Roughnecks to watch as season opens
When the XFL season opens Saturday, the Houston Roughnecks, who play the Orlando Guardians at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) at University of Houston’s TDECU Stadium, are expected to unleash an Air Raid offense.
It’s unclear who will win the quarterback battle between Kaleb Eleby and Brandon Silvers, but whoever is at the controls will have playmakers at receiver. Davion Davis, who briefly played for the Texans, and former USC star Deontay Burnett are expected to put up big numbers in a potentially high-powered offense.
The most recognizable Roughnecks face will be on the sidelines with Wade Phillips returning to coaching and trying to put together a defense that will be led by former NFL players like Duke Ejiofor and Kary Vincent.
Here’s a look at six Roughnecks players to watch when they open their season Saturday:
Deontay Burnett, receiver
The 6-foot, 186-pound Burnett is probably best remembered for some of his big games at USC where he played in an
offense that included future NFL starters JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ronald Jones and Sam Darnold. Burnett had eight catches for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 2017 win over Texas, but he really stood out in a couple bowl games. In a wild Rose Bowl in which USC beat Penn State 52-49 at the end of the 2016 season, Burnett finished with 13 catches for 164 yards and three touchdowns. A year later, he had 12 receptions and 139 yards in a Cotton Bowl loss to Ohio State. Burnett went undrafted, but ended up playing eight games over three seasons with the Jets and Eagles. He was released by the Eagles after the 2020 season.
Duke Ejiofor, linebacker
Texans fans will remember Ejiofor as the team’s sixth-round pick in 2018 who had a big debut, recording a sack in his first NFL game. The former Alief Taylor High School and Wake Forest star played in 12 games as a rookie, before running into some misfortune with injuries. He tore his Achilles in the offseason, putting him out for the entire 2019 season, then tore his ACL during training camp in 2020, shelving him for another full season. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Ejiofor signed a futures contract with the Falcons after the 2021 season, but was released before training camp.
Kary Vincent, cornerback
The former LSU star figures to be one of the fastest players in the XFL. The 5-foot-10, 185pound Vincent was a sprinter on the LSU track team — clocking a 10.07 in the 100 meters — after winning back-to-back state titles in the 200 meters at Port Arthur Memorial High School. On the football field, he had four interceptions as part of LSU’s national championship team in 2019. Vincent was picked in the seventh round of the 2021 draft and played two games with the Eagles. He was one of the Eagles’ final roster cuts last season and spent a week on the 49ers practice
squad.
Davion Davis, receiver
The Hutto product was a star at Sam Houston State where he was named the Southland Conference’s offensive player of the year in 2018. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Davis played two games with the Vikings, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2019, before being waived and signing with the Browns. Davis was Cleveland’s leading receiver in the 2021 preseason, but didn’t make the team, signing to the Browns’ practice squad instead. The Texans signed him to their active roster that season but he played in just two games before fracturing
his leg late in the 2021 season. Davis returned to the Texans’ practice squad last year.
Emmanuel Ellerbee, linebacker
After starring at Strake Jesuit and Rice, the 6foot-1, 235-pound Ellerbee has bounced around the NFL since going undrafted in 2018. He’s played in 11 NFL games with the Seahawks, Chargers and Falcons and spent time on the Texans practice squad in 2020. He played in four games for the Falcons in 2021.
Alex Mollette, offensive line
Mollette will be the leader of the offensive line and can play anywhere in the interior, having made starts at center and both guard spots in his four years at Marshall. The 6-foot-2, 300-pound Mollette went undrafted but was in training camp with the Colts last season before being released during the preseason.