Just like that – we are officially ready to kick off the UFL’s third season. It’s going to be an electrifying opening night, as the Louisville Kings host the Birmingham Stallions in a brand new venue, featuring an entirely fresh franchise.
There’s a lot of unknowns when it comes to the current iteration of the UFL. With the majority of teams featuring new Head Coaches, plus the roster re-drafts across the board – it’s going to take a couple of weeks to figure out who these teams really are.
With that in mind – let’s take a close look at what we can expect out of Birmingham and Louisville on Friday night.
Quarterback Play
The Birmingham Stallions will feature a very familiar face at quarterback. A.J. McCarron named Matt Corral as the team’s starter this week, which is no surprise. He’s been one of the top signal callers in the UFL when healthy, and now gets the opportunity to be a week one starter once again.
Matt is a dual threat quarterback, although he traditionally looks to stay in the pocket and pass. When Corral is in a rhythm, there is no slowing him down. As we’ve seen in times past, though, when he gets in his own head – the mistakes begin to pile up. For Birmingham’s sake, they’ll have to hope that he can gel with McCarron & Siskey quickly.
“From an experience standpoint. The biggest thing with Matt, is, taking care of the football. Put our team in a position to win the game. It’s very critical in these first few games, if you can keep yourself out of bad situations, you can find success. Matt has the most experience in this room, he’s been great to have, and that’s who we’re going to roll with.” – Stallions HC A.J. McCarron
On the other side, Jason Bean should be leading the way for the Louisville Kings. He’s a high profile signal caller who joined the UFL this offseason. Bean, the former Kansas standout, is a killer with his legs. He rushed for 1,344 yards and 14 touchdowns throughout his college career. With that type of asset in his backpocket, he should prove to be a problem for Birmingham’s defense when it comes to keeping him contained in the pocket.
Chris Redman has been incredibly high on Bean since he joined the team. He believes that Jason has all the tangibles needed to be an MVP in the league, if he can lead Louisville to success. Bean’s arm strength, accuracy, and ability to beat defenses with his legs make him one of the most intriguing prospects in the league.
Standout Playmakers
It’s almost unfair how stacked the Birmingham Stallions are, once again. Kudos to A.J. McCarron for following in Skip Holtz’ & Zach Potter’s footsteps – he knocked this roster out of the ballpark. In the backfield, the Stallions have Anthony McFarland, one of the UFL’s most dynamic backs when healthy. On top of that, Tyrion Davis-Price (former 3rd round pick, Packers) and Snoop Conner are also part of this backfield.
At wide receiver, where do we even begin? Deon Cain, the All-UFL staple in Birmingham, is back. On top of that, the Stallions have signed Justyn Ross, John Ross (former 1st-rounder, Bengals), Leviska Shenault Jr. (former 2nd-rounder, Jaguars), Jaydon Mickens (Super Bowl Champion), Daewood Davis (All-UFL, Showboats), and also brought back a fan favorite in Marlon Williams. McCarron mentioned that they will be rotating receivers, so look for every piece to see quality reps on Friday night.
Louisville is a team that will want to establish the ground game early. It’s Steve Logan’s bread and butter, and he’s got dynamic backs to accomplish that with. Benny Snell, Ian Wheeler, and Jaden Shirden are all expected to split reps. Snell is a big name, but Shirden is a sneaky candidate to see some real playing time if he can find holes like he did with the Panthers a year ago.
“It’s a very competitive room. Benny has tremendous attributes. He’s a heavy, strong, angry runner, that can catch a football. That’s a rare commodity. You go to Ian, and he’s got true, top end speed at 205 pounds. Which is rare. We got Shirden, and he’s wearing #20, so everyone’s calling him Barry. He can shake with the best of them. It’s been a blessing coaching these guys, they’re so much fun.” – Kings OC Steve Logan
The Kings have physical receivers across the board. Logan has been impressed with their ability to block in the run game. That said, they’re no slackers at their true positions, either.. Isaiah Winstead, Lucky Jackson, and JaVonta Payton are all former spring names to watch closely as well. Kaden Prather is another exciting addition, bringing 4.46 speed to the table. Unfortunately, star wideout Jonathan Adams was placed on IR yesterday – so he will not be available.
Depth Chart
Major (and minor) notes on the depth chart, starting with Louisville:
- Benny Snell, not surprisingly, is RB1
- Tarik Black, Lucky Jackson, Carter Bell marked as starters (Jonathan Adams to IR)
- Louisville will start Mike McAllister at center, Earl Bostick moves to guard (from tackle)
- Jaylon Allen & Xavier Carlton should be a strong EDGE duo
Birmingham:
- Justyn Ross, Jaydon Mickens, Deon Cain starting at WR, John Ross inactive
- As we predicted, Noah Johnson to start at center
- Izayah Green-May to start at EDGE, Ricky Correia gets the nod at tackle
- JoJo Tillery a depth piece at safety, Tre Norwood and Alex Cook start
Birmingham’s Trenches Turnover
The Birmingham Stallions are going to look a lot different in the trenches this year. They didn’t retain a single defensive lineman from last year’s roster. Perrion Winfrey, Ronnie Perkins, Marvin Wilson, etc. have all moved onto the NFL, or were simply released. They’ll need to see serious production from the new additions, such as Amani Bledsoe, Isaac Ukwu, and Kobe Jones, to name a few.
On the flip side, center Cole Schneider is gone. One of the “fan favorites” in Birmingham, he was a central piece to their offensive success. In his place is Noah Johnson, who is one of the UFL’s best in his own regard. He’s spent the last three seasons with the Michigan Panthers. On top of that, Mason Brooks (Defenders), Noah Henderson (Showboats), and Zack Johnson (All-UFL with the Stallions 2024) have all made their way to Birmingham this year as well.
Crowd Noise A Factor?
It will be fascinating to see this sold out crowd in Louisville in real time. For Birmingham, will that affect how they play? Keep in mind – the Stallions have learned a brand new system with A.J. McCarron, Tyler Siskey, and Kevin Sherrer at the helm.
With a roster that looks a lot different, too, there’s going to be some growing pains. Communication will be key on Friday night. The Kings’ fans can make an impact simply by being loud, disrupting communication for the Stallions during key moments. For some of these guys, they haven’t heard crowd noise like this since they were in college.
Louisville’s Secondary
While the Stallions boast arguably the top wide receiver room in the league (at least on paper), the Kings will be ready. They’ve got Bryce Hall, Cam Dantzler, and Eric Garror in their starting lineup – three corners with legitimate NFL experience under their belts. Dantzler flashed with the Showboats a year ago when healthy. We would expect him to pick up the majority of difficult assignments on the outside, with Bryce Hall. Redman has consistently praised Hall throughout camp, referencing his speed and ability to play the football. Don’t sleep on Mekhi Garner, either, who has positional flexibility at corner and safety for this unit.
Coaching Unknowns
Across the board, we know virtually nothing about these coaches – and neither do each other. A.J. McCarron and Chris Redman have never coached at any level, outside of Redman’s voluntary assistant work at a Texas high school.
Stallions’ OC Tyler Siskey hasn’t called plays in well over a decade. Meanwhile, Kings’ DC Jamie Sharper will be calling plays for the first time on his end, after being an assistant with the Defenders the last few seasons.
AJ McCarron gave us pure honesty when we asked about how he was preparing for this game: truthfully, he’ll be figuring it out on the fly.
“You close your eyes, and hope for the best. You really just try to guess, and take the two joint practices we had, and then it’s a guessing game from there. It’s going to be that way for a lot of guys who have new staffs. They’re not really sure what they’re going to do. More than anything, the first game comes down to: can you take care of the football? Can you not hurt yourself? Can you not have stupid penalties, false starts, offsides, bad holding calls, Defensive pass interference when it’s obvious…it’s those little things you control. Another big thing is tackling. When you look at any level, the teams that can tackle the best, and make those tackles, are also successful in those first three games, as guys are trying to get used to playing with live bullets.”
For Louisville, they’ll have to lean on a guy like Steve Logan, who has been coaching for over 45 years. It’s been several years since he’s done it professionally, but Logan’s extensive knowledge of the game has already proven to be incredibly beneficial to the Kings.
The Stallions quietly picked up Kevin Sherrer as their Defensive Coordinator this offseason. He’ll be a pillar for this organization, having been a coach and personnel director at various levels, including the NCAA and NFL.
Final Thoughts
Whatever happens on Friday night, we already know that it’s going to be a jam-packed outing full of fun and football. Russell Dickerson will be performing the halftime show, as the Louisville Kings look to kick off their inaugural season at home in dazzling fashion.
The action all kicks off on March 27th, at 8pm ET on FOX. To secure your tickets (which are about to sell out), click here.
Full Roster Breakdowns: Birmingham, Louisville
Are you excited for the UFL’s opening matchup between the Birmingham Stallions and Louisville Kings? Who do you think will win this first game? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!
