USFL '24: Restoration 1.0.9

Restoration of Dignity and the Universal Army 

 

A new take on a long project. This is part of a longer alt-history–not really counter-factual as those outside of players are largely fictional or composites–project of Tecmo hacks and narrative fragments. I’ve been thinking about doing a “modern” season for a while now and after losing a little steam on the previous ones I’ve decided to “jump” 30 years ahead. 

 

Seeing UFL pick up has been fun, but in a world with looser capital and a more interesting ruling class, maybe we’d get real competition. Rosters here are not accurate of current or recent UFL/USFL/XFL clubs, though I have included players of note; the recent rash of injuries and roster turnover in the last few weeks have made that difficult. I’ve tried to focus on interesting guys. 

 

Some roster placement is based on reality. The original USFL’s model of territorial draft maps informed roster constructions (see screenshots for rosters); NFL and CFL players are 2024 free agents or practice squaders of note. Some of these guys haven't signed deals yet, others have since signed with teams while I worked on construction.

 

I also ran polls and thought about interesting quasi “what-if” guys. I feel like Trey Lance, Nathan Rourke, Stetson Bennett, Malik Willis, or Justin Fields would’ve had a better go of it in the original USFL given their playing styles and the very fluid approaches to team structure of clubs during that era.

 

High profile rookies were based on Twitter polls; I also placed late round/UDFA/CFL Draft prospects I found interesting. Rookie placement is based around the original territorial pick model (LA holds Williams rights because he went to USC, etc.). 

 

All stats of rookies are based on projections and active player comparisons; in many cases, stats will likely turn out to be too optimistic. I used NFL Combine Results (https://nflcombineresults.com/), NFL Draft Buzz (https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/), Mock Draftable (https://www.mockdraftable.com/) and various blogs and sites. Yahoo Sports writer @Fourverts on Twitter was also a useful source. I used Sportstrac (https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/transactions/) when making calls on 2024 Free Agents and used either alma mater, that player’s background, or NFL analog. Leonard Fornette, for instance, was on the Patriots last season; also LSU oddly was one of Boston’s territories in ‘83; Sione Takitaki went to BYU but grew up in LA, hence with the Express. 

 

Team sim data are slightly based on 2023 USFL and XFL defensive rankings; clubs with no representation are based on analogs or given middle of the road stats. All teams are in 3WR-1RB-1TE to reflect current flavors of play. Boston is the lone exception as they use a run and shoot; basing roster placement via poll/territorial draft left slim choices for the Breakers, so I focused on wideouts. Some teams have reverse plays and nearly all clubs have a QB option play. 

 

This game features all of the hacks of my previous USFL and older NFL hacks, though I did push the extra-point back to the 15 yard line. I attempted to play with kick-offs and even learned of an “error” I tried to exploit that would give a team 2 points for kicking through the end zone, but this experimentation turned out to be a disaster–it broke the hack and was rarely even executed. So this plays like old TSB with no 2 point conversions or current USFL/XFL/UFL innovations. 

 

This game is juiced but sims still reflect a fast-paced high scoring style. There’s an 18 game schedule and 12 teams make the playoffs. The quality of play of the original league was likely higher than the current UFL–a mix of young talent and NFL/CFL vets–making for a very loose style. 

 

Schedule is imagined but arrayed in such a way to reflect the original league’s Friday-Saturday night-Sunday afternoon-Monday night schedule. Friday and Monday games were aired on ESPN back in the day. For this reimagining, I made a modified Apple TV logo as a sort of graphic experimentation. Couldn't entirely do the classic rainbow however. 

 

In making rosters, I have built up a “reserve army” of labor; depending on the early part of the CFL season and NFL training camps, I may do a “mid-season” update later in the summer. I tried to focus on current prospects and guys who have at least played somewhere in ‘23 for this hack. 

 

See screenshots for full rosters, but here are some notable players for each team:

 

I’ve included the rookie’s selection status in real-life. 

 

**All-Pros will be in the next roster update later as the UFL season wraps up and CFL ramps up. 

 

** There are two files: "oldhelm" is the original USFL helmets while "newhelm" features experimental edits with Memphis and LA. I have ideas for other helmets; they may appear in the summer update. 

 

Baltimore: 

Rasheed Bailey

Tyus Bowser

Deonte Harty

Mohammad Ibrahim

Shaq Leonard 

Yannick Ngakoue

Teir Tart

Rock Ya-Sin

Kenny Yeboah

 

Rookies:

Mike Chris-Ike (CFL, 2nd round)

Joel Dublanko (CFL, 1st round)

 

Boston:

Mathieu Betis (CFL)

Jake Bobo

Martavias Bryant

Larnel Coleman

AJ Dillon

Jojo Domain

Sam Emilius

Leonard Fournette

Will Harris

Michael Hoecht

Andy Isabella

John Johnson 

Cardale Jones

Hergy Mayala (CFL)

Nathan Rourke

Almondo Sewell

Camron Taylor-Britt

Lwal Ugak

 

Rookies:

Kiran Amegadje (3rd round pick)

Kevens Claricus (CFL)

Jalen Coker (UDFA)

Kyle Hergel (CFL, UDFA)

Dylan Laube (6th round pick)

 

New Jersey:

Jamal Adams

Eli Apple

Mekhi Becton

JaDevon Clowney

Frank Darby

JK Dobbins

Ezekiel Elliot

Justin Fields

Jared Horsted

Chandler Jones

Titus Leo

Austin Mack (CFL)

Chase Young

 

Rookies:

Ray Davis (4th round)

Marvin Harrison Jr. (1st round)

Cade Stover (4th round)

 

Pittsburgh

Tyler Boyd

Cameron Brown 

Bud Dupree

KJ Hamler

Geno Lewis (CFL)

Trace McSorley

AJ Ouellette (CFL)

Julian Whitehead

 

Rookies:

Phil Jurkovec (UDFA)

Bub Means (5th round)

Chop Robinson (1st round)

Kyle Sheets (UDFA)

 

Washington:

Celien Ferrell

Yosh Nijman

Isaiah Simmons

Malik Willis

 

Rookies:

Graham Barton (1st round)

Amin Dankwah (CFL, UDFA)

Dante Miller (UDFA)

Payton Wilson (3rd round)

 

Birmingham:

Kwon Alexander

OJ Howard

Nate Igbinoghene

Julio Jones

Carl Lawson 

Alex Leatherwood

 

Rookies:

Nick Mardner (CFL, 1st round)

Bo Nix (1st round)

Will Reichard (7th round)

Dallas Turner (1st round)

Kimani Vidal (6th round)

 

Jacksonville:

Dee Alfrod (CFL)

Stetson Bennett

Tae Crowder

Jarrad Davis 

Felipe Franks

Eddie Goldman

Mecole Hardman

Penny Hart

CJ Henderson 

Alvin Kamara

AC Leonard (CFL)

Dominique Rhymes (CFL)

Preston Rivers III

Cameron Tom 

Chan Sullivan 

Odell Willis (CFL)

 

Rookies:

Amarius Mims (1st round)

Ladd McConkey (2nd round)

Quantez Stiggers (5th round)

 

Memphis:

Reed Blankenship

Zach Cunningham

Tre Herndon

Tevon Jones (CFL)

Malik Lawal (CFL)

Wynton Mcanis (CFL)

Shaheed Salmon (CFL)

 

Rookies:

Joe Milton III (6th round)

Jaylen Wright (4th round)

 

Tampa Bay:

Cam Akers

Dariusz Bladek

Brian Burns

Dalvin Cook

Taylor Cornelius (CFL)

Dallas Daniels

Cameron Erving

Jimmy Graham

Rodney Hudson

Demontray Jacobs

Cre’von LeBlanc

RJ Macintosh

Tre Nixon

Denzel Perryman

Terrence Plummer

Shaq Quartermann

V-Scantling

Mike Wakefield (CFL)

Lucky Whitehead (CFL)

Mitchell Wilcox

 

Rookies:

Kamren Kitchens (3rd round)

Jared Verse (1st round)

 

Chicago:

Jaelen Acklin (CFL)

Chase Claypool

Pat Elflein

Jimmy Garoppolo

Kamu Grugier-Hill

Micah Hyde

Max Scharping 

Jonathan Taylor

Jameer Thurman

Anthony Walker

 

Rookies:

Joe Alt (1st round)

Cooper DeJean (2nd round)

Sam Hartman (UDFA)

Jer’zahn Newton (2nd round)

Carson Steele (UDFA)

 

Houston:

Brian Brice (CFL)

Steve Dunbar (CFL)

Xavian Howard

Austin Trammel

Derel Walker (CFL)

 

Rookies:

Jonathan Brooks (2nd round)

 

Michigan:

Mike Danna 

Donovan Peoples-Jones

 

Rookies:

Dhel Duncan Bubsy (CFL, 3rd round)

Michael Herzog (CFL, UDFA)

Cornelius Johnson (6th round)

Marshawn Kneeland (2nd round)

JJ McCarthy (1st round)

 

Oklahoma:

Kennedy Brooks (CFL)

Tyron Johnson

Johnny Manziel 

Joe Mixon

Derrick Moncrief (CFL)

Tre Norwood

Emmanuel Ogbah

Deneric Prince

Sterling Shepherd

Dillon Stoner (CFL)

Perrion Winfrey

 

Rookies:

KT Leverson (7th round)

Austin Stogner (UDFA)

 

San Antonio:

Quandre Diggs

Josh Gordon

Trey Lance

Geoff Swaim

Deuce Vaughn

 

Rookies:

Emani Bailey (UDFA)

Ja’Tavion Sanders (4th round)

T’Vondre Sweat (2nd round)

 

Arizona:

Ka’deem Carey (CFL)

Yasir Durant

Randy Gregory

Azur Kamara

Brice Purdy

Hasson Reddick

Tim White (CFL)

Renell Wren

Xazavian Vallady

 

Rookies:

Jacob Cowling (5th round)

Tanner Mclachlan (CFL)

Jordan Morgan (1st round)

Kyle Ostendorp (UDFA)

Hayden Hatten (UDFA)

Spencer Rattler (5th round)

 

Denver:

Julian Blackmon

Cariel Brooks (CFL)

Phillip Lindsay

Laviska Shenault

Chris Streveler (CFL)

Kyle Van’Noy

Ahkel Weatherspoon

 

Rookies:

Jonah Dalmas (UDFA)

George Holani (UDFA)

Kedon Slovis (UDFA)

 

Los Angeles:

Jamal Agnew

Devin Asasai 

Anthony Barr

Shaq Evans (CFL)

Josh Kelly

Kameron Kelly (CFL)

Mercedes Lewis

Rashad Penny

Adarius Pickett (CFL)

Winston Rose (CFL)

Equamonius St. Brown 

Sione Takitaki

Leonard Williams

 

Rookies:

Calen Bullock (3rd round)

Laiatu Latu (1st round)

Marshawn Lloyd (3rd round)

Tahj Washington (7th round)

 

Oakland:

Henry Anderson

JJ Arcega (Whiteside)

David Bakhtiari

McLeod Bethel-Thompson (CFL)

Ashtyn Davis

Cameron Goode 

Charles Leno

Jake Haener

Jamal Morrow (CFL)

Darnell Sankey (CFL)

Kaden Smith

Solomon Thomas

Mykel Walker

 

Rookies:

Josh Karty (6th round)

Braden Trice (3rd round)

 

If you are interested in my narrative, check out my blog at https://ageofvinny.blogspot.com/. The narrative is structured like old Football “Annals” published every year, though I kind of wrap it around a wider narrative. This project has given me a focus of expression. 

 

I’m on Twitter (X) as @Tombor13; I do week-to-week “updates” of the season. 

 

I do these because I like doing them and people seem to really enjoy them; the Tecmo community is one of the coolest out there. I do take donations, especially during the summer, when work is hard to come by. My venmo is also my Twitter handle (Tombor13). I do this for the love of it, to get a story out of me and make something people enjoy.

Thank you for your support.