Observations from Arlington Renegades' First UFL Open Practice: Defense
With the sun hiding all day Saturday in Arlington, Texas, the cloudy and 60-degree weather conditions made for the perfect setting for fans to watch the defending XFL champions practice just two weeks before the UFL season begins.
The Renegades held an open practice in front of hundreds of fans on Saturday for almost three hours. Spectators first got to watch the team practice for the first two hours before players and coaches met with fans to sign autographs and chat.
“We’ve had a great turnout," Arlington Renegades head coach Bob Stoops said. "It’s a nice Saturday morning. The rain had held off for us, so we got a good crowd out here.”
Some key observations were made during the practice on Saturday. In Part Two of this series, we'll discuss what we learned about the offense.
Arlington Renegades Observations: Defense
Breaking Down Defensive Position Groups
Defensive Line Standouts
While examining the defensive line, Will Clarke continues to stand out as a leader and continues to perform well. Clarke should play a big factor on the line in the upcoming season. Laron Stokes and Darrius Moragne were other guys who had a nice practice for the Renegades.
There is a ton of talent on the line. Tomasi Laulile back for another season as well, bringing with him experience with this defense. Bunmi Rotimi also returns and should have an impact coming off the edge.
Potential Defensive Linebacker/Secondary Combos
At open practices, fans often to figure out who will be in the starting lineup and if certain players will take the field with each other. Teams will sometimes throw in different combinations to try different guys together and even to avoid giving away their game plan.
On Saturday, the main combo at linebacker was Donald Payne and Marquel Lee. Watch for Willie Taylor, Vic Beasley and Tuzar Skipper to be impactful on a deep linebacking core.
In the secondary, the corners that worked together were Jamar Summers (right cornerback), Darren Evans (left cornerback and nickelback), Delonte Hood and Steven Jones Jr. (left cornerback). Tenny Adewusi, Jared Mayden and Myles Dorn saw time at safety.
Secondary and Linebackers Shutting Down Receivers
There were plenty of nice plays by the offense in the passing game, with big plays made by wide receivers Tyler Vaughns, Deontay Burnett and others. The defense made sure they got their impactful plays as well, however.
Linebacker Colin Schooler, who came on strong late last season with injuries at linebacker, had an interception off quarterback Lindsey Scott during practice that got the defensive unit pumped up.
Hood had a nice pass breakup and coverage on JaVonta Payton. Recently returned defensive back Jamal Carter almost had an interception, jumping in front of a pass, but it slipped out of his hands.
Defensive Leader Donald Payne on Team’s Change and Look
Payne returning to lead the defense was arguably the most important player return of the offseason. Despite missing time, he still finished as one of the leading tacklers on the championship team last year with 61 tackles. He’s excited about the new group coming in and how they can help the team avoid a championship hangover.
“We got a whole new set of guys. A lot younger guys that want to come in, so we basically want to build off of what we did last year. We don’t want to have the championship fatigue that brings us down, so we want to keep training camp up and it’s been a great one so far.”
He also spoke about the corners, describing them as “shifty," and the speed that has been brought onto the team and the league as a whole. There’s a lot of confidence that the defense will perform just as well this year as they did in 2023 to win the title.
Arlington Renegades 2023 Leading Pass Catcher Returns
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Anthony Miller has been covering professional spring football since 2019 including XFL, USFL, and CFL. He was a local news reporter in Texas before transitioning to sports. Other sites he writes for includes College Football Network and NTZ Network.