The Arlington Renegades will look to pick up where they left off last season, which was a hot playoff run to upset the D.C. Defenders to take the XFL Championship. The Renegades went 4-6 in the regular season, but snuck into the playoffs and went on a run with the help of QB Luis Perez, who they acquired late in the season.
Perez will remain the starter and is one of the better starters in the league. His fantasy numbers are all over the place, but on average he’s above average. His WR1 could easily be Deontay Burnett, who the Renegades added this year after the Houston Roughnecks disbanded. Burnett scored six touchdowns and averaged 14 yards per catch last season on a team that had trouble at QB and spread the ball around a bunch.
The true No. 1 receiver could actually be tight end Sal Canella, who led the team in receptions and receiving yards last season. There are some intriguing names in the group of wide receivers, which makes it tough to feel strongly about a single player being a target hog. For now I’m leaning toward Burnett and Canella being the top receivers to start.
The running back position brings back DeVeon Smith and Leddie Brown as the main guys. Smith was the lead back last year, but only averaged 3.1 yards per carry. Brown came on strong to end last season, putting up a big championship game against the Defenders. He rushed nine times for 32 yards and a touchdown and caught two targets for 43 yards and another touchdown. He was given more targets on a per snap basis than Smith and showed more as a receiver after the catch in his limited play. Smith should remain the lead back, but we’ll see if Brown can cut into his work this year.
Arlington Renegades official Week 1 depth chart
| Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| QB | Luis Perez | Lindsey Scott Jr. | ||||
| RB | De’Veon Smith | Leddie Brown | ||||
| WR | Javonta Payton | Caleb Vander Esch | ||||
| WR | Deontay Burnett | Juwan Manigo | ||||
| WR | Tyler Vaughns | Isaiah Winstead | ||||
| TE | Sal Cannella | Austin Allen | Seth Green | |||
| LT | Bobby Evans | Noah Henderson | ||||
| LG | Chris Owens | |||||
| C | Cameron Hunt | Jake Lacina | ||||
| RG | Dru Samia | |||||
| RT | Adrian Ealy | Noah Henderson | ||||
| DT | Tomasi Laulile | |||||
| NT | DaVonte Lambert | |||||
| DE | Jalen Redmond | |||||
| OLB | Vic Beasley | Willie Taylor III | ||||
| ILB | Marquel Lee | Storey Jackson | ||||
| ILB | Donald Payne | Storey Jackson | ||||
| CB | Ajene Harris | Delonte Hood | ||||
| FS | Jamal Carter | Brandon Rusnak | ||||
| SS | Myles Dorn | Brandon Rusnak | ||||
| CB | Darren Evans | Steven Jones | Duron Lowe | |||
| K | Taylor Russolino | |||||
| P | Marquette King | |||||
| LS | Antonio Ortiz | |||||
| KR | Juwan Manigo | Akene Harris | ||||
| PR | Juwan Manigo | Tyler Vaughns |