USFL 2022: Tampa Bay Bandits Preview (and Schedule…

USFL – Our USFL team previews push on, as the season (and court dates) draw ever nearer. On Monday, we tackled the Michigan Panthers, early favorites in the North. We now go to their biggest competitors for the title, per preseason odds: the Tampa Bay Bandits.

Tampa Bay Bandits

Coaching Staff

Todd Haley returns to a head coaching role for the first time since 2011, taking over the Bandits’ roster. Haley’s only previous head coaching experience came with the Kansas City Chiefs between 2009 and 2011, when he went 19-26 before being fired midway through his third season. The firing was an odd one—yes, the 2011 Chiefs were a disappointing 5-8, but they were coming off of a 10-6 year where they had won the AFC West. In truth, Haley was fired less for his teams’ record than a perceived lack of discipline on the roster, which included Haley getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct during his final game—Jon Bois and Alex Rubenstein have a fun video about that game if you’re interested. Haley has a reputation for being argumentative and combative—his last NFL job saw him fired as offensive coordinator in Cleveland after clashing with Hue Jackson, and his previous tenure in Pittsburgh ended in large part due to tensions with Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the coaching staff. It’s not that Haley hasn’t had success, but it’s worth noting that all of his four top-10 offensive DVOA finishes came with Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh; he’s 0-for-the-rest-of-his-career in Arizona, Kansas City, and Cleveland.

Haley has spent the last two years as offensive coordinator for the Riverview High School Rams, which have gone 19-6 in his tenure. Haley’s Rams had initial offensive challenges, but did become an above-average high school offense by the end of Haley’s run. He coached Charles Lester III, a four-star prospect who is being actively recruited by schools such as Georgia and Florida State (albeit as a cornerback, not a receiver). And that is the extent of my knowledge as to what Haley has been doing since he left the NFL.

Well, I can say one more thing—he has been watching a lot of NFL football. The Bandits have 29 players who have been on NFL rosters, the most in the league. That doesn’t mean they all actually played, mind you; there are a bunch of practice-squadders here. But while other teams raided the CFL reserves or the old Spring League or undrafted free agents from the past couple years, it appears that Haley and the Bandits prioritized at least a smattering of big league experience when putting their roster together.

Offense

With the second pick in the draft, the Bandits picked quarterback Jordan Ta’amu. You haven’t seen much of Ta’amu in the past couple seasons, as he’s bounced from practice squad to practice squad in the NFL. But he has become one of the more frequently signed quarterbacks because of his performance in the XFL in 2020. Ta’amu was drafted by the St. Louis Battlehawks as the only one of the first eight XFL passers to have no pro experience, but he turned out to be, at worst, the third-best quarterback in the short-lived league—1,050 passing yards was third in the league, and his 217 rushing yards was seventh among all players, not just quarterbacks. He has never managed to make it to the NFL level because his ability to process complicated defenses has never been up to par, even down at Ole Miss, but against minor-league talent, his athleticism is more than enough to carry the day. It’s surprising that he wasn’t the first overall pick, but being behind Shea Patterson is nothing new for Ta’amu—he started his college career as Patterson’s backup at Ole Miss.

The other Bandits quarterback is Brady White, who went undrafted last year out of Memphis. White spent six years in college between Memphis and Arizona State, and no one was going to take a swing on a 25-year-old rookie without NFL-caliber arm strength or accuracy, no matter how productive he was for the Tigers. He spent last year as midseason pickup for the Alphas in the Spring League and is unlikely to unseat Ta’amu.

There’s a little bit of controversy among the skill position players. You may recall the name John Franklin III. Perhaps you saw him on Last Chance U. Or perhaps you remember when he was suspended last season with the Buccaneers as part of the Antonio Brown falsified COVID vaccination saga. You also have Jordan Lasley, cut by the Ravens in preseason in 2018 in part because exchanged punches in practice and then continued to taunt the cornerbacks he was brawling with. So that’s gone well, I think.

That aside, there’s some real talent here. Haley went with a pair of receivers he knew quite well. Eli Rogers was on his Steelers from 2015 to 2018 and is a notable one-hit wonder. In 2016, Rogers was 10th with an 18.3% DVOA, catching 48 passes for 594 yards and three touchdowns. He never put up those kinds of numbers again, and a torn ACL in 2017 sent him spiraling down the depth chart. Rogers was most recently seen playing in the XFL with the Defenders, catching 19 passes for 164 yards. He’ll be the Bandits’ top slot receiver and returner as well as an important piece for installing Haley’s offense. Haley also grabbed Derrick Willes, who was on his Browns team in 2018. A fractured collarbone stopped Willes from doing too much that season, but he stuck with the Browns’ practice squad until 2020 when he retired. He’s be one of the starting outside receivers, alongside either ex-LSU Tigers star Derrick Dillon or Spring League veteran Vinny Papale (not the Eagles receiver from Invincible, but his son).

They also have the top running back drafted in BJ Emmons, undrafted in 2021 after a college career that saw him go from Alabama to Hutchinson Community College to Florida Atlantic. Foot and ankle injuries limited him in college, but his scouting report highlights his tenacity and his pass-blocking prowess, which will be important for a Haley team that is likely to throw early and often. And, to that end, the Bandits focused on pass-blocking linemen to stick in front of Ta’amu. They raided the Ottawa Redblacks for Juwann Bushell-Beatty and Tyler Catalina for their starting tackles. Catalina started a couple games for Washington in 2017, while Bushell-Beatty played for the Roughnecks in the XFL. They’ll have to hold off Corbin Kaufusi, the 6-foot-9 giant out of BYU who has spent the last few years on the Saints, Jets, and 49ers’ practice squads, but Kaufusi is still a project; a converted defensive end whose size and agility have tantalized but never developed. That makes him a perfect prospect for a developmental league, where maybe he can get some actual reps. Damien Mama is the other notable lineman; the guard played in both the AAF and XFL, so he’s got the hang of this spring league thing.

They also brought in center Bruno Reagan, which probably ends his radio program on WSNR Nashville. On his show, he said “I’ve talked a lot of trash about the USFL, but I’m probably going to play for them.” Man, I’ve been there.

So USFL just going to announce they are playing in the spring over a video call and nothing else? Lol

— Bruno Reagan (@BrunoReagan) June 15, 2021

I always hate asking ‘bigger’ brand people to come on the show. Personal issue of mine I need to get over. But Todd Haley asking Antonio Brown to immediately come play in the USFL inspired me that you just need to shoot your shot at all times no matter the odds. Thank you Todd.

— Bruno Reagan (@BrunoReagan) January 7, 2022

USFL doesn’t seem to have the steam XFL2020 did. Thank God Fox has big $$ to burn

— Bruno Reagan (@BrunoReagan) November 22, 2021

Defense

Safety Obi Melifonwu was a second-round pick out of UConn back in 2017, when his stock skyrocketed after the Senior Bowl and Combine; dude ran a 4.4s 40 and jumped out of his shoes in the other drills. Naturally, it was the Raiders who took the workout warrior, but he only appeared in seven games for Oakland and New England, never really looking comfortable on the field. That being said, that athleticism is still there and has kept him bumping around the NFL’s practice squad/futures deal circuit; speed continues to tantalize. He rejoins brief Raiders teammate Anthony Cioffi, who went from being a preseason cut for Oakland in 2017 to a fairly regular CFL starter for the Redblacks and Lions, broken up by a brief attempt to make the Jets in 2020. He’s a DB/LB hybrid sort of player, and has done much more with his career than Melifonwu has done with his, Super Bowl ring or no Super Bowl ring. They’ll be joined in the secondary by 6-foot-3 Delrick Abrams and 6-foot-1 Christian Campbell, so the entire Bandits starting secondary is over 6 feet tall; there are some NFL teams that would love to have that sort of size.

The front seven is less credentialed. There’s linebacker Christian Sam, the former Arizona State linebacker, a sixth-round pick for the Patriots in 2018 who never saw a game but did see some action for the Spring League’s Jousters last year. There’s 2019 fifth-round pick Daylon Mack, a nose tackle out of Texas A&M who played one game for Baltimore before starting the practice squad circuit. And then there’s lineman John Atkins, who started six games for the Lions in 2019 before opting out of 2020 due to the pandemic. The rest of the front seven is thin on major football experience, though defensive tackle Reggie Howard did win a championship with the Indoor Football League’s Massachusetts Pirates. For the most part, however, this is a very secondary-heavy defense, at least on paper.

This is definitely a team put together by a former wide receivers coach. The Bandits look set to throw the ball early and often and protect the quarterback, and to focus on tall, physical cornerbacks to shut down opposing receivers. I’m less thrilled about their chances of having a successful running game or stopping the run, something that’s been important in the AAF and XFL as quarterbacks and offensive linemen have proven hardest to come by. But no team with Jordan Ta’amu under center can be counted out at this level, and pairing him with some established receivers should be enough to spark a pretty solid vertical passing game. That alone might be enough to see the Bandits through to the South division title.

League Update: Schedule Announced

While we’re still waiting on the March 16 lawsuit between Old USFL and New USFL to determine if any of their logos and/or brands can actually be used, the NuSFL continues to push forward, finally announcing their actual league schedule.

We already knew that the season was scheduled to start on Saturday, April 16, with the New Jersey Generals taking on the Birmingham Stallions. That game is at 7:30 p.m. Eastern and will be simulcast nationally on FOX, NBC, and Peacock.

And then on the following day, we get our first tripleheader:

• Houston Gamblers vs. Michigan Panthers at noon.
• Philadelphia Stars vs. New Orleans Breakers at 4 p.m. EDT.
• Tampa Bay Bandits vs. Pittsburgh Maulers at 8 p.m. EDT.

At time of writing, the USFL had not informed us of where you can watch these games on TV—they will be on some combination of FOX, NBC, Peacock, Fox Sports 1, and USA, but the league opted not to release broadcast information as they were drip-feeding the schedule out. They did release ticketing information, which is available now. For $10, you get a “single day” ticket, allowing you to enter every game happening that day—remember, every game is in Birmingham, Alabama.

They also announced that they have backloaded the schedule with divisional matchups to make an “exciting run-up to the playoffs.” While it’s true that every team will play their three divisional rivals over the last three weeks of the season, they also play all three divisional rivals in Weeks 2, 3, and 4. It’s less backloaded than it is just having two different sections of divisional matchups in two different windows. Surely, if you were really backloading a schedule, you’d have more than 50% of your divisional matchups after the halfway point in the season? Well, no matter how you want to describe it, that’s what’s going on and the final weeks of the season will be big for head-to-head matchups, should we get to that point.