Almost every spring, a spring football league tries to break its way onto the scene. These leagues are usually not very entertaining for multiple reasons; The level of play is poor because the best players are in the NFL, and the atmosphere lacks intensity because these leagues aren’t popular yet. Last spring, two leagues, the XFL and the USFL, did better than the spring leagues have done in previous years. I wasn’t a big fan but I did watch some XFL highlights only because there was no other football to watch. The two leagues merged this past offseason into the UFL. Between the mild success both sides had last year, the UFL might become the first successful and fully established spring football league.
I didn’t plan on watching many UFL games. However, I decided to scan through the rosters to see if I’d find anything interesting. Sure enough, I noticed that one team is loaded with high-ceiling potential NFL players. This one team might be worth watching. Since I don’t know enough about the coaching staffs and each team's capabilities in the trenches, it’s hard to say that they’ll run away with the league. Nevertheless, here’s my breakdown of the D.C. Defenders “Solid Seven”:
QB: 10 Jordan Ta’amu
Jordan Ta’amu played 19 games for the Ole Miss Rebels and threw for 5,600 yards, 30
touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and added 507 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. After going undrafted, on August 7, 2019, Ta'amu signed with the Houston Texans, only to be cut 23 days later. That October, Ta’amu signed with the XFL’s St. Louis BattleHawks. He looked great through the first 5 games of the season, leading his team to a 3W-2L record. However, just when he was getting settled in, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and canceled the remainder of the season. Jordan Ta’amu’s work with the BattleHawks was impressive enough to earn him a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs on April 2nd, 2020. However, he never played a snap for Kansas City and was cut by the end of October. He spent time on the Lions’, Panthers, and Commanders’, practice squads before signing with the USFL in 2022 and being selected by the Tampa Bay Bandits. Tampa is where Ta’amu broke out and made a name for himself. Despite Ta’amu leading the USFL in both passing yards at 2,014 and touchdowns with 14, the Bandits went 4W-6L and missed the playoffs. On January 6, 2023, Jordan Ta’amu returned to the XFL, with the D.C. Defenders this time. Ta’amu excelled in the nation’s capital and led the Defenders to a 9W-1l record, before being upset by Ben Denucci and the Seattle Sea Dragons in the playoffs. Nonetheless, Ta’amu’s season was very impressive. His 1,878 passing yards, 14 touchdown passes, 301 rushing yards, and 3 rushing touchdowns were enough to earn him the Offensive Player of the Year award. Last summer, Ta’amu was on the Minnesota Viking’s roster for one week. He was released before the NFL season and has returned to D.C. to run back another great season with the Defenders.
WR: 81 Keke Coutee
Keke Coutee is a small receiver with elite speed. As a teenager, I liked utilizing his speed in Madden and was very surprised to learn he’s out of the NFL. Coutee played 3 seasons for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He established himself in his Sophomore year with 892 yards and 8 touchdowns before putting up elite numbers (1,44 yards and 10 touchdowns) in his junior year. After running a 4.43 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, Keke Coutee was selected by the Houston Texans in the fourth round with the 103rd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Coutee was disappointing in the seasons in Houston. After he only put up 941 yards and 4 touchdowns in the seasons, in August of 2021, the Texans waived Coutee. Over the next two years, Coutee played 10 games for the Indianapolis Colts but failed to stay healthy or make an impact. Keke Coutee spent time on both the Dolphins’ and Saints’ practice squads before signing with the UFL’s D.C. Defenders this past February. Coutee is still only 27 years old and can still run like the wind. If the Defenders utilize him properly, he can be a great weapon, especially catching passes from the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.
WR: 16 Preston Williams
After two lackluster seasons at the University of Tennessee, Preston Williams transferred to Colorado State. Now being the featured receiver, Williams showed Tennessee what they missed out on. In Williams’ lone season with the Rams, he put up 1,358 yards and 14 touchdowns. After only 3 years of college football, Williams signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent. He made everyone that passed on him bight their tongues by putting up 428 yards and 3 touchdowns in his rookie year. That’s pretty average for most receivers, but incredible for an undrafted player. Williams took a small step backward in his second year with Miami, putting up 140 fewer yards, but he did score 4 touchdowns. However, in 2021 the wheels fell off, Williams only put up 71 yards and didn’t score any touchdowns. As a result, was waived on August 30, 2022. He played one game with the Carolina Panthers in 2022 but wasn’t targeted and was released in May. This past December, Preston Williams signed with the UFL’s D.C. Defenders. He hasn’t done much in the last two years, but if he can recapture some of the magic he had with Colorado State or the Dolphins, he may be the best receiver in the UFL.
LB: 23 Jordan Evans
Jordan Evans played all four college seasons for the Oklahoma Sooners. After four solid years with OU, Evans was selected in the 6th round of the NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. In his first two seasons, Evans started 9 games for the Bengals and was average. In his third season in 2019, Evans fell back in the depth chart. He bounced back in 2020 by getting two sacks despite not starting a single game. Evans re-signed with the Bengals on a one-year contract on March 28, 2021. His time with the Bengals came to an abrupt ending when he tore his ACL in week 5. In 2023, Jordan Evans played for the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons and played a big role in their championship game run. The Sea Dragons were unfortunately folded when the XFL merged with the USFL. On January 5, 2024, Evans was selected by the DC Defenders during the 2024 UFL dispersal draft. Evans is still only 29 years old and has plenty of good football left in the tank. Expect Jordan Evans to be an impact player in the Defenders’ front-7 in 2024.
DB: 25 Deandre Baker
Deandre Baker once had it all. Baker played four seasons for the Georgia Bulldogs and shined in the SEC. After racking up 7 interceptions in his college career, Deandre Baker was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the New York Giants. Baker signed a 4-year 10.5-million-dollar rookie contract with New York. However, Baker was terrible in his rookie year with the Giants. After Baker allowed 850 yards, 6 touchdowns, and a 116.2 passer rating when targeted, Baker made it all worse by being arrested for stealing cash and watches from four men at a house party in the city. Even though the charges had no evidence and were eventually dropped, the Giants waived the former first-round pick. On November 19, 2020, Baker was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs. He played 10 games for Kansas City and was mediocre. After starting 2 games in 2 seasons with the Chiefs, Baker was waived on August 7, 2022. This past January, Baker joined the UFL’s D.C. Defenders. Baker may have not had success in the NFL, but he never got the opportunity to develop properly. Deandre Baker was great for Georgia and did have the tools to be a first-round pick. If the Defenders manage him properly, I believe Baker can be one of, if not the best defensive backs in the UFL.
DB: 20 Gareon Conley
Gareon Conley played 3 years of college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. In his junior year in 2016, Conely established himself as one of the nation’s top ball hawks by racking up 4 interceptions. He was then selected by the Raiders in the back half of the first round of the NFL draft. Conley had a rough rookie year before finding his stride in 2018. After picking off 3 passes in 2018, Conley hoped to establish himself as an elite ball hawk in the NFL as well, in 2019. However, Conley’s season got off to a poor start when he hurt his neck colliding with a teammate. He came back quickly and even managed to get a pick in week 5 before being traded to the Houston Texans. In 2020, Conley suffered multiple injuries and didn’t play a single game. Being a free agent, having not played football in over a year, no NFL team was willing to take a chance on Conley. On December 26, 2023, Conley signed with the UFL’s D.C. Defenders. I find it very puzzling that not a single NFL team has taken a shot on Conley. He’s injury-prone and wasn’t very good in 2019, but he still is a former first-round pick who put up three interceptions in an NFL season. If he’s nearly as good for the Defenders as he was in 2016 or 2018, D.C. was gifted one of the best players in spring football history.
DB: 36 DJ Swearinger
DJ Swearinger played four seasons for the South Carolina Gamecocks from 2009 through 2012. After a great college career, Swearinger was drafted by the Houston Texans in the second round of the NFL draft. Swearinger put up two unimpressive seasons in Houston to start his career before being released in May 2015. Ahead of the 2015 season, Swearinger signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After Swearinger showed no improvement through his first 7 games in Tampa, the Buccaneers gave up on him as well and waived him. Less than a month later, due to star safety Tyrann Mathieu going down with a season-ending injury, the Arizona Cardinals took a chance on DJ Swearinger. Swearinger looked better with the Cardinals and returned to Arizona for a second season, ready to make the Texans and Bucs regret giving up on him. He did so by racking up a career-best 3 interceptions in 2016 and earning a three-year 13.5-million-dollar contract with Washington. Swearinger excelled with Washington and picked off 4 passes in each of the first two seasons of the contract (11 total picks in 2016-2018). However, before the third and final year of his contract, Swearinger took public his dispute with Greg Manusky, his defensive coordinator, leading to his release. In 2019, he played games for the Cardinals and Raiders before ending up with the Saints. He was brought back by the Saints for 2020 on a one-year 1.1-million-dollar deal. His season was cut short by COVID-19 and he inevitably parted ways with New Orleans following the season. Swearinger spent time on the Colts practice squad before signing with the UFL’s D.C. Defenders in April of 2023. At the age of 32, Swearinger is not the player he once was, but he’s still a great player by UFL standards. The players in spring leagues aren’t as fast as in the NFL and Swearinger also brings plenty of experience to the table. I expect him to be one of the top safeties in the UFL this season and pick off multiple passes.
If the boys in the trenches can do their job, the UFL better look out for the D.C. Defenders. Between already being one of the best XFL teams, adding two big-time weapons for Ta’amu, stealing Seattle’s best linebacker, and the three-headed monster in their secondary, the Defenders should be running away with games this year. I’ll be tuning in for the show and you should too.
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