D.C. Defenders Add Two More 2024 NFL Draft Hopefuls With 2025 in Mind
The 3-5 D.C. Defenders have made several roster moves in recent days and weeks that suggest that the team is already turning its page toward 2025. With their playoff hopes dashed, the final two games of the UFL 2024 regular season serve as an audition for new arrivals and potentially a swan song for the old guard.
The Defenders have signed four rookies from the 2024 NFL Draft Class in the last week alone. Cal wide receiver Monroe, Young, Stonehill center David Satkowski, North Carolina offensive lineman William Barnes and quarterback Mike DiLiello. Each player most recently spent time in an NFL team rookie minicamp before signing on with the UFL.
To make room for the latest acquisitions, D.C., in a procedural move, has placed linebacker Francis Bernard on the suspended list (non-disciplinary), activated tight end Briley Moore-McKinney, and released offensive linemen D'Marcus Hayes and Jahmir-Ross Johnson. Both were starters at some point this season; Hayes was a key figure on DC's line in 2023, but didn't show enough to warrant a continuation with the team.
Austin Peay's Mike DiLiello could be a fixture in D.C.'s future plans at quarterback. The United Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 has been receiving increased reps in practice and could see the field for the Defenders in these last two games. DiLiello has impressed teammates and coaches in his short stay with the team.
The additions of Barnes and Satkowski upfront give D.C. two potential starters for the future. Satkowski is a two-time first-team All-NEC player. Satkowski is the first Stonehill player to receive a minicamp invitation from an NFL organization (Chicago Bears) in the program's history. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound lineman was named the NEC Offensive Lineman of the Year by Phil Steele and can play multiple positions up front.
Barnes has started 22 games in college between right guard, right tackle, left guard, and left tackle. The 6-foot-4, 320-pounder went from being a starter on the interior for the Tar Heels to blindside duty protecting Drake Maye. The results weren't overly positive in that respect. However, Barnes has the athletic ability to develop if he can work on his pass-pro technique.
When it comes to pro football, significant yearly turnover is commonplace. That's especially the case for spring league teams, where so much change occurs from one season to the next. The 2024 Defenders are an example of that, while the team did retain critical players and figures from its staff in 2023. One of the primary reasons they could not match last season's success was the loss of vital contributors from a year ago.
The Defenders tried to push forward despite the losses and recapture last year's magic but ultimately failed. They chased 2023 heading into 2024 but now will have to turn over a new leaf for 2025.
One has to wonder if spring league standouts like Jordan Ta'amu will return next season. Although much younger than Luis Perez (25 vs. 30 in August), they share the same career predicament in the likelihood that an NFL window has closed for them. Before they recommitted to rejoining their teams for the 2024 season. Ta'amu and Perez debated returning.
The 2024 season could be a swan song for them both. Perhaps, fittingly, after the Defenders play the Memphis Showboats on Sunday, in the final week of the 2024 UFL regular season, Ta'amu and Perez will clash in D.C. in what could be a sendoff.
The latest round of roster reshuffling by D.C. suggests that 2025 has already begun for them. The Defenders will look vastly different when they take the field next season.
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MIKE MITCHELL