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The Memphis Showboats QB Room: Who Starts in 2025?

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Last week, the Memphis Showboats made a big splash in UFL free agency. QB E.J. Perry – who’s been with the Michigan Panthers the last two seasons – was released and claimed by Memphis in a move that still has some of us a bit confused.

For the last few months, the Showboats featured just two quarterbacks on the roster, in Quinten Dormady and Troy Williams. Troy was on the team this past UFL season, while Dormady was acquired via a trade with the San Antonio Brahmas that shipped star EDGE Jordan Ferguson out of Memphis.

Now, GM Jim Monos and the Showboats finally have a full deck of signal callers. In this piece, we’ll be taking a closer look at the QB room in Memphis, and who Showboats fans could expect to start in week one. The competition in Training Camp will be tight, and it’s truthfully anyone’s game at the moment.

E.J. Perry

We’ll start with the latest addition, in Perry. E.J. burst onto the spring football scene in the USFL’s 2023 season. He signed with Michigan late in the year, and was thrust into action in week ten – in a do or die scenario with playoffs on the line. While he had a rough first half, Perry found a rhythm in the final two quarters, and ultimately led Michigan to victory over the Stars in a double-digit comeback win.

The next week, E.J. looked the part as the starter. He threw for 370 yards and two scores, as Michigan fell to the Maulers in overtime in a heartbreaking affair. After Perry’s sensational performances, it was no surprise to see him earn the starting job back heading into the UFL’s season – beating out Danny Etling.

However, this past season in the UFL wasn’t the prettiest affair for Perry. It was an up and down campaign through the first four games; and an injury in week four ended up sidelining him the rest of the year.

The positives that he brought to the table include his ability to make something out of nothing – as his raw, adaptive play led to multiple rushing scores across the first few weeks of action. Perry won two games with Michigan this season, and seemed to find his groove in their week three victory over Houston. In that game, E.J. threw for over 200 yards, and rushed for two scores.

Where Perry tends to struggle, though, is when he has to play more of a traditional QB role. He had some rough moments in the UFL as he tried to find his footing; especially as a passer. E.J. was pretty inaccurate through the first couple of weeks of action, missing targets high and low throughout the course of those games. E.J. is at the best when the ball is getting out of his hands quickly. When he tries to do too much, that’s when the mistakes start piling up.

With all of that being said: E.J. Perry is still one of the stronger QB prospects in the UFL as a whole. He’s got the experience needed to succeed – and has made his way to the NFL multiple times. With his USFL/UFL resume, on top of the roster that Memphis is currently building, don’t be surprised if E.J. ends up earning the starting role in Ken Whisenhunt’s offense this season.

Quinten Dormady

Quinten Dormady has had a wild journey in spring football so far. He entered the scene in 2023 in the XFL, with the Orlando Guardians. Dormady was suspended by the team for a few weeks due to a scandal – that turned out to be false accusations. Once Quinten returned, he ended up taking over as the starter, and helped Orlando see more success than they had all year long.

Here’s the thing with Dormady: his highs are high, but his lows are very low. We caught glimpses of this in the XFL with Orlando. One day, Quinten was scoring six touchdowns in an upset win over the mighty DC Defenders. Then, just one week later, he turned the ball over five times in a loss to the Renegades: sealing their postseason fate.

Speaking of turnovers – those were a problem for Quinten in San Antonio this season. Dormady took over for an injured Chase Garbers in week four, and led the Brahmas to some pivotal wins – but he largely rode the success of his running backs – and elite defense from Will Reed’s group. Quinten threw six interceptions this year, and lost multiple fumbles as well. Dormady’s decision making was questionable at times, especially when he would try to force the issue, rather than taking what the defense gave him.

Quinten Dormady did make a solid impression on the Showboats’ staff, though, as they traded one of their top pass rushers from a season ago in return for Dormady. Quinten has plenty of starting experience in the spring scene, and will be a veteran arm in that room for the Showboats to utilize. In his spring football career, Dormady has thrown for 2,713 yards and 16 touchdowns with the Guardians and Brahmas. When Quinten is on, he’s on – and with the weapons Memphis is going to feature offensively, he’s got plenty of potential to help lead this team to wins.

Troy Williams

Finally, the Showboats re-signed Troy Williams, as the only quarterback to return from the 2024 roster. Troy was primarily QB2 in Memphis this past season, behind Case Cookus. Troy didn’t necessarily get to showcase all of his skills with the Showboats, but he did not look quite like a starter when given the opportunity last year.

Troy made his first start in week five, against the Panthers. It was an atrocious first half for Troy, who saw multiple passes sail – and turned the ball over multiple times en route to a brutal loss at home. While there were a couple of impressive moments along the way (i.e. his touchdown dart to Sage Surratt), Williams’ decision making was far from ideal. Most notably, missing reads was one of his biggest struggles. Far too often, Troy either held onto the ball too long, or didn’t get through all of his progressions quickly enough – leading to trouble. There were also instances where Troy should’ve used his legs to run, but instead tried to force a throw into coverage, which never turned out well.

It was frustrating to see Troy play such poor ball for chunks of the season, especially considering his tenure in the USFL. With the Pittsburgh Maulers, Troy showed quite a bit of development throughout the year, helping lead the team to the USFL Championship that year. Williams’ efforts peaked in the USFL Conference Championship against Michigan, where he threw for 203 yards and a touchdown as they took down the Panthers.

Troy’s got plenty of upside, with his mobility and dual threat capabilities. He was at his best this season when he was escaping the pocket, and using his legs to generate offense for Memphis. As a pure passer, though, Troy still has some serious growing to do if he wants to see success with how elite spring football rosters have become. He’s a bit of an outlier right now, and will likely end up as QB3 unless he has a tremendous camp. Something that he has going for him: there are multiple former Maulers coaches on Whisenhunt’s staff, including DC Jarren Horton. Having the support of Pittsburgh staff now in Memphis will certainly be beneficial to his development and growth in 2025.

Final Thoughts

The Memphis Showboats currently have a quarterback room that asks more questions than they have answers for. Perry, Dormady, and Williams have all flashed potential in their respective spring careers. Each has been responsible for some major victories for teams that they’ve played with. However, each career tells the same story: a lack of consistency. Neither Perry, Williams, or Dormady were able to necessarily prove themselves as “the guy” this past season.

Now, they’ll have the opportunity to do exactly that in Memphis. On paper, it feels like Perry or Dormady would have the edge over Williams as it stands right now. Additionally, Dormady may have the upper hand on Perry, given Ken Whisenhunt’s past success with more traditional QB’s, such as Ben Rothliesberger or Kurt Warner. With the state that spring ball is in right now, though, mobile signal callers are the way to go. If Perry or Williams can develop as passers in Training Camp enough to get the starting nod, that would likely be Memphis’ best bet in order to see more offensive success in 2025.

What are your thoughts on the Memphis Showboats quarterback room heading towards season two in the UFL? Which QB do you think should start? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!

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