I don’t really want to get into how the draft worked for the XFL, but the Battlehawks got the second pick overall and they went with a wide receiver. The Philadelphia Eagles have never drafted a linebacker in the first round because they don’t value that position as much as others, and it shows. The Battlehawks drafting a wide receiver first is telling towards how they are going to value that position and run an offense. The first overall pick was a running back, so it’s not just a thing that every team values the same.
The point is that this is an important position not only in this sport, but it’s important for this team. You get it.
Marcell Ateman:
28 years old
6’4”
215 lbs
Oklahoma State 2013-2017
Raiders 2018-2021
Cardinals for a cup of coffee
Ateman is a big dude who can get separation on his routes. If he doesn’t get that separation, he can use his big body and his hands to get up and make contested catches. I love it when a receiver has that skill set. You see receivers get beat when they have a defender draped on them and drop/lose broken-up catches, so when they can win in good coverage it’s awesome to see.
He has trouble with press coverage. In short routes, he doesn’t have the same agility to get the separation in intermediate to long routes. Also, with his big body, you would hope that he would be able to block better, but that is something that you can coach and build on.
Hakeem Butler:
26 years old
6’ 5”
227 lbs
Iowa State 2015-2018
Cardinals 2019
Panthers for a cup of coffee
Eagles 2020
CFL 2022
Butler‘s biggest strength is his size. He’s got a huge catch radius and can make the catches that you’ll see on Instagram. His body control is impressive and he uses that to Moss defensive backs. He’s got long arms and can break tackles after catches as well. Because of that body size and arm length, he’s tough to play press coverage on. He can explode off the line and make deep, impressive grabs.
His issues come with his number of drops. The highlight catches are impressive, but dropping the ball because he’s losing concentration on the ball has been an issue for him. He’s also got room to improve on running routes that need quick acceleration changes. Getting off the ball and immediately beating the defender is great, but breaking in and out on routes is just as important.
George Campbell:
26 years old
6’ 4”
183 lbs
Florida State 2015-2018
West Virginia 2019
Jets 2020
Cambell’s got two things going for him:
1. His ability to make a play deep. He had a 56% catch rate in college, which might not sound great, but when your getting used to making low percentage catches for big plays downfield, that number is better than it looks.
2. Being there for dump-off routes. He can make people miss after he catches, so he has usefulness on screens.
Donteea Dye:
29 years old
6’ 0”
195 lbs
Heidelberg 2011-2015
Buccaneers 2015-2016
Buccaneers 2018
AAF 2019
XFL for a cup of coffee
Unfortunately for Dye, his highlight is kind of a huge lowlight. When he played for the Buccs in 2015, he caught a huge 44-yard pass and brought it inside the 5-yard line. It was actually a really impressive catch, but he didn’t realize that no one touched him, so the play was still live, and then he tossed the ball away thinking the play was dead. Another guy on the Buccs ended up jumping on the ball, so there was nothing really negative that came from this, but it was still a boneheaded move and it looked terrible.
Great catch though.
Gary Jennings:
25 years old
6’ 1”
216 lbs
West Virginia 2015-2018
Seahawks 2019
Dolphins 2019
Ravens 2020
Bills 2020
Colts 2021
Raiders 2021
Chiefs 2022
Jennings got drafted in the 4th round of the 2019 draft, and since then he’s been a traveling man. He’s been injured a few times and those injuries have put him in some tough spots. Of the 7 NFL teams that he’s been on, he was on 3 of them for less than 2 weeks. Not great.
Jennings uses his big body and speed to his advantage. He’s smart and knows that he can leverage a defender’s position into catches and yards after the catch. If he’s used, he can be used to stretch defenses.
Unfortunately, that might be the limit of his use. He’s been knocked for being too stiff when it comes to running routes. That leads to him getting pressed when he plays on the outside, so he’s playing a lot of slot receiver. Jennings doesn’t have an ideal body type or skillset for a slot receiver.
Steven Mitchell:
28 years old
5’ 10”
189 lbs
USC 2015-2017
Rams 2018
Texans 2018-2020
Injuries are Mitchell’s biggest thing.
He’s 28 years old and has had 2 separate season-ending knee injuries. Yeah, he was switching between the Texans' practice and active roster for a couple of years and never had any more season-ending things happen, but he’s 28 years old now. Who knows what might flare up?
Hopefully, he can stay healthy because he has great speed and he can run great routes. He can “make tacklers miss in a hall closet and then get away.” I, for one, would very much like to see that happen.
Nyqwan Murray:
25 years old
5’ 9”
193 lbs
Florida State 2015-2018
Seahawks 2019 for a cup of coffee
CFL 2020
National Arena League 2022
Some of these guys are tough to find information on, not gonna lie.
Murray has a couple of things going for him. He caught a 92 yards pass in the 2016 Orange Bowl and set the record for the longest Orange Bowl touchdown reception. He was also named All-NAL First-Team offense in 2022. So those two things are pretty cool.
He was a receiver in college that had his career impacted by bad quarterback play, so if he can get a consistent AJ McCarron making the throws, he might be able to make an impact. He’s got the tools to make plays as a slot receiver. He’s got quick feet, shifty routes, and fast hands.
His biggest knocks are on his mentals. He’s had issues making mental errors while running routes and he’s gotten complacent during games which has made him easier to defend. He’s also had a couple of injuries, one of which was a meniscus tear, but hey, who hasn’t?
Austin Proehl:
27 years old
5’ 10”
175 lbs
UNC 2014-2017
Bills 2018
Titans 2018
Rams 2018-2019
XFL 2020
49ers 2021
Chargers 2021
Bills 2021
Giants 2022
Good news/Bad news here:
Good news first. This is cool. This is Ricky Proehl’s son, which means we get both Ricky and Austin on the team. That’s objectively cool.
Bad News. Austin does a thing where he hears a defender bearing down on him and he braces for impact and it’s affected how he plays. That’s objectively not cool.
Austin has the makings for a good 3rd down pass catcher. He’s got reliable hands and he’s been around the league for long enough that he’s been able to work on making his routes cleaner. It’s just the whole, “5’ 10” 175 lbs wide receiver” part that doesn’t look good. Otherwise, this seems like a fun and cool roster spot.
He also caught the first touchdown of the XFL when they tried to do it back in 2020. So that’s neat as well.
Darrius Shepherd:
27 years old
5’11”
186 lbs
North Dakota State 2015-2019
Packers 2019-2020
Chiefs 2021
Cardinals 2021
Vikings 2021
Steelers 2021
USFL 2022
Broncos 2022
Shepherd isn’t what you picture when you close your eyes and picture a wide receiver. He’s shorter than a lot of guys, he’s smaller than a lot of guys, and he’s not the fastest guy on the field.
His thing is that he works hard and that he’s consistent in his skills (hands and routes). Guys who are smaller than they should be for their position and have a bad attitude about it are not guys who get signed onto 7 different teams in 4 years. Darrius Shepherd has been on 7 teams, so I have to imagine he’s a hard worker.
Caleb Vander Esch:
6’ 1”
210 lbs
University of South Dakota 2016-2021
So. Again. This is tough because some of these guys don’t have a lot of stuff out there.
Like Caleb. I can tell you one thing for certain about him.
He may or may not be related to Leighton Vander Esch. I honestly don’t know if he is. Like, you gotta think he is because not many people have this last name, but you’d also think they’d make it more available if they were related. And I can’t find anything that says that they are, so who knows?