USFL Coverage

A rare USFL story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...d-michigan-panthers-usfl-top-pick/9936669002/

 

https://nypost.com/2022/05/28/generals-hold-off-bandits-to-clinch-spot-in-usfl-playoffs/

 

YOU ONLY COVER US WHEN WE RELEASE OUR NO. 1 PICK!

 

"If you covered us more, fans would come and these hardworking young men could get contracts with the NFL!"

 

Not a lot of players have failed to live up to their hype and potential quite like Shea Patterson.

 

Ron Dayne comes to mind; 1999 Heisman Award winner misused by Jim Fassel and the NY Football Giants.

 

Dayne was at least a hell of a college player who won the Heisman. Patterson was one of the top QB recruits in his class, if not the No. 1 recruit. He was lauded as the savior of Ole Miss football. He showed some potential, then hurt his knee and bailed on Ole Miss when it got slapped by the NCAA. Transferred to Michigan and was touted as their next great QB. He wasn't terrible, but never really lived up to the hype of an elite QB prospect. Then he went undrafted and has bounced around practice squads and the CFL and USFL ever since. So he's just underwhelmed at almost every stop he's had.

On a side note, it's funny how Jordan Ta'amu seems to be his shadow. Ta'amu replaced him at Ole Miss; the two were briefly on the Chiefs' offseason roster in 2020; and now both are playing in the USFL.

 

I'll be curious to see if any USFL player makes the jump to the NFL and the regular season roster ala Rod "HeHateMe" Smart from the XFL.

 

Given how tough it is to evaluate "down the roster" kind of talent, it wouldn't shock me if a lineman, kicker or punter made it. Even the most recent incarnation of the XFL has produced 49 NFL products so far. (In true XFL fashion, it looks like a straight copy-paste from an Excel or Google sheet, with less information than I'd like, so I have no clue how many of those guys stuck around for more than a cup of coffee in the NFL.)

 

The amount of roster churn means some of the guys are going to get on an NFL roster. Doesn't mean the USFL got them on the roster.

 

Long article on NJ Generals victory last night. I watched it, definitely some NFL caliber players in this league. https://nypost.com/2022/06/04/generals-storm-past-maulers-for-seventh-consecutive-win/

 

The Post Gazette has a Maulers section and beat reporter. Roland Rivers, Maulers' late-game push falls short in loss to Generals