In the first 4 weeks of the UFL, I notice the league is loaded with excellent field goal kickers. When Jake Bates is not wearing khakis selling insurance he’s the face of the Panthers franchise in the UFL. The new kicker for the Stallions went 4-4 in his first game of the season. Above, I have my best kickers of all-time on the big screen. Gus, the kicking mule. Nigel Gruff in the movie The Replacements. Then the Goddess Kathy Ireland in the movie Unnecessary Roughness. We may be the first ever football power rankings to adore and highlight the kicking position. It’s spring football & everything is on the table. Week 5 we have a new dumpster fire team at the bottom of the power rankings. ENJOY!!!

#1.BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS (4-0) SAME SPOT ALWAYS

The Defenders invaded Birmingham and gave the Stallions a battle in week 4. The Stallions put away the visiting DC team with a walk off field goal by their new kicker, Ahmed Ramiz.

Ramiz, former Mauler of the USFL, kicked 4 field goals for the Stallions in his first game with his new team including the 46 yard game winner. Ramiz replaced Chris Blewitt who went on the injury list. The Stallions lead the league in passing after 4 weeks using two quarterbacks. Last week Adrian Martinez had a big game as he passed for 300 yards. Matt Corral got the start and did pretty well going 19-29 for 240 passing yards with a 50 yard strike to Amari Rodgers for touchdown.

Rodgers had a nice week with 4 catches for 82 yards and had the Stallions’ only touchdown. Head Coach Skip Holtz saw the first two weeks both of his QB’s seen action. The last two weeks both started a game and played the entire game. Week 5 will the start go to Martinez or will Skip go with dueling quarterbacks once again like he did in week 1 and 2?

#2. ST.LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (3-1) SAME SPOT FROM LAST WEEK

You can say the BattleHawks have the best quarterback in the UFL with AJ McCarron. St. Louis easily has the number one fan base in the league. Now they have the number one running back in Jacob Sayors. Sayors leads the UFL with 172 rushing yards during which he averages 6.1 yards a carry. He now has the longest run as a back with 55 scamper last week versus the ShowBoats. He is also the second running back in the UFL to rush for over a 100 yards in a single game. Sayors teammate Mataeo Durant was the very first back to do that in the UFL. The BattleHawks welcomed Jahcour Pearson the former Sea Dragon from Seattle last year in the XFL. It was Pearson’s first game as he led the XFL last year in catches and he did not disappoint scoring his first touchdown in the BattleHawks uniform. The BattleHawks dispatched Memphis in the 4th quarter scoring 12 points to put them away as they tallied 32 total points and now have won three straight since suffering a loss in the first week. McCarron had another brilliant day as he completed 35-45 for 222 yards with 3 touchdown passes.

#3. SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS (3-1) MOVED UP ONE SPOT FROM LAST WEEK

For some reason, I thought the Brahmas were doomed losing Chase Garbers with an injury. His replacement Quentin Dormady of his days last season in the XFL with the Orlando Guardians was going to be a knife in head coach Wade Phillips’ season and that offense.

Wade Phillips’ teams always have a defense. They sacked the Panthers quarterbacks six times last week after EJ Perry coming off a solid week. Jordan Williams had a strip sack on Perry and the Brahmas Lamas ate the Panthers up like some nature special on the public broadcasting channel. Dormady had a good day behind center completing 23-37 passes for 269 yards. The Brahmas are now the first team in the UFL to have a pair of 100 yard receivers in one game. Jontre Kirklin and Justin Smith are the names to that trivia question. Dormady needs to limit the turnovers and the Brahmas can stay in the thick of the race.

#4. DC DEFENDERS (2-2) MOVED UP ONE SPOT FROM LAST WEEK

Even with the Defenders taking the loss last week versus the Stallions, they went on the road and gave Birmingham a game. The Defenders stole a game from the Renegades not too long ago and kicked a winning field goal to complete the last two minute comeback. The Defenders last week lost to the Stallions on a game winning field goal. The Defenders scored two touchdowns as Jordan Ta’amu hit Kelvin Harmon for a 45 yard touchdown strike.

Harmon had a good day with 5 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. Chris Rowland had a receiving touchdown from Ta’amu. The Defenders quarterback only completed 12-22 passes for 160 yards. The Defenders only went 4-11 on third down. The Defenders running game got a tad better this week. The Defenders are in every game but have not shown me their killer instinct they had last year beating teams with a solid performance on all sides of the ball. The Defenders defense did get better holding the Stallions to mostly field goals for the night. The schedule continues to get difficult playing the BattleHawks this weekend. The Defenders have not lost a home game yet. Plus, the Defenders have done well versus their arch rivals the BattleHawks. Last year’s Defenders had more energy as this year’s squad is walking in their sleep for most parts of the games.

#5.MICHIGAN PANTHERS (2-2) DROPPED TWO SPOTS FROM LAST WEEK

The Panthers leave Ford Field for the first road game of the season in San Antonio. It looked like the team forgot how to play quarterback. EJ Perry played well in week 3 with 2 touch down tosses and a rushing touch down. Perry has now been sacked 13 times this season so far. The Panthers quarterbacks in general versus the Brahmas were sacked 6 times last week. Perry went 7-13 for 77 yards but used his legs for 49 yards on the ground. Danny Ethling came in & went 11-14 behind center for only 105 yards and had a touchdown pass but threw an interception. The Panthers ground assault had 117 rushing yards but scored only 9 points of which six points came on touchdown. Jake Bates drilled another long distance field goal as his first points on the road.

Bates remains perfect on the year with six field goals in 4 games. Bates and the Panthers defense have been bright spots for Michigan this entire season so far. The quarterback play has to get better.

#6. MEMPHIS SHOWBOATS (1-3) SAME SPOT FROM LAST WEEK

Any team in the UFL would have a rough time trying to win a game in St. Louis. The Showboats last week in St. Louis could not handle the crowd noise especially on offense. Especially in the second half as the Showboats were shut out by the BattleHawks. Costly penalties from the noise killed drives. The Showboats have not played a complete game yet this season as they disappear for chunks of each game. In the first half, the Showboats hung with the BattleHawks and scored 17 points. Running back Darius Victor found the end zone. Then Vinny Papale hauled in another touchdown catch.

The Showboats have two starting quarterbacks on their roster from the USFL last season. This is the second week that Showboats have used dueling quarterbacks because Case Cookus is struggling. Cookus went 8-12 for 55 yards. The back up former Pittsburgh Mauler man behind center did not do well as he was 4-9 for 37 passing yards. The quarterback play has to get better. The defense has disappeared after week two.

#7. HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS (1-3) MOVED UP ONE SPOT FROM LAST WEEK

Suddenly Mark Thompson is back in action and the Roughnecks put a W in the win column. It was not your typical Friday Night Lights game but it was a Texas match up between Houston and Arlington. Both teams were looking for their first win of the season.

Thompson immediately brings this Houston team energy. Thompson was the USFL offensive player of the year last year. He immediately paid dividends scoring his first touchdown of the year. The Roughnecks running game has been one of the worst in the league. Now those numbers will improve. Reid Sinnett improved behind center. He completed 18-28 passes for 191 passing yards. The Roughnecks defense held the Renegades to 9 points. It was the first time Arlington was held this season to single digits in points.

#8. ARLINGTON RENEGADES (0-4) DROPPED ONE SPOT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL

The Renegades have stooped to the lowest level in the UFL after losing the Texas Toilet Bowl game versus Houston last weekend. The battle between two teams without a win. What about Bob Stoops? Stoops’ team was held to their lowest points of the season with 9. It’s been the Renegades defense this entire year that’s been the team’s problem. Luis Perez and the Renegades offense went dormant and this is a team that won the XFL last year. Stoops’ teams are never the worst in the league. We are coming up on the halfway point of the season, so look for Stoops to shake things up to find a way to string a few wins together. The hardest part is getting that first one. Everyone thought it was going to happen against the Roughnecks. Renegades and Bob will be doing some soul searching to figure this entire Renegades saga out. Stay tuned.