Much of the DC Defenders' offensive success in 2023 was due to the feet of running back Abram Smith. But just as important was the contribution of the team's quarterback, Jordan Ta'amu. Ta'amu finished second in the league in QB rating, led the league in yards per attempt, and won the XFL's Offensive Player of the Year award. He threw 14 touchdown passes and only three interceptions, leading the Defenders to a 9-1 regular season record and a berth in the XFL Championship.
Ta'amu has been in the spotlight this offseason. After a brief stint with the Minnesota Vikings last summer, he remained tight-lipped about his plans for 2024. It wasn't until the eve of UFL training camp that the league made it official and announced Ta'amu's return along with Luis Perez, whose Arlington Renegades defeated Ta'amu's Defenders in the title game.
There was real doubt as to whether Ta'amu would continue his spring soccer career. It started in 2020, when Ta'amu started all five games for the resurgent St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL, completing over 70% of his passes with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Ta'amu jumped to the USFL for the 2022 season with the Tampa Bay Bandits while the league was reorganizing under new management. The team struggled with 4 wins and 6 losses, and it was considered to be a down year for Ta'amu. He completed just 57 percent of his passes, throwing 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
He re-emerged in the XFL in the 2023 restart, playing in an offense well-suited to utilize his unique skills. All the while, Ta'amu continued to pursue his NFL dreams. From 2020 to 2023, Ta'amu was with five different NFL teams (two of them twice). To spring football fans, it was known that Ta'amu was never well-regarded in the NFL. It's not just the fans who think so.
“He's a player that we all truly believe should have had a chance to remain in the NFL,” Defenders head coach Reggie Barlow told the media Tuesday. “Great guy, great character. Playmaker. Can make all the throws. He obviously did a great job for us last year.”
As we head into 2024, there has been speculation about what Ta'am's plans will be. Will he return to the Defenders? Will he look for another professional football league? Will he hang up his cleats for good? Ta'am had a choice. “There were teams in other leagues that were very interested in him,” Barlow said. “Actually, we might have been able to offer them a little more opportunity than we did.” Quarterbacks featured in the UFL reportedly have reduced salaries compared to those offered in the XFL. Considering that there are many people in Japan, it is not difficult to read “opportunity” as “money.”
Putting two and two together, the “other league” Barlow mentioned would likely be the CFL. In September, Ta'amu was placed on the Saskatchewan Roughriders' negotiating list. This way, if a player chooses to play in his CFL, his rights are limited to that team only. To create a negotiation list for a team, there must be significant interest in the players on that team.
As UFL franchises begin building their rosters for 2024, all eyes were on what DC would do at the quarterback position. They first added former Orlando Guardian Deondre Francois in the disbandment draft. Then, with the first pick of the Super Dispersion Draft, they acquired Jarran McClendon from the Las Vegas Vipers. Spending that big of a pick on a QB was a signal to some that DC was preparing for a post-Ta'am world.
Instead, Barlow proposed that Francois and McClendon replace reserve D'Eriq King, who was named quarterbacks coach at his alma mater, Southern Methodist University. “He's a guy who did great things for us last year,” Barlow said of King. “We wanted someone with some experience and a good fit for our offensive side. Francois and Jalen, they're both athletic, talented guys.”
As for Ta'amu, Barlow never stopped trying to get his star QB back on the team. “Throughout that process, we've reached out and communicated with him, and we just let him know that we really wanted him to be part of the team again. This is a business, Everybody has to look after themselves. Coach (Fred) Kais, our offensive coordinator, Coach Shannon Harris, our quarterbacks coach, they've done a great job of staying in touch with Ta'amu throughout this offseason. Thanks to him, we were able to make it work.”
Ta'amu's return becomes even more important with running back Abram Smith out for the season with a torn ACL. Having to replace both Smith and Ta'amu would have been a difficult task for this coaching staff. With Ta'amu leading the way, DC will have a chance no matter who runs the ball.
