XFL Announces Rules, Players For The XFL Draft
Looking to truly separate themselves from the NFL, the XFL is ready for a different kind of draft. The draft, which will look to fill a 71-man roster for all eight teams, will be taking place on October 15th and 16th through various XFL media channels in Connecticut.
The draft pool will include over 1,000 players that accepted a Commissioner's Invitation and passed a background check. According to a press release by the XFL, one quarterback will be assigned to each team prior to the five-phased draft. The draft will be phased the following way:
1. Skill Players (QB, RB, WR, TE)
2. Offensive Line (OT, OG, OC)
3. Defensive Front Seven (DL, LB)
4. Defensive Backfield (CB, NB, SS, FS)
5. Open Draft (In addition to P/K/LS, all remaining players after positional drafts will be available)
The D.C. Defenders will have the first pick when it comes to the skill-position players.
In Phases 1-4, each team will get to choose ten players, resulting in 40 players. Phase five is when teams can choose the remaining members of the roster. To make things interesting, the XFL will be going through a "snake" format; the team selecting first in the first round will pick eighth in the second round, first in the third, and so on.
Luck later told ESPN that there will be a supplemental draft at the end of November for players that were ineligible to be drafted in October. This was either because they were on NFL rosters at the time or because they were in college programs.
Names of several former NFL, college, AAF and CFL stars who will be involved in the XFL Draft were released by the organization. Some names include former Oakland Raider Connor Cook, receiver Jalen Rowell, Landry Jones, Sean Hickey and wide receiver Keith Mumphery.
The relaunched XFL season is expected to start in February of 2020, the weekend after the Super Bowl.
#XFL announces first group of players to enter #XFLDraft pool
MORE ?? https://t.co/npaVEtSV2T pic.twitter.com/sT8kQjDUD1
— XFL (@xfl2020) October 7, 2019