After the USFL league office deigned to add 2 spots to the active rosters, and 3 to the practice squads, teams have been shuffling the back ends of their depth charts to bolster their ranks. The Stallions announced these moves today.
The team has signed 3 new players, and transferred them to the inactive roster, while moving some of their own guys up. It’s great to see that Scoob is back on the active list, but seeing CJ Marable moved down after such a huge performance last week stings a little bit. It’ll likely be Bo Scarbrough and Tony Brooks-James time to shine with his absence. Their injury report cleared things up a bit.
Since Marable is questionable, and has moved to inactive it seems they’ll be resting him, at least for the week, but Scooby Wright’s questionable status seems more like a probable since he’s moved up. Losing Holley and Adeoye is tough for their defensive depth, but these guys have been adjusting to things like this all year, and the defensive front should be ok this week without them. Hope they can make it back soon.
As far as the team’s new signings go, S Malik Gant, DT Doug Costin and LB Quentin Poling all bring some quality skillsets to the table.
Gant is a 6’2″ 200 pound safety out of Marshall who had excellent sophomore and junior campaigns there, posting 89 and 95 tackles, those two years, and finished his career with pass deflections. He’s big enough to roll with tight ends and stack the box, but has the length and coverage instincts to play back too. He had a stint with the Patriots two years ago, and is looking to put his name back out there now in the USFL.
I like Doug Costin. The Stallions have been great at generating pressure from their edge and off-ball spots, but he can come in and boost this interior pass rush as well. The 6’2″ 295 pound product out of Miami (Ohio) had 31 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks and 12 pass deflections in his time there, and is a serious disruptive force inside. Costin started 9 games for the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2020, posting 32 tackles, 3 for loss and 2 pass deflections.
Quentin Poling was incredibly prolific at Ohio, posting 373 tackles, 43.5 for loss along with 18 sacks, 7 interceptions and 15 pass deflections in college. While Scooby Wright III and Demarquis Gates are headlining this group, he’s a sneaky good option at the position. He was a 7th round pick in Miami back in 2019, and has been with the Chargers, Raiders, Vikings and Saints since then. The USFL could be his big break if he cracks the starting lineup.
