Memphis Showboats Offseason and Preview Deep Dive

The 2024 UFL Season

Like the San Antonio Brahmas, it is hard to give any real recap about the Memphis Showboats 2023 season because a combination of the merger and a new Head Coach has wiped the old roster out. They are more like the New Orleans Showboats because John DeFilippo replaces Todd Haley and he drafted and signed a bunch of New Orleans Breakers players. In his first year as a spring league Head Coach, DeFilippo made a splash going 7-3. He was a shot in the arm for NFL coaches turned spring league coach because frankly, the college coaches have been running circles against these NFL coaches, despite NFL coaches having the bigger advantage because spring leagues are mimicking the rules of the NFL and not that of college football. The Breakers had a great season going until they got stomped by the defending champions Birmingham Stallions. Everyone is out to try and prevent the Stallions from pulling off a three-peat and on paper, the Showboats look like one of the few offenses who can go touchdown for touchdown with them. DeFilippo was not able to bring his defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta over with him unfortunately. Carnell Lake will be his new defensive coordinator. Lake has big shoes to fill, and this will be his first time as a play caller. 

Highlights: #2 in team sacks with 28. #3 in passing yards (181) allowed per game and yards (272) per game allowed. 

Lowlights: Allowed 91 rushing yards a game, which was the 8th worst rushing defense, and on offense, the Showboats only rushed for 90 yards a game which was 9^th overall. 

QUARTERBACKS: The Showboats might very well have the most experienced quarterback room in the UFL. They are led by Case Cookus who they got in the dispersal draft, a well-known spring league veteran. Cookus was at the peak of powers in the 2022 season when he led the Philadelphia Stars to the championship game, had 3 touchdowns passes and looked to be on his way to clinching the title until he got knocked out of the game. He came back even better in 2023 but the team was not as good. Cookus with DeFilippo should make this a fun offense to watch and DeFilippo mentioned how Cookus’s dual threat skills was particularly important to him this season because Bethel McLeod-Thompson really struggled with pressure and despite playing well his immobility was detrimental to the offense. Speaking of dual threat skills, the Showboats also signed Troy Williams, like Cookus, Williams took his team, the Pittsburgh Maulers to the USFL championship game but lost to the Stallions too. Cookus is the unquestioned starter, but Williams is a quality back up to have. The third quarterback is Josh Love. Love started all season last year for the Michigan Panthers until he got hurt in the last game of the season. He played well last year but lacks that desired mobility, but either way, having three quarterbacks with starting experience is an advantage few UFL teams have. 

RUNNING BACK: Darius Victor and Trey Williams are the new 1-2 punch combo at running back this season, replacing Kerrith White who was cut. Victor was All-USFL in 2022. He is a bowling ball runner. The trio of Victor, Williams and Deandre Johnson was a potent rushing attack for the New Jersey Generals. Victor can do it all. Williams is his twin running back. They are both short and stocky. Williams was as effective as Victor and could catch the ball too. Something to monitor here is that DeFilippo used Wes Hills as a bell cow last season. Not sure if he will switch it up because the duo has performed admirably but the risky part for the Showboats is that Victor and Williams are both 30 and older. Hoping for three straight years of their hyper efficiency could be tricky. That is why I was floored during training camp updates when I saw the Showboats cut last year’s leading rusher Kerrith White. Another perplexing move was when NFL free agent Kennedy Brooks was cut too. I was certain that Brooks would unquestionably be the starting running back and Victor would back him up. If age catches up with the veteran 1-2 punch, DeFilippo will regret cutting these two. The silver lining here is that they did keep a young rookie to be the third stringer, Titus Swen. Swen was a 2023 draft class member who had a solid but unremarkable college career at Wyoming, especially compared to what Kennedy Brooks did at Oklahoma. Swen clearly caught the attention of coaches during training camp to beat out White and Brooks, but I am going to need to see it to believe it. PFF did name Swen to their All-Mountain West team in 2023, we will find out if he can push for playing time. 

WIDE RECEIVER: Two of the three leading wide receivers from last year's team did not make final cuts, Derrick Dillon, and Ryan McDaniel, leaving lots of targets up for grabs with all the passing Cookus is going to be doing. Leading receiver, Vinny Papale is the only returning player in the wide receiver room, he was one of the best slots in the USFL last year and should start there again. DeFilippo brought over all his top wideouts from the New Orleans Breakers like star wideout Jonathan Adams, Lee Morris, and Dee Anderson. Everyone except Johnnie Dixon. Morris will backup Papale in the slot and Anderson will also be a backup but for the outside receivers. Diondre Overton who was the third leading wideout from Philadelphia Stars was added too. Adams should be poised for an All-UFL type of season. His size and speed have made him unguardable in the USFL and he has done that while also not having the most ideal quarterback play. A second season in the same offense with a more aggressive quarterback and the sky is the moon for him. Rounding this out is rookie wide receiver Daewood Davis out of Western Kentucky. Once Davis made the roster over a couple of veterans, I was intrigued. We do not get much access or reports from training camp, therefore when these unexpected players like Davis make the roster, we can only assume they were turning heads in camp. Now we get to see if Davis can parlay that into gameday success which makes the UFL so fun to watch.  

TIGHT END: Converted wide receiver, Sage Surratt, had a huge coming out party last season. He was McLeod-Thompson’s favorite target. Often because McLeod-Thompson was a quick and conservative passer, but Cookus has a bigger arm and is more aggressive, meaning Surratt might not be able to mimic his 2023 production but he will still be a major figure in the passing attack. Jay Jay Wilson is a converted linebacker, and the third tight end and Wes Saxton is expected to be the conventional in-line blocking tight end.  

OFFENSIVE LINE:   

If the Showboats want to make noise this season and fully maximize their offense, upgrading the trenches was vital and that is what they tried to do. Only three players from last year's offensive line returned this season and they also happened to be three starters but my one red flag, is that Polian and DeFilippo did not use their NFL backgrounds to sign a bunch of NFL free agents to beef up their offensive line, the way the Brahmas and Stallions have done. Terrone Prescod, Jordan McCray and two-time All-USFL tackle Jarron Jones. While all three played well last season, it is possible they could all become backups with the new offensive lineman they picked up. Jones has been All-USFL in two consecutive seasons but at the same time, he has given up a ton of hurries every year and he struggles with speed rushers. Terry Poole was an All-USFL left tackle for the Generals in 2022 and started for the Maulers in 2023. He could push Jones for the starting Left Tackle spot, or one of them could flip over to Right Tackle. Another All-USFL lineman is Jared Thomas. He has started at Center for the Breakers and Seattle Sea Dragons and will battle McCray for the Center job. Another player in the mix for Center is Alec Lindstrom, he was on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad and was an All-ACC player coming out of Boston College. Whoever loses the Center battle will most likely move inside to guard. One NFL veteran the Showboats signed who will be making his spring league debut is Left Tackle Darrin Paulo, who has spent the last four seasons with the Detroit Lions, one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. That longevity with the Lions indicates to me that the Lions staff see something in him. He feels like a shoe in for a starting role, although I am worried that the Showboats signed all of these Left Tackles, meaning several players will be converted to positions they are not good or experienced at. Two extra depth pieces are Tackle James Tunstall, a rookie out of Cincinnati with lots of college starting experience and Leka Uhatefe, an interior lineman who was a backup on the Breakers last season. With a bunch of Tackles and Centers on the roster, the Showboats will ask players to move to positions they have not played before. I have never been a fan of moving around lineman because the positions are not as interchangeable as coaches treat them. It is no doubt the line will be better than last season, but it could take them some time to find their footing and the best five starters. 

DEFENSIVE LINE: Unlike the offensive line, for some reason, the Showboats and DeFilippo did not add much to the defensive trenches which could come back to bite them. I am not sure if Polian already thought highly of the returning defensive line, but the lack of additions is peculiar to say the least. Returning are Daylon Mack, Dillon Faamatau, Jeff McCulloch, and Jordan Ferguson. A gift and curse with these four players returning because nearly all of them flashed last season but all of them also got injured and did not play the whole season. Hopefully, they reach their potential this season and are on the good side of injury luck. Looking to see the pass rushing duo of McCulloch and Ferguson healthy this year to recapture the great sack production they had in limited games. A healthy Daylon Mack and Dillon Faamatau teaming up with All-USFL John Atkins would make the Showboats impossible to run the ball on. The new additions are Tyshun Render, PJ Hall, and Connor Christian. Render was a pass rush specialist for the New Jersey Generals and PJ Hall and Connor Christian are your bigger traditional hand in the dirt edge players. Christian was a rotation player for the Breakers and PJ Hall was on the Sea Dragons last year but barely played due to an injury. Hall is a player that intrigues me because he had a great college career, was a high draft pick with the Raiders in 2018 and was an NFL starter for three seasons. Due to some legal issues he never returned to the league after the 2021 season. Hall has the potential to become a major undercover signing if he is healthy and still has juice left in the tank. Lastly, the only NFL player signed was Josiah Bronson. Bronson is a three-year NFL veteran with several teams, most recently the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. He will be part of their monster truck defensive tackle rotation.  

LINEBACKERS:   

Greg Reaves leads the Showboats linebacker core, he was a menace as an outside pass rusher in 2023, racking up 7 total sacks. Reaves gets paired up with another star linebacker in Vontae Diggs. DeFilippo brings him over from the Breakers. Diggs does everything at linebacker, he can rush the passer, stop the run, and play in coverage. The other outside pass rushing linebacker looks to be Max Roberts from the Vegas Vipers. Roberts had 4 sacks as a rotational specialist and might get a starting role with the Showboats. The remaining guys are Anthony Butler, TJ Neal, and Malik Lawal. All three guys rotated in and out of the lineup last season and with the signings of Diggs and Roberts, they will most likely play the same roles again this season barring injury. 

SECONDARY:  

Injuries ravaged the 2023 Showboats roster, and the secondary was one of its biggest victims. Only two players in the whole secondary played all 10 games and one of them retired, Troy Warner. The secondary does have six returning players but all of them got injured except starting cornerback, Delrick Abrams. Abrams held it down last season and should start again this year too. TJ Green and Kyree Woods will fight for the second starting cornerback position. Green is the veteran, but Woods flashed in the four games he played, getting two interceptions. Nehemiah Shelton was a rookie last season who only played three games because of injury, he returns after being on the New York Jets practice squad. At safety, Quenton Meeks returns as a starter. Meeks is a well-rounded safety who the Showboats hope to have all season this time around. Lamont McPhatter was a backup last season and will probably play that role again because the Showboats picked up two seasoned veterans in Jarey Elder and Christian McFarland. Elder started for the Breakers the last two seasons and McFarland was a starter for Birmingham Stallions. While I do think the secondary will not be bad this year, once again the lack of NFL free agent pickups across the roster remains bizarre since DeFilippo and Polian are NFL guys. Everybody staying healthy will really be crucial for their success.  

Special Teams:  

The entire special team’s unit from the New Orleans Breakers was signed to the Showboats roster. Matt Coghlin was damn near automatic last season, another USFL kicker who played better than Brandon Aubrey last season. Coghlin hit all 25 of his extra point attempts and had a 95% accuracy rate on 19 field goal attempts. Another season like that and he will be on an NFL roster. Matt White, the punter, was in the top half of every major statistical punting category last season. Special teams are not a sexy position group, but the Showboats are thrilled to have one of the best K/P combos in the UFL.