Notable Picks From Day Two Of The USFL Draft
The USFL draft has come to an end and here's some more notable players from the second day.
After twelve rounds on Tuesday, fans were treated to twenty three more rounds where more recognizable names were drafted.
Round Thirteen, Pick Four: Miami Wide Receiver Jeff Thomas to the Pittsburgh Maulers
Thomas is a Miami alum that may have encountered some off the field issues, but on the field he ran shifty routes and was a reliable target for Hurricanes quarterbacks. Coming out of St. Louis, Thomas was a four start pass catcher that picked The U over Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan, and Ohio State.
In his freshman season with the Canes, Thomas played in 13 games where he tallied 13 catches for 374 yards and 2 scores. He upped his play for his sophomore season when he played in 11 games going for 35 catches, 563 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Unfortunately, Thomases season was cut short when he was dismissed from the team due to getting into an argument with the teams receivers coach Ron Dugans. He returned the following season when Mark Richt retired and caught 31 balls in 10 games going for 3 scores and 379 yards.
Thomas went undrafted and was picked up by New England following the 2020 NFL Draft. He didn’t make the teams 53 man roster when he was waived during final roster cuts. Thomas is a dynamic player that could revitalize his career in the USFL for Pittsburgh.
Round Seventeen, Pick Five: FAU Wide Receiver John Franklin III to the Tampa Bay Bandits
If you’re a fan of the show Last Chance U, then you know exactly who John Franklin is. He was a three star dual threat quarterback coming out of South Plantation High and committed to play at Florida State over Tennessee, Navy, and Temple.
After not seeing the field in Tallahassee in 2013 and 2014, Franklin transferred to the very well known East Mississippi Community College and appeared in Last Chance U. He became a fan favorite when he passed for 733 yard with 7 touchdowns while also rushing for 451 yards and 9 scores. He transferred to Auburn after a year at EMCC, but when he was unhappy with his role with the Tigers, he transferred to FAU to play for Lane Kiffin in 2017.
Kiffin used Franklin as a “gadget” player where he would play all over the place like Taysom Hill. In that season, he rushed for 229 yards with 2 touchdowns, caught 7 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown, and was 1 for 2 on passing for 49 yards.
Franklin went undrafted in the 2018 draft and bounced between the Bears and Buccaneers practice squad and active roster as a defensive back and wide receiver. Now he has a chance to turn the tides of games as a big play player in Tampa Bay.
Round Eighteen, Pick Four: UConn Safety Obi Melifonwu to the Tampa Bay Bandits
This was by far one of my favorite players in UConn history. Melifonwu stands at 6’4, bigger than your average defensive back. He was an unranked defensive back coming out of Grafton, Massachusetts, home of Mass Maritime all conference linebacker Jack Fontana, and took his only offer to play at UConn.
Melifonwu played immediately as a freshman as he made 68 tackles and 2 interceptions. From 2013 to 2016, he made 349 tackles from his safety position along with 8 interceptions, 16 pass breakups, and 2 fumble recoveries. He was one hell of a player for the Huskies.
His outstanding play got him drafted fifty sixth overall in the 2017 NFL Draft to the Oakland Raiders, but unfortunately flopped in the league. He only recorded 10 tackles in his career with the Patriots and Raiders while also being signed by the 49ers and Eagles for very very short stints. Just a cup of coffee. If he can channel his energy from his UConn days then Melifonwu has the potential to be the best defensive back in the USFL.
Round Twenty One, Pick Four: Arizona Linebacker Scooby Wright to the Birmingham Stallions
I loved Scooby Wright in college. He has an all time great name to go with the look of an intimidating linebacker. Wrights career confuses me because he was an phenomenal college player that slipped to the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft and never did anything in the league.
Coming out of Cardinal Newman High, Wright was a two star recruit with one offer from Arizona and minimal interest from California, Utah, Boise State, and Nevada. He played with the Wildcats from 2013 to 2015 and made an immediate impact. As a true freshman, he started 12 of 13 games he played in where he made 83 tackles with an interception.
2014 was the big year for Wright. He remained a starter and tallied 163 tackles with 14 sacks and 6 forced fumbles. His play didn’t go unnoticed as he won the 2014 Lombardi Award, Nagurksi Trophy, Bednarik Award, PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Year, was named first team PAC-12, and a unanimous All American. He finished ninth in the 2014 Heisman voting the year that fellow PAC-12 member, Marcus Mariota won the award.
Had Wright gone to the draft after that season he would have been a first round pick, but the 2015 season crippled his NFL chances. In three games, Wright made 23 tackles with 2 sacks and then had his season cut short due to injury. This hurt Wrights draft stock and he was taken in the seventh round by Cleveland. In 2016 he spent time on the Browns and Cardinals practice squads.
In 2017, Arizona elevated him to the active roster where he made 5 tackles. He then bounced between the AAF, XFL, The Spring League, and the New England Patriots before getting drafted by the USFL Stallions. This is the player I’m probably most pumped to see play again.
Round Twenty Four, Pick Two: Texas A&M Defensive Tackle Daylon Mack to the Tampa Bay Bandits
Mack is a former five star recruit that received offers from Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and USC, but opted to stay in his home state of Texas and play for Texas A&M. As an interior defensive lineman for the Aggies from 2015 to 2018, he tallied 108 tackles, 27 for loss, and 8 sacks. In the 2019 NFL Draft, the Ravens took Mack in the fifth round.
A leg injury put him on IR in November of 2019 and Baltimore waived him in August of 2020 to stay under the Covid-19 roster limit. He then wandered the league between camps and practice squads with the Titans, Lions, Giants, Packers, and Cardinals. Now he has the opportunity to take on double teams and eat up running backs with the bandits.
Round Thirty, Pick Two: Notre Dame Linebacker Te’Von Coney to the Philadelphia Stars
As a Notre Dame fan, I enjoyed watching Coney play. He’s fast, physical, and has the killer instinct of a good defender. In four years in South Bend from 2015 to 2018, he made 313 tackles accompanied by 7 sacks and 4 pass breakups.
The Palm Beach Garden native went undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft and was picked up by the Raiders where he was never elevated to the active roster. From 2019 to 2021 he served as a practice squad player, but no he has the opportunity to show that he still has what it takes to be a high caliber linebacker.