The Houston Roughnecks are one of the eight teams that will be a part of the United Football League (UFL), which was born from the XFL-USFL merger. Last Friday, the first two phases of the dispersal draft were held. Each team was allowed to protect 42 players on their roster. In addition, the XFL teams were able to draft up to 20 players from the dissolving XFL teams. The same was done for the USFL teams. On Monday, the results of the dispersal draft were announced.
Houston Roughnecks Dispersal Draft Results
Here are the players that the Houston Roughnecks currently have on the roster after the first two phases of the dispersal draft.
Paul Adams | OT | Missouri | NO |
Kenji Bahar | QB | Monmouth | |
Isaiah Battle | OT | Clemson | NJ |
Ronheen Bingham | OLB | Arkansas St | |
Tim Bonner | DE | Florida Atlantic | |
Richard Bowens III | CB | Saginaw Valley St | |
Braedon Bowman | TE | South Alabama | NJ |
Woody Brandom | TE | Sam Houston St | NJ |
Nick Buchanan | C | Florida | |
Manny Bunch | S | Tulsa | |
Emmanuel Butler | WR | N. Arizona | |
Isaiah Chambers | DE | McNeese St | |
Keke Chism | WR | Missouri | |
Tiyon Evans | RB | Louisville | |
Reuben Foster | OLB | Alabama | PIT |
Avery Gennesy | T | Texas A&M | |
Shamarious Gilmore | OG | Georgia St | PHI |
Nick Grant | CB | Virginia | |
Cyril Grayson | WR | LSU | PHI |
Jarrett Guarantano | QB | Washington St | |
Justin Hall | WR | Ball St | |
Isiah Hennie | WR | Sacramento St | PIT |
Jake Hlava | DE | Grand Valley St | |
Reggie Howard Jr | DT | Toledo | NO |
Ryan Izzo | TE | Florida St | PHI |
Jeremiah Johnson | S | Concord (W. Va.) | |
Jeffery Johnson | DT | Oklahoma | |
Toby Johnson | DT | Georgia | NJ |
Shermari Jones | RB | Coastal Carolina | |
Jair Joseph | OG | Nicholls St | |
Jack Kramer | OC | Bowling Green | NO |
Dayan Lake | S | BYU | |
Robert Myers | OL | Tennessee St | NJ |
Hunter Niswander | P | Northwestern | |
Chigozie Nnoruka | DT | Miami (Fla.) | |
Jai Nunn-Lidell | CB | Kentucky St | |
Chris Odom | DT | Arkansas St | |
T.J. Pledger | RB | Utah | |
Isaiah Pryor | LB | Notre Dame | |
Rodell Rahmaan | TE | Tennessee St | |
Anthony Ratliff-Williams | WR | North Carolina | |
Justin Redd | T | East Carolina | |
Teo Redding | WR | Bowling Green | |
Colby Richardson | CB | LSU | |
Jakari Robinson | OG | Bowling Green | |
Markel Roby | S | Pittsburg St | |
Na’Ty Rodgers | OT | Houston | |
Elijah Rodgers | CB | Clemson | |
Adam Rodriguez | DE | Weber St | PHI |
Donald Rutledge Jr | DB | Ga. Southern | |
Olive Sagapolu | DT | Wisconsin | NJ |
Keonte Schad | DT | Oregon St | NO |
Gabriel Sewell Jr | ILB | Nevada | PHI |
Clint Sigg Jr | TE | Lindenwood (Mo.) | |
Marcus Tatum | OT | UCF | NO |
Mark Thompson | RB | Florida | |
Khalan Tolson | LB | Illinois | |
J.T. Tyler | OLB | Princeton | |
Reggie Walker | DE | Kansas St | |
Ethan Westbrooks | DL | W. Texas A&M | NJ |
Bryson Young | OLB | Oregon | NJ |
Isaiah Zuber | CB | Kansas St |
The third column signifies players whom the Roughnecks picked up in phase two of the dispersal draft and what team they came from. One note on this team. Houston was the only location that had a team in both leagues. This roster is the USFL Gamblers, who have been rebranded to the Roughnecks.
3 Key Players From Phase 1
The Roughnecks kept a lot of players, but none of them were more important to the offense than running back Mark Thompson. He rushed for 655 yards for a whopping 14 touchdowns last season. In a 10-game season, it is impressive to average more than a touchdown a game. On the other side of the ball, leading tackler Khalan Tolson was protected. He racked up 77 tackles on the year to go along with one sack. They have their anchors on each side of the ball with these two protections.
On special teams, Hunter Niswander was also protected. Looking at the stats, he was one of the best in the USFL last year. He had 27 punts for 1,236 yards, which gave him an average of just over 45 yards. What is most impressive is the lack of return yards against him. Opponents only returned 18 of his punts for 139 yards. The Roughnecks are hoping that they can dominate the field position battle by protecting Niswander.
Key Player Added In Phase 2
The Roughnecks picked up three tight ends in the second phase of the dispersal draft. The most intriguing was Braedon Bowman, who played for the New Jersey Generals last year. He was third on the team in receiving, catching 19 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown. Houston is hoping to have plenty of options next year at the position and Bowman is the one that has the most promise as of right now.
The Houston Roughnecks are hoping to dominate on the ground like they did last year. They kept a high number of players, so clearly, they are happy with the team that they have moving forward.
For More Great Sports Content
Matt has been following sports since he was a kid. While football is his main focus, Matt can talk about any sport at any time. He is currently a banker in Wisconsin and hosts two podcasts, Beers and Ears & Discontinued on Display. Follow him on Twitter at @sorcerermatt, and follow us @TotalApexSports. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL sports, click here!