USFL Week 7: Touchdowns, players of the game, fantasy football workload notes and more

The USFL is still alive and kicking. Week 7 featured four more games full of lead changes, big hits and LIVE football. What more can a person ask for in May?

What follows is a breakdown of all the Week 7 action, specifically noting:

• Touchdowns
• Offensive player(s) of the game
• Defensive player(s) of the game
• Fantasy football workload notes
• Final Thoughts

Be sure to check out The PFF Fantasy Football Podcast for weekly review and preview episodes of this wonderful league.

New Jersey Generals 20 Tampa Bay Bandits 13

Touchdowns

The Generals scored first, courtesy of a 15-yard connection between Luis Perez and KaVontae Turpin, who entered the week as PFF’s highest-graded offensive player. Turpin again displayed some after-the-catch goodness by taking a ho-hum reception in the flat all the way into the end zone. Generals 7, Bandits 0

Things looked as though they might get out of hand early when the Generals found the end zone on their next drive, this time thanks to a six-yard run from USFL rushing touchdown leader Darius Victor. All New Jersey had to do upon reaching the Bandits’ 18-yard line was give Victor the ball on three consecutive plays, and the USFL’s version of the muscle hamster did the rest. Generals 14, Bandits 3

The Bandits finally found the promised land early in the fourth quarter on a fairly easy 20-yard touchdown strike from Jordan Ta’amu to John Franklin III. This was arguably Ta’amu’s worst game of the season — all three of his interceptions were late and/or inaccurate. Still, credit to him for finding an open Franklin on this one. Generals 20, Bandits 13

Offensive player of the game: Generals RB Darius Victor

Victor posted the position’s second-highest rushing grade (81.7) of the week, racking up 72 yards and a score on the ground. Most impressive was the manner in which Victor went about picking up his yards, as 56 of them came after contact. He also forced a league-high six missed tackles on rush attempts this week.

Defensive player of the game: Generals S Dravon Askew-Henry

PFF’s highest-graded defender of the week (90.1), Askew-Henry intercepted not one, but two passes off Jordan Ta’amu in the same quarter — both times demonstrating excellent timing and ball skills. Throw in eight tackles and a game-ending pass deflection on fourth down to officially end the Bandits’ hopes, and it’s tough to hate on Askew-Henry’s chances of capturing Player of the Week honors.

Fantasy football workload notes

Generals

Luis Perez predictably took each and every snap for the Generals with De’Andre Johnson (leg) sidelined. Trey Williams and Darius Victor continue to largely split snaps right down the middle, although Victor continues to receive the offense’s more fantasy-friendly goal-line touches. J’Mon Moore seamlessly took Darrius Shepherd’s (hamstring) spot in three-WR sets and wasn’t limited at all in his first game back from injury. He was flanked by Alonzo Moore and KaVontae Turpin, the latter of whom continues to work as the USFL’s version of Deebo Samuel thanks to his hybrid rusher/receiving role.

Bandits

Jordan Ta’amu continued to take each and every snap for this offense despite his rough afternoon at the office. Juwan Washington continued to lead the way over BJ Emmons, but this continues to be a fairly evenly split two-back committee when all parties involved are healthy. While Tampa Bay annoyingly continued to use six wide receivers, Derrick Dillon and (especially) John Franklin separated themselves as the top dogs in terms of route rate and air yards. Vinny Papale also flashed on multiple occasions and saw plenty of action despite barely playing over half of the offense’s snaps. TE Cheyenne O’Grady has looked like one of the offense’s better pass-catchers since Week 1, but his upside is capped as long as coach Todd Haley continues to insist on keeping De’Quan Hampton plenty involved.

Final thoughts

The Generals just keep on keeping on despite having worse injury luck under center than any other USFL squad. Both offenses combined for 563 total yards, so this wasn’t exactly a pretty display of offensive football. Still, the Generals have clinched a playoff berth and look capable of beating anybody, especially when they’re able to build a lead on the back of playmaker KaVontae Turpin before letting their bowling ball of a running back in Darius Victor take over. 

New Orleans Breakers 31 Michigan Panthers 27

Touchdowns

The Breakers found the end zone early in the second quarter, courtesy of a three-yard completion from backup QB Zach Smith to tight end (but basically a wide receiver) Sal Canella. Credit to the pair for executing the play, but this was a rather brutal blown coverage that didn’t feature a defender in the same area code as Cannela. Breakers 7, Panthers 3

Kyle Sloter marched the Breakers down the field during the two-minute warning by completing all four of his passes for 67 yards, with the final dime being a five-yard fade to Jonathan Adams. While Adams’ box score wasn’t overly impressive, he made another great catch later in the game by coming back to a brutally underthrown pass. He continues to look like arguably the single best receiver in the USFL. Breakers 14, Panthers 6

Missed opportunities prevented the Panthers from cashing in on a truly great performance from Josh Love, but they finally found the end zone at the beginning of the fourth quarter thanks to a one-yard touchdown run from Stevie Scott. Good for Scott for muscling his way into the end zone, but credit to Reggie Corbin for setting things up with a 22-yard run all the way to the nine-yard line earlier in the drive. Panthers 20, Breakers 17

The Breakers leaned on their backfield to re-take the lead, as Jordan Ellis ripped off back-to-back 15- and 19-yard runs before Sloter eventually hooked up with Anthony Jones on a 33-yard screen that featured some awfully pretty downfield blocking. Breakers 24, Panthers 20

Another lead change again featured Corbin getting the Panthers to the Breakers’ goal line before getting vultured by one of his teammates. This time, Cam Scarlett found the end zone from one yard out. Corbin should be on anyone’s shortlist of the USFL’s single-best running back. Panthers 27, Breakers 24

Overtime: The Panthers unfortunately botched a snap and failed to complete a pass on their two overtime attempts from the two-yard line, giving the Breakers the victory after Kyle Sloter first found Jones in the flat and next called game himself by scrambling into the end zone. Truly an entertaining fourth quarter for everyone involved. Breakers 31, Panthers 27

Offensive players of the game: Breakers QB Kyle Sloter, Panthers QB Josh Love, Panthers RB Reggie Corbin

Sloter lost snaps to backup QB Zach White, but it’s tough to say that was because of his performance. Overall, Sloter completed 15-of-24 passes for 182 yards and two scores, making him the week’s only quarterback with multiple touchdowns through the air. Sloter managed to rank second among all USFL quarterbacks in yards per attempt (7.6) as well as passer rating (113.5) — he’s arguably the league’s best pure passer when things are clicking.

Unfortunately, Love couldn’t lead the Panthers to victory, but he does deserve credit for posting two big-time throws and largely popping on the film all game long. Don’t let his porous counting numbers mislead you: Love made a number of great throws throughout the game and could have easily had at least two scores with a little more help from his receivers.

Corbin continues to look a lot like the USFL’s best running back. Nobody posted a higher PFF rushing grade (90.7) in Week 7, as Corbin needed just 13 carries to rack up 108 yards. The performance included five forced missed tackles and 51 yards after contact. It’s tough to overstate just how shifty the Panthers’ No. 1 running back was in the open field last Saturday. The performance would have been far bigger had Jeff Fisher not allowed Corbin’s backfield teammates to vulture a pair of touchdowns after he ran the offense inside the Breakers’ 10-yard line in the first place.

Defensive players of the game: Panthers DT JaQuan Bailey, Breakers CB Isaiah Brown

Bailey stood out as one of the week’s top overall defensive linemen, posting great marks in overall PFF overall grade (89.8) and pass-rush grade (90.1). Overall, Bailey notched a sack, three pressures and batted down two passes.

Brown posted an elite overall PFF grade (89.4) by allowing just one of six targets into his coverage to be caught. All the Panthers could muster with the lone catch was a measly 9 scoreless yards.

Fantasy football workload notes

Breakers

The Breakers turned the offense over from Kyle Sloter to Zach Smith on their third drive for the second straight week. They stuck with Smith for most of the next drive before turning back to Sloter the rest of the way. While Sloter has been careless with the football at times this season, it’s tough to think that he doesn’t give this offense more upside. Jordan Ellis re-seized his starting job from Anthony Jones, although the latter back ultimately led the way with 13 combined carries and targets. This has the looks of an evenly split two-back committee down the stretch. Shawn Poindexter returned from a hand injury and predictably replaced Taywan Taylor in three-WR sets, while Jonathan Adams and Johnnie Dixon continued to see plenty of action on both a route and target basis. TE Sal Cannella is more of a wide receiver and should be considered a legit fantasy option as long as he continues to play a true every-down role inside of one of the USFL’s best passing attacks.

Panthers

Paxton Lynch (ankle) was transferred to the active roster but ultimately didn’t play a snap. This led to Josh Love doing plenty of good things with his every-down role, though this could either devolve into a platoon or go completely Lynch’s way as soon as next week. Reggie Reggie Corbin unfortunately wasn’t featured more despite balling out with all of his opportunities. Stevie Scott and Cameron Scarlett have also been listed on the injury report in recent weeks. While Corbin sure knows how to make big plays happen out of thin air, Jeff Fisher’s insistence on keeping all three of his backs involved will lower his weekly ceiling. Lance Lenoir continued to work as Michigan’s undisputed No. 1 passing-game option, although this week Joe Walker leaped past Devin Ross as the No. 2 wideout. Perhaps this was because of Ross’ inability to haul in a potential score from Love. The Panthers continue to rather hysterically use three to four tight ends each and every week, rendering each a non-viable fantasy option due to the overlap at hand.

Final thoughts

The USFL’s first overtime banger didn’t disappoint, as the Breakers and Panthers went back and forth for the game’s final 30 minutes in the week’s most entertaining affair. Love played well enough for the Panthers to win, but ultimately the Breakers move their record to 5-2 and should continue to be viewed as a top-three team in the league. Here’s to hoping the likes of Kyle Sloter and Reggie Corbin can seize full-time roles moving forward.

Birmingham Stallions 26 Pittsburgh Maulers 16

Touchdowns

The Maulers marched 71 yards in 10 plays to score the game’s first touchdown. The drive featured *nine* carries by Madre London, who ultimately capped things off with a four-yard score. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “Run the d*amn ball.” Maulers 7, Stallions 3

Birmingham finally found the end zone on their first drive of the second half, but only thanks to a rather awesome fake punt that featured FB/TE Bobby Holly scoot 52 yards to the house. The Maulers looked rather clueless the entire way, as only the punt returner had a real chance to make the tackle. Stallions 13, Maulers 10

The Stallions stretched their lead with an 11-play, 79-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter. Things would have been a lot easier if Jeff Thomas had caught a b-e-a-utiful downfield strike from J’Mar Smith that would have been good for 50 yards if not a touchdown, but the ball was dropped. Either way, Bo Scarbrough and company helped get the ball to the Maulers’ five-yard line before C.J. Marable pounded it into the end zone out of the old school power-T formation. Stallions 23, Maulers 13

Offensive players of the game: Stallions RB Bo Scarbrough, Maulers RB Madre London

It took Scarbrough a whopping 27 carries to get his 100 rushing yards, but it’s tough to be overly critical about the performance. Overall, 86 of Scarbrough’s 100 rushing yards came after contact, as his average yards per carry after contact (3.2) nearly matched what he was simply able to achieve total per rush attempt (3.7)

There’s a similar sentiment here for London. He was able to rack up 99 yards on the ground largely thanks to a copious 18 rush attempts, but credit deserves to be dished out considering 60 of London’s yards came after contact. The performance included a league-high seven carries for a first down this week. Here’s to hoping London did enough to separate himself from co-backfield pilot Garrett Groshek down the stretch.

Defensive player of the game: Stallions DT Willie Yarbary

Yarbary was one of just two defenders to rack up multiple sacks in Week 7. He totaled three pressures, continuing to make life difficult for the opposing quarterback as one of the key cogs of the Stallions’ league-best pass rush.

Fantasy football workload notes

Stallions

J’Mar Smith took every snap under center, as Alex McGough is now apparently a wide receiver. Note that Smith’s only interception came on a perfectly thrown pass to McGough, who let the ball bounce off his hands straight into the defender’s lap. Bo Scarbrough completely took over the backfield with a week-high 86% snap rate despite CJ Marable returning from injury. He looks a lot like the USFL’s most fed workhorse at the moment. Still, Marable was listed as probable with a knee injury going into the game, so it’d make sense if his involvement at least somewhat increases in future weeks. The Stallions have largely rotated the same three wide receivers all season long, but the absence of Marlon Williams (knee) led to only Osirus Mitchell and Michael Dereus receiving full-time roles. It’s unclear if Victor Bolden was dealing with an injury, as he made an incredible Willie Mays-esque catch on the game’s first drive but was barely seen after. Meanwhile, Jeff Thomas didn’t exactly make good use of his extra snaps by dropping his downfield opportunity that would have been good for at least 50 yards if not a touchdown. None of the Stallions’ tight ends are realistic fantasy options as long as three of them are splitting snaps to the point that none are playing even half of the offense’s plays.

Maulers

Vad Lee was the Maulers’ quarterback until late in the fourth quarter when he was benched for Roland Rivers, seemingly due to body language issues. It’d be a lot easier to give coach Kirby Wilson the benefit of the doubt if it wasn’t yet another rash personnel decision seemingly driven more by his emotions as opposed to putting his team in the best position to win. This quarterback room has largely been a revolving door all season long, so it’s tough to imagine any of the remaining signal-callers having much confidence at this point. Madre London worked ahead of Garrett Groshek from a snap and touch standpoint; just realize Pittsburgh had kept this committee close all season long, and the presence of FB Mikey Daniel (who had a dope hurdle) lowers the ceiling of both. Most alarming was the fact that WR Tre Walker was inactive (reason unclear) and Bailey Gaither was reduced to just a 34% snap rate. Both receivers have largely been the only source of consistent offense for this team all season. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether Isiah Hennie and Delvon Hardaway will continue to lead this rather brutal passing game in routes next week. 

Final thoughts

The Stallions hardly dominated this one, needing a 52-yard trick play punt touchdown in order to make up for a meh 318 total yards of offense. And yet, the Maulers (199 total yards) were somehow worse and never really found their rhythm in the passing game. That’s probably because coach Kirby Wilson continues to rotate his quarterbacks like musical chairs, consistently throwing unprepared signal-callers who have barely been on the team into the fire. It’d be one thing if this strategy worked, but as it stands the Maulers (1-6) are easily the USFL’s worst team and boast a horrid -72 point differential. For context, the Gamblers (1-6) boast just a -21 point differential, while the Panthers (1-6) are at -13. Sheesh.

Philadelphia Stars 35 Houston Gamblers 24

Touchdowns

The Stars’ first drive of the game produced a touchdown. The problem was that it was scored by Gamblers LB Donald Payne. It’s tough to fully blame Case Cookus for the interception, considering he was drilled upon releasing the ball. Either way, Payne deserves all the credit in the world for his uber-athletic catch and run. Gamblers 7, Stars 0

Philadelphia took the lead towards the end of the second quarter thanks to a four-yard touchdown run by Matt Colburn. Still, this was a bit of a vulture situation considering Darnell Holland was the one who got the offense in scoring position with a rather dope 36-yard run. Stars 13, Gamblers 10

The Gamblers needed just two plays to find the end zone but were forced to switch to backup QB Kenji Bahar after Clayton Thorson (elbow) was injured. Luckily Bahar took no time getting comfortable, finding a wide-open Brandon Barnes from six yards out for the touchdown. Gamblers 17, Stars 13

Houston stretched their lead with a pretty seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. The highlight of the drive was easily Bahar’s 45-yard connection to Teo Redding, who seems to make at least one fantastic contested catch a week. Mark Thompson finished off the drive with a nine-yard score after successfully bouncing outside. Gamblers 24, Stars 13

The Stars began to mount their comeback early in the fourth quarter thanks to a 39-yard touchdown pass from Cookus to Jordan Suell. The pass was a bit underthrown and aided by the Gamblers defender falling down, but either way, Cookus deserves credit for extending the play, and Suell made a great adjustment to high point the pass. Gamblers 24 Stars 20

Philly finally re-took the lead for good thanks to a 10-play, 61-yard drive capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by Holland. Cookus posted the drive’s biggest play with a 29-yard scramble to put the Stars inside the Gamblers’ 20-yard line. Stars 27 Gamblers 24

Offensive player(s) of the game: Stars WR Jordan Suell

Suell caught all seven of his targets for 72 yards and an absolutely crucial fourth-quarter touchdown that featured him sky into the air to corral an underthrown ball from Case Cookus. It’s tough for defenders to deal with Suell’s size (6-foot-5, 205-pounds), and he accordingly averaged a gaudy 2.4 yards per route run while looking like Philly’s best pass-game option all afternoon.

Defensive players of the game: Gamblers LB Donald Payne, Gamblers DE Chris Odom, Stars DE Adam Rodriguez (89.9)

Payne picked off a pair of Case Cookus passes in style, most notably taking the first all the way back to the end zone. The safety convert added a team-high nine tackles and looks the part of a modern every-down linebacker.

Odom didn’t officially register a sack, but he did rack up a week-high eight pressures and won on 21.9% of his pass-rush snaps. Just one of his pressures came unblocked; the man earned this spot.

Rodriguez was one of just two defenders on the week to rack up two sacks. The performance included four total pressures, with the USFL’s version of A-Rob posting an elite 22.2% win rate along the way.

Fantasy football workload notes

Stars

Case Cookus continues to take every snap with Bryan Scott (knee) out of the picture. Matt Colburn again worked as the offense’s featured back, but Darnell Holland looked healthier than he has in weeks and could feasibly turn this into more of an evenly split committee down the stretch. Note that No. 3 RB Paul Terry remained on the inactive roster. Devin Gray, Jordan Suell and Maurice Alexander made up three-WR sets alongside TE Bug Howard, who is basically a glorified wide receiver based on his usage inside of this pass-happy offense. 

Gamblers

Clayton Thorson (elbow) exited the game in the second quarter and didn’t manage to return for the second half. This led to Kenji Bahar getting his first reps since Week 2, ultimately ending the game with an array of turnovers after performing well enough early on. Mark Thompson continued to work as the Gamblers’ featured back, although the presence of *both* Dalyn Dawkins and Devwah Whaley was concerning. Previously, Thompson has only worked alongside one of these backs. He won’t offer the same sort of upside if both remain active and as involved as they were this week. Isaiah Zuber continued to work as the offense’s No. 1 receiver in terms of total routes, but Teo Redding and Anthony Ratliff-Williams were just as involved on a per-target basis. The Gamblers continued to feature plenty of four-WR sets with Tyler Palka and JoJo Ward seeing plenty of action, rendering the offense’s little-used tight ends as low-floor fantasy options despite the potential to score a goal-line touchdown here and there.

Final thoughts

The Stars keep on keeping on and are sitting pretty as the No. 2 seed in the USFL’s rather week North Division. The return of Bryan Scott would be ideal for the stretch run, but at least Case Cookus has proven capable of leading this offense to some solid point totals. Throw in more goodness out of the backfield and Philly might just have a chance to peak at the right time and make a real run at the league’s first championship.