The St. Louis Battlehawks had a narrative that they were regular season warriors and this year that narrative only got stronger with a very poor performance last weekend against the DC Defenders. It ended their season, and left them still without a playoff win in 3 years, despite a regular season record of 22-8 over that same time span. Last year St. Louis also struggled at getting guys to the NFL with only 8 signings which was 5th most in the league and none of those 8 were able to stick as they are all out of the league. They hope to have a better class in 2025 and let’s see who might be able to get an NFL look this summer.
Methodology
For the record, this section is the same for every article so feel free to skip it if you have already seen it. The first piece to explain is the tier system. There are 5 tiers a player could land in, tiers 1-5. Tier 1 is NFL bound, basically I’m almost 100% sure that this player will go to the NFL (by signing an NFL contract at some point in the 2025 NFL season), Tier 2 is decent chance, I’m more sure than not that this player will go to the NFL which is about 75% chance, Tier 3 is maybe, flip a coin 50% chance, Tier 4 is outside possibility, which is about 25% chance, and Tier 5 is all the players that have flaws that make me think there isn’t a chance they make it to the NFL. I haven’t included the Tier 5 players but any player not listed is in that tier.
This is also only counting players that ended the season rostered by a UFL team. For example, last year the Commanders signed Ramiz Ahmed who was on the Stallions before being cut midseason, he doesn’t count and won’t be listed. This is also a good time to also mention that any reported workouts that might be released before this publishes won’t affect the grades.
The reasons that players end up in a given tier is an unscientific combination of 4 factors: quality of play in the UFL, recency of NFL experience, age, and positional value. If you check off all three of these boxes you are going to rate highly but you don’t need all three. For example last season Marcus Simms was a Tier 2 despite being 5 years out of the NFL thanks to great play and still being only 26. I’m relying heavily on PFF grades to get an opinion on every player but I have watched every game and my personal opinion can influence that too. Lastly, age is a factor that is going to hurt a lot of good players in the UFL and keep players that if they were younger would have been Tier 1s and Tier 2s but there is a sharp fall off when a player reaches 28 that will affect how players are graded. 77% of players that sign out of these leagues since 2022 are 26 or younger and that number climbs to 89.7% if you more it to 27 or younger. Then finally with positional value, it is clear there are some positions the NFL is more interested in than others. Positions that are valued above average are WR (19.7%), DL (13.2%), and CB (11.1%). Positions that are valued below average are TE (5.8%), SAF (2.9%), and P/LS who are both (2.1%). Some of this is because of quantity, with more receivers and corners rostered than tight ends and Specialists but some of it is quality with positions like safety being at a surplus of talent at the NFL level. If you have any other questions about how I came to specific grades or put the whole thing together, you can reach out to me at Nicholas_Thorn2 on Twitter or in the PFN discord to ask me whatever I missed here.
Last year my stats were as follows:
Tier 1: 12 total, 92% signed, 100% tried out
Tier 2: 38 total, 45% signed, 68% tried out
Tier 3: 71 total, 28% signed, 46% tried out
Tier 4: 156 total, 14% signed, 26% tried out
Tier 5: 144 total, 3% signed, 6% tried out
QB and Weapons
Tier 1: RB Jacob Saylors
Tier 2: None
Tier 3: QB Max Duggan, RB Jarveon Howard, WR Hakeem Butler
Tier 4: WR Frank Darby, TE Chase Allen
The weapons for the Battlehawks didn’t live up to hype with guys like Andy Isabella and Denzel Mims getting cut. The one saving grace for the room is Jacob Saylors who is now a Tier 1 player in back to back seasons after having the most yards from scrimmage in the UFL. Another NFL look seems like a forgone conclusion. After him, there are a few players in Tier 3 with the most notable being Max Duggan who helped this team get to the playoffs but still hasn’t developed in the way you’d hope to be a true NFL QB. Hakeem Butler and Jarveon Howard were both late risers, especially Howard who wasn’t great through 5 weeks but was exceptional for the final few weeks when Saylors was resting. Beyond those the guys listed, there isn’t much else and St. Louis hopes to make these rooms more flashy in 2026.
Offensive Line
Tier 1: None
Tier 2: C Mike Panasiuk
Tier 3: None
Tier 4: T Jaryd Jones-Smith, Juwann Bushell-Beatty, T Bradley Ashmore, G Steven Gonzalez, G Abdul Beecham, G Dohnovan West, G Cole Spencer, C Ryan Coll
The Battlehawks like their veteran offensive line and the downside for having 4 of the 5 starters from week 1 in 2023 is that they’re all older and are seeing their NFL window close. The one exception to this is Mike Panasiuk who converted to OL in that first year and has gotten better every year since. I could see him get one more real shot at the next level. Beyond him though, there’s not really anyone that I would bet on. The one to mention for the rest is Dohnovan West who has been out of the NFL for year but is only 24 and played well has the replacement for starting right guard Abdul Beecham. Just another group that lacks the star power for St. Louis.
Front 7
Tier 1: None
Tier 2: DL Austin Faoliu
Tier 3: DL Kyler Baugh, ED Pita Taumoepenu, ED Chris Garrett, LB Willie Harvey Jr, LB Mike Rose
Tier 4: DL Phil Hoskins, ED Carson Wells, ED Shaka Toney, LB Callahan O’Reily
The front 7 for the Battlehawks is another group that is heavy on the vets which once again hurt their chances. Austin Faoliu was playing at an All-UFL level before injury derailed his season but he should still get NFL looks. Kyler Baugh already is getting looks with a workout with the Patriots scheduled for the reserve defensive lineman. Beyond him, Tier 3 is one of two groups. The first is vets that had great years but are hurt due to age like in DPOY Pita Taumoepenu and All-UFL LB Willie Harvey or guys that had worse seasons but have age on their side like for former Tier 1 LB Mike Rose and ED Chris Garrett. Beyond them it’s mostly quality depth that might get a look but overall it’s a group that likely doesn’t get a ton of play this summer.
See also
Secondary
Tier 1: None
Tier 2: CB Nick Whiteside
Tier 3: SCB Lukas Denis, SAF Qwynnterio Cole
Tier 4: CB Myles Jones, Myles Simms, CB Micah Abraham, SAF Nate Meadors, SAF Avery Young
The secondary thankfully is a different story to the rest of the Battlehawks so far. They were limited by a few costly injuries but still had some true standouts. Nick Whiteside didn’t have a clean record this year but with his awesome pedigree and still solid play, he has a clear path to an NFL look. After him is Lukas Denis who was able to get an NFL stint from his time in the XFL and was one of the better slot corners in the UFL and Qwynnterio Cole who had the play of someone that should be rated higher but hasn’t gotten much NFL interest recently despite that quality play which lowers him a tad. Then there are a bunch of guys in Tier 4 that have an outside chance. The one to mention is Micah Abraham who was just on an NFL team a few months ago which might be enough to get him a spot in an NFL camp. This group is the brightest on the Battlehawks even if it lacks the home run players.
Specialists
Tier 1: K Rodrigo Blakenship
Tier 2: None
Tier 3: None
Tier 4: None
Just like the Stallions, there are 2 specialists that seem like spring league lifers and one guy that is the easiest slam dunk NFL player imaginable. Rodrigo Blakenship was an absolute rockstar for St. Louis and makes you wonder why this guy got to the UFL in the first place after starting for the Colts for multiple seasons. He just had a workout for the Jets this week and if he is able to get signed, he has a chance to be the next great UFL specialist.
Conclusion
The lack of young key contributors once again hurts the Battlehawks’ NFL chances. There are a good few guys that should get looks like RB Jacob Saylos, C Mike Panasiuk, and K Rodrigo Blakenship but that list is relatively short which makes for a tough time trying to get someone to stick. Hopefully for 2026 the Battlehawks look for a bigger overhaul as they search for their first playoff win which at least would give them improvement in this respect even if it doesn’t work out.
What are your thoughts on the St. Louis Battlehawks to NFL pipeline? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!Â
