RJ Young
FOX Sports National College Football Analyst
The 2025 United Football League season is right around the corner, and the 50-man rosters for all eight teams are now official after the close of training camps around the league.
The complete, finalized rosters for each squad can be found here.
That said, it’s time for my first power rankings of 2025 ahead of UFL Kickoff Weekend, which begins Friday on FOX.
[MORE: What is the UFL? Everything to know about the 2025 United Football League]
2024 record: 1-9 (missed postseason)
Odds to win 2025 title: +1800
The addition of former Oregon and Boston College quarterback Anthony Brown brings a bit of pedigree to head coach Curtis Johnson’s Roughnecks, who are looking for just their second win since the formation of the UFL. No doubt that will mean getting on the same page with Houston’s best offensive weapon in Justin Hall, who finished third in the league in receptions (56) and receiving yards (603) despite having just three receiving touchdowns under his belt.
The Roughnecks will have to find other ways to move the ball after ranking second to last in the league in rushing yards and offensive efficiency in 2024.
2024 record: 4-6 (missed postseason)
Odds to win 2025 title: +600
Despite leading the league in passing and starting all 10 games, quarterback Jordan Ta’amu and the Defenders couldn’t muster a record above .500 last season. There’s hope that the Defenders could see more continuity in their run game this season, as they continue to get outstanding play out of 2024 All-UFL returner and wideout Chris Rowland, who caught 20 passes for 262 yards with three scores.
However, former Defenders head coach Reggie Barlow’s decision to leave the UFL to return to coaching HBCU football at Tennessee State — where Eddie George, who has since become head coach at Bowling Green, was at the helm last — one week before DC’s first game against defending UFL champion Birmingham is a setback. The Defenders, led by newly minted head coach Shannon Harris, will enter an era with just their second head coach since the XFL returned to spring football in 2023.
[MORE: Who’s coaching the UFL this season? See the complete staffs for all eight teams]
2024 record: 2-8 (missed postseason)
Odds to win 2025 title: +1400
Memphis enters this season with its fourth head coach in three years, with interim head coach Jim Turner stepping in for former NFL head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who is currently taking a leave of absence for personal reasons.
The Showboats will look toward former Brown star E.J. Perry as well as UFL veteran Troy Williams to lead them at quarterback. At Brown, Perry was a 2021 finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given to the nation’s best FCS player, after passing for more than 3,000 yards and setting the single-season record for total offense by a Bear.
The Showboats are also headlined by the return of wideout Daewood Davis, who led the franchise in catches (41), yards receiving (446) and receiving touchdowns (five) last year.
2024 record: 3-7 (missed postseason)
Odds to win 2025 title: +1100
The Renegades’ 2024 season was a let-down in comparison to the year prior, when they won the 2023 XFL Championship Game. This season, head coach Bob Stoops will hope to return Arlington to its championship glory with quarterback Luis Perez back for the third consecutive season. Along with Perez, tight end Sal Canella and wideout Tyler Vaughns return after combining for 98 catches, 998 receiving yards and nine touchdowns last season.
The Renegades were outstanding at taking the ball away last season — leading the league with 16 — and taking care of the ball, finishing with the fewest giveaways (nine). The pieces are there to make a run. After all, the Renegades scored the most points of any team in a single game (47) last season and finished second in total offense, behind only Holtz’s Stallions.
[MORE: 2025 UFL schedule: Dates, times, when does the regular season start?]
2024 record: 7-3 (made postseason)
After having to play multiple quarterbacks due to injury in 2024 and still winning the XFL Conference title, Brahmas head coach Wade Phillips tabbed a new starter at quarterback in former Texas A&M star Kellen Mond.
Despite boasting one of the league’s best defenses last season, the offensive ineptness in San Antonio led to a 25-0 shutout loss in the 2024 UFL Championship Game. Mond might offer an antidote. He’s one of just three quarterbacks in SEC history — alongside former Mississippi State star Dak Prescott and Heisman winner Tim Tebow — to pass for 9,000-plus yards and rush for more than 1,500.
2024 record: 7-3 (made postseason)
Odds to win 2025 title: +650
Mike Nolan’s Panthers will once again be anchored by skill players with a healthy dose of a capable quarterback.
All-UFL safety Kai Nacua, 2024 UFL Defensive Player of the Year Breeland Speaks and 2023 USFL Defensive Player of the Year Frank Ginda return to lead what has previously been a stingy Panthers defense. Speaks led the UFL in sacks (9.5) and tackles for loss (13.5) in 10 regular-season games last year, while Nacua led the league in pass breakups (11) and was tied for the most interceptions (three).
On the other hand, All-UFL kicker Jake Bates does not return. The NFL’s Detroit Lions signed Bates to a two-year deal last summer after he kicked multiple 60-plus-yard field goals — including one from 64 — last season.
Former Clemson kicker B.T. Potter made the final roster and expects to provide an advantage in Michigan’s kicking game. Quarterback Danny Etling returns in 2025 after splitting duties with Perry in 2024.
2024 record: 7-3 (made postseason)
Odds to win 2025 title: +375
The Battlehawks won’t lack talent at quarterback this year despite the absence of former starter AJ McCarron. The addition of former Hawaii and San Jose State star Chevan Cordeiro and former TCU standout Max Duggan to a QB room that includes returning signal-caller Manny Wilkins forms one of the best all-around QB corps in the league.
Duggan led TCU to a national title appearance in 2022 after leading the Horned Frogs past Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan squad in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl. Cordeiro led the Mountain West in passing yards (3,251) and passing touchdowns (23) in 2022.
They’ll all have the advantage of playing with the league’s most prolific running back in Jacob Saylors, who rushed for 461 yards (4.9 yards per carry) last season, and 6-foot-6 wide receiver Hakeem Butler, who led the UFL in receiving yards (652).
2024 record: 9-1 (won championship)
Odds to win 2025 title: +225
Birmingham head coach Skip Holtz won just two conference championships and five division titles in 22 college football seasons. In just four years in the pros, however, he has won four league championships and four division titles — and he’s the only man to win two championships in the former USFL or XFL. Holtz is also the only coach with an MVP in each league after Adrian Martinez won the award in the UFL’s inaugural season (2024).
The best franchise in spring football is Holtz’s Stallions, and this year he’ll be reunited with 2023 USFL MVP and two-time USFL champion quarterback Alex McGough, who previously played under him for two seasons (2022-23).
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to “The RJ Young Show” on YouTube.
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