USFL to hold its first-ever college draft Tuesday

Feb 20

NEW ORLEANS — The USFL on Monday announced details for its first-ever College Draft.

Last year, the league's eight teams filled out their initial rosters through a unique draft process that involved selecting players in phases, with each phase focused on a single position. The draft order was then shuffled for each new phase.

This year's draft will be a more traditional format, with the first of 10 rounds starting at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Head coaches and general managers for all eight USFL teams will remotely draft the rights to 80 eligible players. The league will provide real-time coverage of the event through theUSFL.com and its social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The USFL is the first major professional spring football league in nearly 40 years to complete a successful inaugural season and return for Season 2.

"We are building the USFL for long-term success and our first-ever College Draft demonstrates our clear focus on building winning teams for Season 2, Season 3, and beyond," said Daryl Johnston, Executive Vice President of Football Operations. "The USFL will continue to search for and evaluate the best players to join our league. We are excited to see who the next KaVontae Turpin will be to turn an opportunity with the USFL into a springboard for success in the NFL. Conducting our inaugural College Draft shows that the USFL is committed to providing these talented players an alternative route to pursue their professional football dreams."

USFL teams are drafting the rights to 80 players from a pool of approximately 3,000 eligible athletes. To be eligible, players must have been out of high school for at least three years and have waived or exhausted their remaining college eligibility. One exception to this rule is that all Junior College players can request USFL draft eligibility once they are two years out of high school and have not enrolled in a four-year college. Teams are not allowed to trade draft positions, nor trade the playing rights of a drafted player for a player currently under contract.

New Michigan Panthers head coach Mike Nolan and his general manager Steve Kazor will have the first pick thanks to an innovative rule by the league to incentivize winning. In the last regular-season game of 2022, the 1-8 Panthers secured the first selection in all 10 rounds of the 2023 College Draft by defeating the 1-8 Pittsburgh Maulers, 33-21.

Otherwise, the draft order is arranged by last season’s records going from worst to first: Michigan Panthers, Pittsburgh Maulers, Houston Gamblers, Memphis Showboats, New Orleans Breakers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars, and the 2022 USFL Champion Birmingham Stallions. New Jersey’s first five selections have been penalized to lower positions due to a violation of offseason roster management rules. The entire draft order is listed below.

For the first three rounds, teams will have five minutes to draft a player. For the final seven rounds, teams will have three minutes to submit a pick. Should a team let its time expire in any round without a selection, it will still choose a player, but it risks letting the team on the clock take a player it might have been considering. Teams are not allowed to pass, and there will be a five-minute break between each round. At the conclusion of the 2023 College Draft, each team will have secured USFL rights for 10 players, for a league total of 80 players.

Monitoring remotely during the 2023 USFL College Draft, Johnston and Jim Popp, Director of Player Administration, are in New Orleans scouting players who are participating in the upcoming HBCU Legacy Bowl.

USFL Season 2 kicks off in April at four host cities in Detroit, Canton, Ohio, Birmingham, Ala., and Memphis, Tenn.

2023 USFL COLLEGE DRAFT ORDER

ROUND 1 (Overall)

1. (1) Michigan Panthers
2. (2) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (3) Houston Gamblers
4. (4) Memphis Showboats
5. (5) New Orleans Breakers
6. (6) Philadelphia Stars
7. (7) Birmingham Stallions

ROUND 2 (Overall)

1. (8) Michigan Panthers
2. (9) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (10) Houston Gamblers
4. (11) Memphis Showboats
5. (12) New Orleans Breakers
6. (13) Philadelphia Stars
7. (14) Birmingham Stallions
*8. (15) New Jersey Generals

ROUND 3 (Overall)

1. (16) Michigan Panthers
2. (17) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (18) Houston Gamblers
4. (19) Memphis Showboats
5. (20) New Orleans Breakers
6. (21) Philadelphia Stars
7. (22) Birmingham Stallions
*8. (23) New Jersey Generals

ROUND 4 (Overall)

1. (24) Michigan Panthers
2. (25) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (26) Houston Gamblers
4. (27) Memphis Showboats
5. (28) New Orleans Breakers
6. (29) Philadelphia Stars
7. (30) Birmingham Stallions
*8. (31) New Jersey Generals

ROUND 5 (Overall)

1. (32) Michigan Panthers
2. (33) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (34) Houston Gamblers
4. (35) Memphis Showboats
5. (36) New Orleans Breakers
6. (37) Philadelphia Stars
7. (38) Birmingham Stallions
*8. (39) New Jersey Generals

ROUND 6 (Overall)

1. (40) Michigan Panthers
2. (41) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (42) Houston Gamblers
4. (43) Memphis Showboats
5. (44) New Orleans Breakers
6. (45) New Jersey Generals
7. (46) Philadelphia Stars
8. (47) Birmingham Stallions

ROUND 7 (Overall)

1. (48) Michigan Panthers
2. (49) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (50) Houston Gamblers
4. (51) Memphis Showboats
5. (52) New Orleans Breakers
6. (53) New Jersey Generals
7. (54) Philadelphia Stars
8. (55) Birmingham Stallions

ROUND 8 (Overall)

1. (56) Michigan Panthers
2. (57) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (58) Houston Gamblers
4. (59) Memphis Showboats
5. (60) New Orleans Breakers
6. (61) New Jersey Generals
7. (62) Philadelphia Stars
8. (63) Birmingham Stallions

ROUND 9 (Overall)

1. (64) Michigan Panthers
2. (65) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (66) Houston Gamblers
4. (67) Memphis Showboats
5. (68) New Orleans Breakers
6. (69) New Jersey Generals
7. (70) Philadelphia Stars
8. (71) Birmingham Stallions

ROUND 10 (Overall)

1. (72) Michigan Panthers
2. (73) Pittsburgh Maulers
3. (74) Houston Gamblers
4. (75) Memphis Showboats
5. (76) New Orleans Breakers
6. (77) New Jersey General
7. (78) Philadelphia Stars
8. (79) Birmingham Stallions
*9. (80) New Jersey Generals

*New Jersey draft positions penalized for violating offseason roster management rules

More on the USFL: