Former Eagles Populate USFL Draft

The QB factory has a hand in helping develop 25% of the first round of the USFL Draft

If you're starting a new spring football league, something which has been a little too common over recent years, a good place to start is the quarterback factory.

Two former Eagles signal-callers made up 25% of the first round of the USFL Draft over the past few days.

Former Eagles 2019 fifth-round pick Clayton Thorson was the fifth pick in the first round by the Houston Gamblers while Kyle Lauletta, who spent time on the practice squad with Philadelphia that same season, went No. 7 to the Pittsburgh Maulers.

Thorson threw for 10,731 yards and 61 touchdowns and was the winningest QB in Northwestern history but didn't impress in training camp and was waived before the regular season in 2019. Since leaving Philadelphia he has toured the NFC East with stops in Dallas and with the New York Giants.

POCKET ACES 🂡

Clayton Thorson is a Gambler. #AllIn pic.twitter.com/Zw8YrFY08J

— Houston Gamblers (@USFLGamblers) February 23, 2022

Lauletta is an Exton native who played his college ball at Richmond before being a fourth-round pick of the Giants in 2018. He's also spent time in Atlanta, Cleveland and Jacksonville.

Nailed our first pick 🔨

Welcome to the squad, Kyle Lauletta. pic.twitter.com/Ibq8MYWtQo

— Pittsburgh Maulers (@USFLMaulers) February 23, 2022

The USFL draft was 35 rounds over two days and each round was limited to a position so all the first-round picks were QBs.

The Philadelphia Stars had the No. 3 overall pick in the draft and went with former Division III superstar Bryan Scott of Occidental College, who was once dubbed as the Aaron Rodgers of small-college football while throwing for 9,073 yards and 77 touchdowns in just 33 games at Occidental.

The New Jersey Generals selected three other ex-Eagles including defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao, who played in 33 games over three seasons (2016-2018) in Philadelphia and recorded three sacks. New Jersey also tabbed cornerbacks De'Vante Bausby and Trae Elston.

Bausby is a speedy player who Jim Schwartz liked as a developmental prospect for a bit. Bausby was a practice-squader in the 2017 Super Bowl season and then played in six games in 2018. Elston had two stints with the Eagles, a short visit in 2017 and another in 2019 when he was around in the summer.

Along with Lauletta, Pittsburgh selected CB Ajene Harris, a USC product who was close to Nelson Agholor and around in the summer of 2019.

The Birmingham Stallions snared receiver Manasseh Bailey, a 2020 training camp player who attended Morgan State, as well as tight end Cary Angeline, who spent a brief time with the Eagles last summer.

The Michigan Panthers selected DC Jameson Houston, who was traded to Jacksonville last season in the deal that brought back backup slot corner Josiah Scott to the Eagles.

Finally, the Tampa Bay Bandits, got king-sized safety Obi Melifonwu, a former 2017 second-round pick by the then-Oakland Raiders, who flamed out there. Melinfonwu attended the Eagles' rookie minicamp last year as a tryout player and was eventually brought in during training camp before being waived/injured.

Receiver Vinny Papale, the son of "Invincible" Vince Papale, the former WR and special-teams standout in the Dick Vermeil era, was also selected by Tampa Bay.

Interestingly, the Stars did not draft any former Eagles.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.