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Welcome to the inaugural UFL season, RotoBallers! The newest iteration of spring football is upon us, and this is our chance to build up our bankroll. You may recognize AJ McCarron, Jordan Ta'amu, Wayne Gallman, Keke Coutee, Hakeem Butler, and a handful of others from their brief NFL stints. However, we'll need to dig deeper to determine whether the rest of the UFL skill players are worth clicking on. The premier DraftKings contest has a massive $150,000 prize pool and $50,000 for first place, so we're working with some serious prizes here. As a reminder, the XFL and USFL merged to form this league, with four teams from each former league making up the current conferences. DraftKings scoring works the same as it does with the NFL, but the starting roster is a bit different as it goes QB, RB, WR/TE, WR/TE, FLEX, FLEX, DST.
Below are my thoughts on DraftKings' Week 1 DFS slate of UFL contests, which goes live on 3/30 at 1:00 p.m. ET. I'd encourage you to read all our other weekly UFL fantasy football articles and stay on top of injury news, and roster moves to remain well-informed and ahead of the competition. Let's get to it. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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DraftKings Quarterbacks - Week 1 UFL DFS Picks
AJ McCarron - St. Louis Battlehawks @ Michigan Panthers - $11,000
Call me a "casual" if you'd like, but if I'm going to put my hard-earned money on UFL DFS, I want players who I can trust in my lineups. AJ McCarron doesn't belong in this league, and it showed in his 2023 XFL stat line: 1,730 passing yards and an 18/6 TD/INT ratio on 260 attempts. St. Louis will continue to throw at a high rate, which makes sense when they have the best QB and receiving corps in the league. The Panthers are the cheapest DST option on the slate and won't be able to slow this team down in the season opener. Get to the former NFL backup and move on with your lineups.
Jordan Ta'amu - DC Defenders @ San Antonio Brahmas - $10,300
A clash of former XFL teams in the Alamodome - why not? San Antonio head coach Wade Phillips will be tasked with slowing down Jordan Ta'amu and company, and I'm not sure the former D-coordinator has the personnel or coaching acumen to get it done. Ta'amu rushed for 301 yards and three touchdowns last year, showcasing his ability to rack up fantasy points on the ground. He also put up the most passing yards among the QBs in the player pool on this slate while compiling an impressive 14/3 TD/INT rate in 2023. He's got the dual-threat ability we're looking for in daily fantasy football, meaning we can feel free to run him "naked" by not pairing him up with an RB or WR/TE.
DraftKings Running Backs - Week 1 UFL DFS Picks
Cam'Ron Harris - DC Defenders @ San Antonio Brahmas - $7,500
Cam'Ron Harris went undrafted out of Miami in 2021, but he's stepping in as the starting running back for the DC Defenders with Abram Smith out. Smith dominated the XFL running back leaderboards last year, finishing with 788 rushing yards and seven touchdowns for DC. Harris may not be as good as Smith, but he's plenty capable of filling in for him in an offense that has proven effective on the ground. Harris rushed for 20 touchdowns and averaged 5.2 yards per carry in his three years as a Hurricane, and he added 368 receiving yards and three touchdowns through the air. He's a worthy gamble on this slate, though I'd also mix in Darius Hagans and Pooka Williams due to the undefined roles to begin the season.
Wayne Gallman - St. Louis BattleHawks @ Michigan Panthers - $8,500
Gallman hasn't played football since he rushed 28 times for 104 yards with the Falcons in 2021. He was a productive, if slightly mediocre, running back for the New York Giants four years prior, averaging 4.6 yards per carry (2020) and 4.3 yards per carry (2017) in his best years. There's no way for us to know what type of shape he is currently in, but we know he's a 29-year-old former starting NFL running back. That's good enough for me to be interested, particularly in a game where the Battlehawks are seven-point favorites on the road. St. Louis could get a big lead early on, leaving Gallman to run out the clock against a dead defense. Sign me up.
DraftKings Wide Receivers and Tight Ends - Week 1 UFL DFS Picks
Blake Jackson - St. Louis Battlehawks @ Michigan Panthers - $7,400
If possible, get Hakeem Butler as the premier pay-up receiver on the slate to pair with McCarron. He's the most expensive WR on the slate, though, so we're going with a more affordable option in Blake Jackson. Jackson went undrafted after a decorated career playing D3 college ball, then had stints in the CFL, NFL, and XFL before being selected by the Battlehawks. Jackson was the WR3 for a pass-happy Seattle Seahawks team in the XFL last year, catching 44-of-57 targets for 439 yards and two touchdowns.
He profiles as the WR2 on St. Louis this season, at least until Jahcour Pearson returns from injury. McCarron belongs in the NFL as a backup quarterback, meaning he is far too good for this league and should be able to get whatever he wants in the passing game. While the matchup holds an uninspiring 41.5-point implied total, the Battlehawks are 7-point favorites against an overmatched Michigan squad. With all the attention going to Butler, taking shots on pieces of this offense makes a lot of sense on this slate.
Trey Quinn - Michigan Panthers vs. St. Louis Battlehawks - $6,100
Trey Quinn finished the 2023 USFL season with 42 catches on 65 targets for 543 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He ended the year strong, exceeding 14 DK points while averaging at least 10.3 yards per reception in four of his last six games. The former LSU and SMU receiver was Mr. Irrelevant in the 2018 NFL Draft, but he had trouble getting past the practice squad after suffering injuries in his first year. He makes for an excellent runback option if you're stacking up on the St. Louis side (which you should do).
Cody Latimer - San Antonio Brahmas vs. DC Defenders
Cody Latimer is a former NFL wideout turned tight end for the Brahmas, and he's cheap enough for us to fit into lineups comfortably. He had a long NFL career competing as the WR3 or WR4 on the teams he played for, and he had moderate success as a big-bodied target over the middle and in the red zone. He made the All-XFL Team in 2023 as he finished with the third-most receptions and receiving yards in the league, though his four touchdowns leave a little to be desired. This matchup has the highest implied total on the board, so I expect Latimer to get more than enough targets to pay off his price tag.
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