Texas Football: Ranking former Longhorns in the XFL

The XFL season is less than two weeks away from its debut, and four former Texas football players will be suiting up for three of the eight teams in play.

Taking the place of the Alliance of American Football last year, the XFL will be the next major football league that is establishing itself once the NFL season is over. The XFL will begin at the conclusion of the Super Bowl, which rounds out the NFL’s season. The 2019-20 college football season also ended earlier this month. This means that a handful of former players from the Texas football program will still be competing in football after the Super Bowl.

Last year, a couple Texas Exes from the football team like quarterback Garrett Gilbert and defensive back Duke Thomas highlighted AAF rosters. But the AAF collapsed after just eight weeks of action and went bankrupt. The XFL will be hoping for better luck, with even more Texas Exes competing in the field of action.

The XFL Draft occurred in October 2019, and started to set the rosters of each of the eight XFL teams. Five Texas Exes were selected in the XFL Draft, and four remain on active rosters. Former Texas defensive backs Davante Davis and P.J. Locke were selected in either the XFL Draft or the supplemental draft last fall, but neither remains on an active roster.

While the AAF had one of its main priorities as becoming a feeder league for the NFL, the XFL already has its own identity established. The XFL was founded in 1999, in conjunction with the WWE. But it failed after just one year of game action, in 2001.

The XFL is making its return with a bit of a new branding scheme and hopefully a better product out on the field.

Here’s a look into the ranking of the four best former Texas Longhorns football players in the XFL for the 2020 season, among a list of other notable names on active rosters.