“I learned a lot,” said Reggie Barlow of the Defenders, who was named the 2023 XFL Coach of the Year. “I think our team obviously learned from that and I hope we can grow from it. … No matter how many games we win during the regular season, come tournament time, it’s all about the tournament. , you have to be able to compete and get stops and get turnovers and not turn it around, and we just accomplished that that day.”
Quarterback Jordan Ta'amu, who was named the XFL's Offensive Player of the Year last season, said it hurt to go into the offseason with so little time left, but it's time to turn the page and focus on the opportunities ahead. . It opens Sunday at the San Antonio Bramas. The newly formed United Football League's season opener at the Alamodome.
“The past is the past,” Ta'amu said. “In a way, we let it be known that, 'Hey, everything we did last year was for nothing.'” There's no point in entering a new league in the UFL now. do not have. There are new teams, new players and new coaches everywhere, so we're going to get a fresh start and see what happens.”
Safety DJ Swearinger agreed, saying the loss left a taste in the players' mouths but didn't cause the Defenders to stick around all offseason.
“We don’t quibble about it,” he said. “We've got a brand new mind, a brand new team. But the desire to pick up where we left off and finish the unfinished business is even stronger.”
The path back to the championship game will be different. The UFL is a merger of the XFL and USFL, resulting in a reduction of eight teams and the spread out of the draft of players from those clubs. Many notable players returned to the Defenders, but the draft and NFL opportunities significantly changed the roster.
D.C.'s offense will feature Ta'amu again in a big way, with Deondre Francois and Jarran McClendon on the roster, but the running back and wide receiver rooms have undergone dramatic changes.
This month, 2023 XFL Rushing Champion Abram Smith tore his ACL during practice. Now, the running game will rely on the combination of Camron Harris, Puka Williams Jr., and Darius Hagans. The Defenders also lost their top three receivers to the NFL in Lucky Jackson and Chris Blair, as well as the retirement of Josh Hammond, but they have NFL experience in Kelvin Harmon, Keke Coutee, and Vincent Coutee. They added three new players: Smith.
Barlow said of the loss of Jackson and Blair, “We feel like proud uncles and fathers to see them go to NFL teams and actually have the opportunity to stay.” Told. “They were solid players for us last year. This is the part I really like about this process, bringing new players to the team, coaching them, developing them and incorporating them into my system. That’s the thing.”
DC, which returns four of its seven All-XFL honorees, took advantage of the UFL's dispersion draft to shore up its defensive talent and added two more All-XFL honorees. Linebacker Trent Harris (who led the league in sacks in 2023) and safety Deontay Anderson.
The secondary features familiar names like Swearinger and fellow safeties Monte Nicholson and Santos Ramirez, as well as cornerbacks Michael Joseph, Antura Kelly, DeAndre Baker and Gareon Conley. Joseph had four interceptions last season, including an XFL-leading two pick-sixes. Baker and Conley were first-round NFL draft picks.
“Our defense… is much better on paper in terms of ability, so we've got to do what we have to do as a team to make sure what we see on paper matches up in the championship game at the end of the year. “No,” Swearinger said.
“I think there are 16 teams.” [between the XFL and USFL] change to 8 teams [in the UFL], I feel like the level of competition has gone up a notch,” Ta'amu said. “I believe this year will be the best spring league game ever.”
Since their debut in 2020, the Defenders have a 9-0 record at Audi Field and will look to maintain that perfect record this spring. The team will make its UFL home debut on April 7th against the Houston Roughnecks.
“We know Audi will bring it every time we step onto this field,” Ta'amu said. “We feel like that's a huge benefit for us. We're feeding off the crowd and the beer snakes. If we're playing well, they're going to respond and if we need the crowd and I think they'll have the same reaction when we're there. It definitely helped us, especially last year. It's incredible knowing we're undefeated there, but [and] To create more fans, you need to keep giving them shows. ”
