This is the sixth part of an eight-part look at each UFL team’s 2025 season
Part Three: Houston Roughnecks
Part Four: Arlington Renegades
Part Five: Birmingham Stallions
What went right
St. Louis continued its winning ways under head coach Anthony Becht, registering their third straight winning season and second consecutive trip to the postseason. The running game was the offensive spark, as the Battlehawks led the UFL in rushing yards, average per carry, and rushing touchdowns. Max Duggan jumped in for starter Manny Wilkins, who tore his Achilles in the fourth game of the season, and kept the team on a playoff track. The offense didn’t miss much of a beat in transitioning last minute from coordinator Bruce Gradkowski (who left to take an offensive assistant job with the Detroit Lions) to Phil McGeoghan. The Battlehawks finished second in total defense and LB Pita Taumoepenu led the league in sacks with 7.5. Rodrigo Blankenship was the most accurate kicker in the UFL by percentage. P Sterling Hofrichter improved both his gross and net punting average by about four yards each from 2024.
What went wrong
Injuries struck key offensive contributors in the first half of the season. WR Hakeem Butler played in seven games but was ineffective in a few others, hampered by a bad hamstring. Wilkins’ torn Achilles occurred in a loss that dropped St. Louis to 2-2. Starting guard Abdul Beecham also missed more than half the season due to injury. This is the second year in a row in which St. Louis has had to overcome this level of injury. While not much else went wrong, St. Louis is quickly getting the reputation as a team that chokes in big moments. They lost in the XFL Conference Championship, at home, for the second year in a row, this time to the D.C. Defenders, who seem to have the Battlehawks’ number in the Battledome – D.C. is 3-1 in the Lou since 2023. Head coach Anthony Becht needs to find a way to get his guys over the hump.
Stat to note
Both quarterbacks that led St. Louis for the majority of 2025, Wilkins and Duggan, were adept at running the ball and the team called plenty of designed QB runs. That said, Duggan had his shortcomings as a passer and the Battlehawks possessed an effective one-two punch at running back in Jacob Saylors and Jarveon Howard. The offensive line, nicknamed the “Knights of Colombo” under first-year line coach Marc Colombo, were more than happy to put the run game on their back. All of those pieces led St. Louis to run the ball on nearly 61% of its offensive plays. If the Battlehawks had played in the NFL in 2024, they would’ve led the league in run percentage – by three full percentage points.
Offensive MVP
While the passing game was inconsistent with Wilkins and then Duggan, the constant was the effectiveness of the run game. And that was led by RB Jacob Saylors, who followed up a strong 2024 in Battlehawk blue with another solid 2025. Saylors was second in rushing yardage, tied for second in rushing touchdowns and first in the UFL in rushing yards per game. Saylors also proved dangerous in the pass game, averaging over 11 yards per reception on 22 catches, an unusually high average for a back (and five yards higher than his average in 2024).
Defensive MVP
Nobody wreaked more havoc in the opponent’s backfield than LB Pita Taumoepenu. The 2023 XFL Defensive Player of the Year continues to be a nightmare for opposing offensive lines. Though he only had 27 tackles for St. Louis in 2025, 7.5 of them were sacks to lead the league. He also had three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries, specializing in the big play. Unfortunately, NFL teams aren’t knocking down the door of the 31-year-old, who has yet to translate that production into any known workouts this summer. Still, he can continue to make a decent living in the UFL.
Special Teams MVP
Though he hadn’t kicked in an NFL game since 2022, K Rodrigo Blankenship had enough of a track record of success for the Battlehawks to take a chance on him as their kicker to replace Andre Szmyt, whose 2024 performance earned him an NFL deal. All Blankenship did was go 21-for-22 on field goals, tying a league long of 56, and pacing the UFL in field goal percentage at 95.5%. He also became a bit of a fan favorite for those that attended games at the Dome at America’s Center, with his own cheering section. An honorable mention here to WR Jerome Kapp, active on game days solely for his coverage skills on special teams. He made 10 special teams tackles in eight games, playing just 23 snaps on offense outside of the throwaway week 10 game vs. D.C.
Most likely to succeed (in getting NFL opportunities)
Only two Battlehawks have earned NFL contracts to this point, a surprisingly low number considering the talent and the team’s success in 2025. Interestingly, both have signed with the Detroit Lions. It would not be shocking if any player along this offensive line graduated to the NFL this year. All have put some really good stuff on tape. WR Hakeem Butler was like a man among boys on the field at times, though like Taumoepenu, his NFL chances may have run out. All three specialists shined this year. A few players on defense came back to the Battlehawks after an extended stay in the NFL, including safeties Nate Meadors and Lukas Denis. They are names to keep a watch out for, as are young DBs like Myles Jones, Micah Abraham and Myles Sims.
QB concern level for 2026 (1-5)
A torn Achilles is usually at least a year of recovery time, making it unlikely Wilkins will be back for the start of the 2026 season. St. Louis may be ready to ride again with Duggan – after all, he went 6-0 as a starter in the regular season – but he’s not without his limitations. They’ll need to continue to have a strong run game for Duggan to succeed. As a backup, they had spring vet Brandon Silvers as someone who could push the ball down the field in a way that Duggan couldn’t. Silvers is the kind of backup you’d love to have at this level, and we’ll see if St. Louis can convince him to come back for another year. Holding the clipboard was Chevan Cordeiro, a rookie who was the fifth overall pick in the 2024 UFL College Draft. The degree to which he developed in 2025 could signal his role in 2026. After the messy offseason divorce from A.J. McCarron, St. Louis ended up landing in a good spot with its QB room. I’m not completely sold on Duggan but I can’t argue with the results. Given there are also other options, I’ll go 1.5 here.
Head coach hot seat rating (1-5)
Credit Anthony Becht for seamlessly transitioning from departing offensive coordinator Bruce Gradkowski to receivers coach Phil McGeoghan in the play-calling role. The offense didn’t miss much of a beat. Gradkowski was also quarterbacks coach, and Becht selected Seneca Wallace to fill that role. The other major staff change was Bruce’s brother and offensive line coach, Gino Gradkowski, taking the offensive coordinator job at Rowan University. He was replaced with Marc Colombo, who has coached offensive line at the NFL level. Becht has done a nice job compiling a coaching staff of players with extensive (and recent) NFL playing experience. Last offseason, Becht interviewed for the head coach job at his alma mater West Virginia. If he keeps winning, a college or pro team will come calling. It’s much more likely he leaves of his own accord than he’s forced out. His seat isn’t warm at all; it’s a 1.
Offseason needs for 2026
If St. Louis expects to have a ground-based offensive attack in 2026 anywhere to the degree it did in 2025, it better keep an eye out for running backs in case Jacob Saylors sticks with an NFL team. The Battlehawks have had great success in bringing players back year-to-year, so expect much of the roster to carry over again. There are not a lot of obvious holes here. Depth and competition will be the keys. The team made a couple of big splashes that didn’t work out in signing NFL vets Andy Isabella and Denzel Mims; we’ll see if St. Louis tries to go that route again.