USFL quarterbacks are already helping shape team decisions
By RJ Young
FOX Sports Writer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Quarterback Kyle Lauletta picked up the draft card and held it over his head from his seat at the Pittsburgh Maulers’ table on Day 1 of the inaugural United States Football League Draft last Tuesday.
A boy from the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club took the draft card from the former New York Giants quarterback and ran it up to the podium at the Stadium Club inside Protective Stadium.
USFL President Brian Woods took the card and read the Maulers’ pick aloud as Pittsburgh head coach Kirby Wilson and general manager Chris Watt, who flanked Lauletta at their draft table, applauded their collective selection.
QB Kyle Lauletta helps Pittsburgh Maulers coaches
Lauletta is an NFL veteran who has played for the Giants, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. But he wasn’t quite sure about the logistics of the draft process until he became a part of it.
"I got to meet Coach [Wilson] and just sat down and just talked," Lauletta said. "Then he was like, ‘Hey, what do you think, you know, who have you played with?’ And I've been on five different [NFL] teams. And for years, I've crossed paths with a lot of these guys.
"I had no idea what my role was going to be in this whole thing. A lot of things have been happening as we move along. But it has been cool."
It’s also a cool example of just what the chance to play in the USFL means to many players. This is another opportunity to play pro football some did not believe they’d get, and they are seizing it.
Wilson, a longtime NFL assistant coach who owns two Super Bowl rings, was adamant that his quarterback be part of the Maulers’ decision-making process.
"I want him to feel like he was important and part of it," Wilson said.
And he wasn't the only coach to tap into his QB's knowledge of players. In the fifth round, after the Maulers had selected former Tennessee State offensive tackle Chidi Okeke, Bart Andrus and the Philadelphia Stars were preparing for their selection a few picks later.
Andrus was flanked by his quarterback, Bryan Scott, and they pored over the draft pool at offensive tackle. They wanted to make sure they selected the right person to protect Scott — the No. 3 overall pick — from edge rushers taken just three rounds earlier.
Inside the Philadelphia Stars' Draft Room
When Philadelphia’s turn came, Scott sighed in relief as former South Carolina offensive lineman Blake Alan Camper became a Star.
Later, when Philadelphia took former Michigan cornerback Channing Stribling off the board in round eight of Day 1, Scott thought, "Here we go again."
Nicknamed "D-3’s Aaron Rodgers," the former Occidental College QB had already learned that it’s best not to test the Stars' new No. 1 corner. They got to know each other as teammates on The Spring League’s Generals club.
"If you throw it his way, God bless you," Scott said. "I learned that the hard way in practice."
At each of the eight draft tables, quarterbacks had slowly taken up spots next to their coaches and their general managers or player personnel directors to help their respective front offices with draft selections. It was an oddly organic event given the circumstances.
The quarterbacks were the only players invited to the Day 1 draft event, and that was only after each had signed a contract just days before the draft.
When they arrived, all eight were seated at the same table, sharing a meal and casually getting to know each other. None of them had any idea which team he might be drafted by and most of them had never met any of the eight USFL head coaches.
As names were read aloud by Woods, quarterbacks were genuinely surprised. After media interviews, the quarterbacks gradually made their way over to their respective team’s draft table.
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Former Michigan quarterback and five-star recruit Shea Patterson sat with Michigan Panthers coach Jeff Fisher to talk over players.
Former Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’amu met Tampa Bay Bandits coach Todd Haley for the first time last Tuesday night. Ta’amu then spent a chunk of the night hunched over his head coach taking in the draft pool list.
Nearly every coach took that opportunity to not only get to know his franchise player better, but to pick his brain about players he’s played with, felt comfortable with, and players he'd rather have on his team than play against.
Scott was the only quarterback who remained in Birmingham for Day 2 of the draft, which took place at a law office in downtown Birmingham. When Andrus asked him to stay for Day 2, Scott didn’t hesitate.
He showed up at 9 a.m. Wednesday ready to work through the remaining 23 rounds of the 35-round event, and he was grateful to hear that his experience and opinion were valued by Andrus, a man who, among others, coached Steve McNair with the Tennessee Titans.
When the Stars took former UTSA outside linebacker Jordan Moore in the 29th round, Scott was ecstatic. When I asked him why a quarterback was excited about a linebacker, he was quick to give me Moore's résumé:
Moore was a letter-winner at Texas Christian as a running back, special teams player and 2014 Big 12 Conference hurdle champion in the 60-meter and 110-meter. Then he transferred to LSU and became an All-American sprinter and two-time 2016 SEC champion hurdler (60 meters and 110 meters again). He finally graduate-transferred to UTSA to play football.
His 40-yard dash time was clocked at 4.37 in high school. Scott regards him as a 6-foot-3, 225-pound diamond in the rough that his club scored late — in large part because Moore was a member of Scott and Andrus’ Spring League Generals team that won the league title in Fall 2020.
"He’s a guy that is just one of the freakiest athletes I've ever seen," Scott said, "and he’s playing linebacker. I mean that's a guy that can hit, he can run, he’s smart, and he's a great leader, too. He's a vocal guy. And he's just someone that I really believe in and that coach really believes in."
When the day ended and he was headed home to Southern California, Scott felt like he’d already helped the Stars earn their first win. His days were long, but he doesn’t regret working through two days of nearly 300 players drafted.
"That was a pretty easy decision," he told FOX Sports. "I knew that we had a big day just as far as filling out the roster with receivers, running backs, offensive linemen. Just with me playing in The Spring League in 2018 and then in 2020, I got to play against some great players and then played with some great players. So not only are some of them my past teammates, but some of them will be guys that I played against."
And that’s why coaches had their quarterbacks in the draft room.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.
