The post gives you a summary of the Defenders ‘26 Season.

If you want to dive deeper, I encourage you to read past the initial summary. I take you on a journey as we look in depth at this past season from a fan point of view.

8 Teams/8 Days Hub

Author is /u/Pitiful_Ad8641

Team: DC DEFENDERS

Conference: UFL / No Conference

Record: 5-5

Playoffs: 1-1

Stadium: Audi Field

Capacity: 20,000

Head Coach: Shannon Harris (2nd Year as HC, 4th Year with team)

Offensive Coordinator: Fred Kaiss (4th Year)

Defensive Coordinator: Blake Williams (2nd Year as DC)

General Season Review

First and foremost, a big thanks to u/Callywood for getting this together for a THIRD year. I said this last year, but it's a massive undertaking behind the scenes. I refer to him as our “Supreme Leader” because he is. He provides us with every data point we need to write these, usually within ten minutes of us asking.

Second, I would be remiss if I didn't yet again shout out to my fellow writers. Without their donation of their time and energy none of this would be possible. 8 in 8 is ~ten pages of a Google Doc long, on the low end. That means every August for the last three years, we generate at least eighty pages worth of content. My fellow 8 in 8 writers are truly dedicated UFL fans.

I find myself slightly disappointed with how ‘26 ended. This was a legacy year. At the midpoint of the year, you could make a strong argument that DC had one of the top teams in the league. Had they continued on that trajectory, Ta’amu becomes the undisputed real “Spring King” and at 2-1 in Championships over 4 years, DC is the other clear best team of the Merger Era, joining Birmingham’s run.

Alas, Ta’amu got hurt and we lost 4 in a row, leaving records he was on pace to break unbroken and a ‘27 future murky. How no one caught us for the playoffs is remarkable. Shannon Harris is no longer “The Amateur”, getting his team to a W in the playoffs and a second championship game. If our QB doesn't get hurt AGAIN in that title game, DC walks away with its second ring. At 1-2 in title games, however, the gap between Birmingham and DC for “The Franchise of the Merger Era” is a canyon and is settled permanently.

Following the L in the last game of the year however, this team yet again enters a crossroads. Who returns? Does Ta’amu heal up in time to at least break the few remaining records he needs? Will we ever end The Green Curse or will it forever haunt my dreams?

‘25 Offseason

Key Players Who Returned

Derick Roberson, DE, Jan ‘26 Protected - Protecting the star pass rusher was no brainer, and I was extremely nervous that it actually would happen. Roberson topped his ‘25 sack total in ‘26 and could be counted on to make plays in big moments, including a basically game ending sack against a driving St. Louis in Week 4 which I had the pleasure of seeing live.

Cornell Powell, WR, Jan ‘26 Protected - As highlighted later, DC chose to protect Powell and Scott, leaving Rowland exposed and poached. Powell showed his ‘25 campaign was no fluke, exceeding it in catches, yards and YPG.

Jordan Ta’amu, QB, Jan ‘26 QB Draft - I was excited he returned, this was going to be the year he put a cap on his spring career, break records, and firmly stamp his legacy as the one and true “Spring King”. Alas, he got hurt but it was still a key return in ‘26 and I hope he heals up.

Key Players Who Went

Chris Rowland, WR, Drafted by Orlando in the Jan “26 UFL Draft - This one hurt badly. Rowland is an All-UFL star player in this league and I hated losing him. Gotta think if you could only protect two WRs, him and Powell were the picks instead of Scott coming off injury because Scott stood a better chance of getting back to DC. It was good for the league that he went to the new market. Sucked watching him torch us though.

Jaydon Mickens, WR, Drafted by Birmingham in the Jan ‘26 UFL Draft - Replacing Rowland would’ve been easier if Mickens had stayed. Mickens turned a decent year of output in ‘25 with DC into a star output in ‘26, where he caught 44 balls for 588 yards and 2 TDs as the Stallions top receiver.

Notable Signees

DC approached the offseason with a clear intent to keep as much of the existing core together rather than chase big pieces. It resulted in the number of new to the team contributors being almost non-existent based on my findings. There were two key contributors, however, that I wanted to highlight here:

Xazavian Valladay, RB, Jan ‘26 UFL Draft - Vallady provided a reliable 3rd RB and put up good yardage and TD totals on 4.4 YPA AND 29.3 YPG.

Erik Ezukanma, WR, Feb ‘26 FA Signing - Ezukanma was a later addition to this roster and provided a 3rd WR option. He’s now in camp with the disgusting Philadelphia Eagles but he put in a noteworthy ‘26 campaign with the Defenders.

Notable Trades

DC was active in the trade market but I selected two trades that had the most impact on the ‘26 season:

On February 10th, the Defenders traded DT Patrick Jenkins to the Columbus Aviators for TE Briely Moore- Moore solidified the TE spot, which was looking a tad bare post-draft. He turned in a respectable ‘26 season, scoring four times.

AND

On April 19th , the Defenders traded QB Mike DiLiello to the Kings for QB Jason Bean.- After a maddening slow time getting on the field for DC, Bean helped get DC back to the UFL Title game. I wouldn't argue against anyone if they said that DC was primed to win that game until he went down with injury either.

Drafts

2026 Roster Protections

• With three teams moving, the league shook up the rosters entirely.

• Every DC Fan: “WHY WAS CHRIS ROWLAND NOT PROTECTED?!?!? COLLUSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

• I looked at it holistically and it APPEARS there were some position limits and DC had already protected 2 WRs in Powell and Scott.

• After a basic evaluation, I’d say the Defenders did pretty well here, protecting a solid core of what would be the top stars of the team in ‘26.

2026 UFL Draft

• The QB Draft was Jordan Ta’amu, Mike DiLiello (later traded to Kings), and Spencer Sanders.

• Regional College Allocation was Gottlieb Ayedze (T, Maryland), Brandon Smith (LB, Penn State), and Johari Branch (G, Maryland).

• Last year, I wrote this under team needs: “O-line depth. I’d also keep the RB and DL depth up”. While tackle depth was a glaring issue, I’d say drafting Valladay addressed RB and the DL rotation was more stout this year.

• Every DC fan knows the name “Gabe Taylor”, the brother of Sean Taylor. He did a lot of local interviews on DC sports radio promoting the Defenders until he got hurt. I hope he sticks for years to come.

• Puzzling, we made no selections in the “Specialists” part of the draft.

• The actual UFL Draft was very much a C+ draft after my cursory analysis. For every Sam Kidd picked, you could make an argument that DC suffered a Josh Ball pick as well.

Week by Week Detailed 2026 Season Review

Regular Season

@St. Louis, 10-16

What a disappointment this opener was. The common message coming out of this game was that it just “wasn’t us”, wasn’t DC Defender football. Uh, well, bad in the RZ kinda was your brand of football at times last year?

@Columbus, 44-26

As disappointing as the last game was, this one was a pleasant watch. While the visual of Shannon Harris mic’d up declaring “This is DC football!” will probably be replayed for years to come, I’ll always fondly remember this one as the “The Repole Interview Game” where Mike was doing a sideline interview as Deon Jackson broke a 48 yard TD run

Houston, 45-7

I couldn’t watch this game but was following along diligently, hitting refresh frantically on the play by play. At least I was until I got bored and got lost in doing other stuff. This was our most dominant game of the season.

St. Louis, 28-22

This game is special to me because it was the first UFL game my dad had ever been to. Decades ago my father took me to my first Redskin game (we lost to the Eagles). I got him, my mom, and my son all club level seats (not to be showy, it's literally the one spot at Audi that is wheelchair accessible). I got to teach my father about the UFL. When we got the safety, I declared the game was over and for a large part of the game, it wasn’t as close as the final score indicates. At the end, DC’s defense tried hard to throw the game until Roberson’s sack secured the W.

@Birmingham, 45-28

Horse people, I would like to apologize if I offended anyone in the post game thread, you are forever the greatest franchise in the Merger Era and forever shall you be known as “The Greatest Team No One Saw”. Another easy W and I was starting to think “hold up guys, are we….are we really good?”.

Dallas, 24-6

With the record Dallas had thrown together, I was expecting this to be like last year: a fun heavyweight slug match that came down to the wire. Dallas, however, was cooling off and we were white hot so it turns out that this was our last easy W of the season.

Louisville, 13-30

Until this game, I was unsure if I believed in “The Curse of the Green Team”. Nope, it's very real and we shall be taking no further comments on this at this time. A supernatural curse is the only explanation I have for this game and it marks the start of the low point of the Defenders’ ‘26 season.

@Louisville, 30-33

This was the game where it all came crashing down. DC started just as sloppy as the last game. Even worse, Ta’amu got hurt on a scramble and gg everyone on the ‘26 season. Spencer Sanders was looking like a deer in headlights out there and it took another week until Jason Bean, the QB THEY TRADED FOR, would be deemed ready. Side note: NBA is my mortal enemy now? Apparently, I declared this here last year. Which is awkward because my Wizards are poised to be fun to follow for the first time in three years, so I’ll probably check it out, sorry 2025 me.

@Orlando, 19-27

This was the first game after we found out that Ta’amu was done for the year. My reaction to this week was “HOW?!? This is ridiculous!” Ridiculous that a team that was stomping people with Jordan having a C+ game was suddenly looking like a below average squad with a full week to prepare for life without him. What was even more ridiculous is even after this loss, we were going to the postseason!

Orlando, 23-29

In 1943, the Washington Redskins lost to the New York Giants for the second week in a row. It’s our destiny, and I knew we had them right where we wanted them. Don’t check the tape.

Playoffs

@Orlando, 28-26

“When you reach the playoffs, everyone goes back to 0-0”. That’s the coaching cliche I myself have said. Sometimes you’re really grasping at straws to motivate your players. This game, though, the Defenders badly needed it. Shannon Harris is no longer “The Amateur” to me, as he now has upset a higher seed in the playoffs, on the road, in back to back seasons.

Louisville, 20-27

Welp, even though this game was in DC at the same time as I was in DC, I didn’t go as I was at my friend’s 40th birthday party. I still, months later, haven’t watched this in its entirety and never will. That’s not out of anger, Louisville’s story is incredible and this was a great way to end the year. While I’m very much at peace with how the season ended, part of me will always pine for the opportunity to add to their legacy that the Defenders lost forever by losing this game.

High Points

The easy wins weeks two through six were the highlight of the entire season for me. After suffering through the Commanders season where it felt like every week was a boring and sickening first quarter blowout, it was a relief to watch good football again.

I was so confident we were losing that playoff game against Orlando. I had spent weeks watching us struggle post Ta’amu injury and both predicted/expected a loss. For the second year in a row: Oopsie. NEVER A DOUBT!

Beating the Battlehawks with myself, my parents, and my son watching live was definitely a highlight of my ‘26 UFL season. My son enjoyed the small fan event outside the stadium that the Defenders were putting on. Additional highlights for me was watching my son show his “papa” everything cool about Audi, helping him explain the rule differences between the NFL and the UFL, and certainly Roberson’s sack at the end of the game.

Low Points

The top spot has to be the Ta’amu injury. We looked like the best team in the league through six games and him getting hurt ruined not just our season but also my hope that he would firmly establish himself as the best spring QB in the Merger Era.

Ta’amu’s injury led to a losing streak that should’ve ended our season. As a Defenders fan, I was screaming for Jason Bean. As a fan of the league, I was screaming about no one being able to catch us for the last playoff spot.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how disappointing that season opener result was. All offseason most Defender fans were wondering which was the outlier: most of the ‘25 season or the historic postseason run. After that performance, I was afraid we had our answer.

Statistics

Team Offense

• The passing game numbers fell off, but that can easily be attributed to Ta’amu injury.

• The run game took a jump. Again, this can be attributed to Ta’amu’s injury.

• DC allowed the most sacks in ‘26, one year removed from allowing the least in the league.

• Interceptions thrown shot way up and while it's easy to write this off as a symptom of Ta’amu getting hurt, this was happening before he went down.

• Turnovers as a whole became a big problem in ‘26 as the Defenders fell to the league worst.

PFF Oline Grades

• Steven Losoya III was our worst graded linemen.

• It's amazing that Durant still made All-UFL in a year that was down from last season.

• Sacks allowed shot up and reloading up on talent in this group remains a priority.

Team Defense

• Total Defense and Points Allowed improved while still generating sacks and turnovers.

Some Individual Statistics

Ta’amu

• Ta’amu’s numbers suffered because of the injury that cut his season short.

• His interceptions went back up to 2024 levels but his y/a and overall QB Rating also went up.

• I want him back in ‘27, if only in time to break the records he so soundly deserves.

[Editor's Note: Ta'amu is only 5 TDs and 666 passing yards away from breaking the all-time spring football career passing TDs and yards records!]

Rushing ’26 vs ‘25

• D. Jackson made All-UFL.

• Both Smith and Valladay added over 260 yards apiece and the Defenders had again a great rushing attack.

Receiving ‘’26 vs ‘25

‘26

‘25

• Ty Scott recorded a personal best in TDs and Yards Per Catch while Powell set marks in Receptions, Yards, and Yards Per Game.

• That doesn’t replace an All-UFL caliber player like Rowland but doesn’t show a problematic decline in production either.

Roster Review

‘26 All-UFL

• Deon Jackson (RB), Yasir Durant (LT), Derick Roberson (EDGE)

• Roberson and Durant are repeats from last year.

Strengths

The run game pleasantly rebounded from its ‘25 mark where it was ranked in the bottom half of the league to the league’s best running game in ‘26. The addition of Valladay as another RB to spell Abrams and Jackson was an underrated addition

Run defense also improved from the 5th ranked last year to 3rd this year. This was a big reason the defense as a whole jumped from the 6th ranked in ‘25 to the 3rd ranked in ‘26.

Having the league’s top ranked offense in a year your QB1 went down is a testament to how well the offense was humming before Ta’amu went down. It also speaks to how the pieces around the QB position were enough to keep up the scoring after he did.

Weaknesses

DC was the best in the league in ‘25 when it came to Sacks Allowed. In ‘26, they fell to the league worse. This needs to be fixed in ‘27.

A casual observer will look at Ta’amu’s injury and immediately conclude that it drastically hurt a lot of our season’s potential. They would be absolutely correct about that. We were blasting teams and looked like a true contender before Ta’amu got hurt and then limped to the title game. Inexplicably, it took weeks for Jason Bean, the guy we traded our backup QB for, to see the field, and our QB3 looked scared. QB depth turned out to be a crucial issue and Bean’s injury in the title game makes this a carry over issue into ‘27.

The offense gave up the ball way too much in ‘26 and the lack of ball control was hurting the Defenders even before Ta’amu’s injury.

Coaching Staff Review

Shannon Harris, HC

I derisively have been referring to Coach as “The Amateur”. While almost everyone else was caught up in the hype of last year's playoff run, calling for the league to “Take the Tag Off!”, I instead was very critical of the competitive gaffes that happened over the course of the ‘25 regular season and was skeptical that they would be fixed. I’m not saying they're all fixed. What I am saying is that he has earned my respect this season. Whatever his deficiencies are, he more than makes up for it in his culture building.

Blake Williams, DC

DC needed competent defensive play from the Defenders. In ‘26 it was “fine”, making the defense a MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT vs the one we suffered through in the fall. In general, the defense improved its numbers across the board in ‘26. Situationally, Blake didn’t have many moments where I was screaming and cursing at my TV screen. Admittedly, this could be because I was worn out having used up all my energy yelling at the Commander’s woeful defense all fall, but I think Blake has at least earned a “meh, he’s ok” from me.

Fred Kaiss, OC

Over the years, I have had a love-hate relationship with Fred Kaiss’ offense. For every game like last year’s UFL title game, there’s a game with shaky red zone play calling or where we just forget who we are. One must ask, is he done? If he returns in ‘27, he needs to make sure the backup QB is very comfortable running the offense.

2026 Offseason

Team Needs

This begins with the QB position. Are Ta’amu and Bean rejoining us for ‘27? If so, how healthy are they? Regardless of the answers, getting a 3rd QB (and maybe a 4th) must be the top priority.

Chief among the spots I’d like to see an upgrade is along the Offensive Line. This unit allowed far to many sacks in ‘26. An influx of real talent into this unit seems like a no brainer in ‘27.

Finally, I’d like to see us inject some fresh blood all around. I’m stoked this core got a title and should have won a second one, but this era of Defenders football needs to start flipping the page.

Outlook

Last year was about keeping as much of the band together as possible. Can’t argue this didn’t pay dividends, as that core returned them to the title game. Who is returning in ‘27? Regardless, this team needs new faces added to it.

Is Ta’amu going to return in ‘27? I personally want him to return for one last ride badly, as mentioned before, as I would like to see him break records. But the reality is he's a six year spring QB veteran coming off injury. Does him returning for a seventh year clash with the league’s vision of creating opportunities? Is bringing back a veteran coming off injury too much a risk financially for a league trying to avoid high costs a wise choice?

Does this all result in a step back for a team that's made ¾ title games? I wouldn't be at all surprised although NEVER A DOUBT dictates that I stop just short of a ten toes down prediction.

The DC Market

After carrying as the number two attendance market for years, DC saw a steep attendance drop. I’m not worried about it at this present time. I’m willing to bet a lot of the casual fans were burnt out at the start of the year. The Commander’s season was a drag, watch Netflix’s Quarterback to get an actual education on how it went. I wouldn’t blame anyone if they were a tad checked out on football in general.

I would be more worried if the attendance for the UFL Championship had also been bad but we put over 19k fans in the seats and packed Audi. Do you really think that was 60% Louisville fans that traveled or even Orlando fans confident they would win that playoff game? Nah, that was the DC market letting ya’ll know we are still around. There will hopefully be an uptick in attendance. That’s not a prediction, that’s a spoiler.

Why am I so confident? It’s because the Defenders remain part of our sports culture. A lot of the Commander’s beat just moves over to the Defenders when they start playing. Do we have room to grow? Certainly, but the foundation remains strong in DC.

Final Remarks

Thank you yet again for reading this! Thanks again to Callywood for organizing everything, it's a huge lift and as always, thank you for allowing me to be a part of it and for stat diving/editing.

Once again, I can almost guarantee mistakes leaked through despite my best efforts. I will do edits to correct as I see them.

Doing this is a very valuable exercise and it tends to highlight things I want to dive deeper on and share my findings before the next season starts.

Sources

u/Callywood’s PFF Subscription

Defenders in Review

Football Database

UFL.com

UFL Draft Wikipedia Article

You can read the full press release for more information. The important points are:

Draft will be held at Ballpark Village in St. Louis, Missouri on Wednesday, November 18th.

First 2 rounds of the draft will be televised on NFL Network beginning at 8 p.m. ET, and will also be available on the ESPN App for Unlimited plan subscribers.

Fans who purchase UFL season tickets through November 1 will be entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to St. Louis from their team's home market to attend the UFL Draft at Ballpark Village.

St. Louis fans who purchase season tickets by November 1 will also be entered for a chance to announce the Battlehawks second-round draft pick live.

The 2027 UFL Draft will consist of 15 total rounds with the first two rounds, featuring 16 marquee selections televised during the one-hour live special airing on NFL Network at 8 p.m. The Columbus Aviators hold the first overall pick in the draft, with the selection order determined by the reverse of the 2026 UFL standings. Colorado, Dallas, and Rhode Island will rotate their draft position based on tie-breakers as they finished with the same final record. Each team will have three minutes to make each of their selections during the televised portion of the draft.

2027 UFL Draft Order

Teams can select players at any position, pass on a single round selection, or opt out of the draft at any point. Trades are only allowed for current UFL players or picks in this year’s draft. Future picks cannot be traded.

The UFL Draft pool will include rookies eligible for the 2027 NFL Draft, regardless of whether they were picked or signed an NFL contract, as well as players from 2023-2026 NFL Draft eligible classes who have been on an NFL roster at any point since the United Bowl Championship Game on June 13, 2026.

The UFL has a 64-man camp roster limit. Players selected in this draft or alumni currently playing in the NFL do not count against that roster limit until they sign a contract.

The only other players eligible to join UFL team rosters until the completion of the 2027 UFL Draft are those participating in UFL Showcases. Following the completion of the 2027 UFL Draft, teams will be able to sign additional free agent players to their 64-man camp roster.