning season since 2021. Unless he really shows out in training camp, this is his likely depth spot.
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