2023 USFL power rankings: Birmingham Stallions look like USFL’s best team ahead of Week 9

Just months removed from the Birmingham Stallions winning the 2022 USFL Championship, we’re back, divvying up the best and the worst from the United States Football League. With only eight franchises participating, the USFL power rankings are much shorter than what we’d see in the NFL but not too different than what we see in the XFL.

Yet, of course, the USFL is an entirely separate entity with its own coaches, players, and teams. While football is football in some ways, the USFL is truly a unique brand with a growing fanbase.

Let’s dive into our 2023 USFL power rankings, looking at every team after Week 8 of the regular season.

8. Pittsburgh Maulers (2-6)

• Previously: Ranked eighth
• Last season’s results: 1-9

The 2022 Pittsburgh Maulers scored the fewest points in the USFL while tying for allowing the most. This was easily the worst USFL team a year ago, but now Ray Horton has taken over as head coach. Joining Horton will be the 31st pick from the 2017 NFL Draft, linebacker Reuben Foster. Who knows? Maybe the next USFL star comes from the Maulers? That’s the beauty of the unknown.

The Maulers should be concerned about their offense at this point. Their scoring attack ranks dead last in the USFL, averaging just 16.5 points per game. We did see Pittsburgh come within one score of defeating the Breakers in the season opener, but seeing the Maulers get shut out by the Showboats and nearly shut out again by the Generals four weeks later doesn’t provide much hope.

7. New Jersey Generals (2-6)

• Previously: Ranked seventh
• Last season’s results: 9-1

Although they couldn’t maintain enough momentum to reach the Championship, the New Jersey Generals tied for the best record in the USFL in 2022. Breakout star KaVontae Turpin moved onto the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, but Darius Victor, the USFL’s Offensive Player of the Year, returns at running back. The Generals have become the best rushing team in the USFL, with Trey Williams and Kingston Davis playing a factor too.

We saw plenty evidence of the Generals’ strong ground game in Week 1, dashing for 197 yards, but it led to just 10 points from the offense. As the third-place rusher in the league, Victor is once again leading a strong rushing attack for the Generals, and dual-threat QB De’Andre Johnson has been a factor on the ground. Yet, finding success through the air has been a much bigger challenge and is likely the biggest reason why the Generals have just two wins.

Related: USFL games today: 2023 standings, USFL schedule, odds and how to watch

6. Michigan Panthers (3-5)

• Previously: Ranked eighth
• Last season’s results: 2-8

After finishing with the USFL’s second-worst record, yet winning the final showdown of the season, the Michigan Panthers “earned” the No. 1 overall pick in the USFL college draft. But this isn’t the NFL Draft. How much can Michigan’s talent injection make a difference? Will the Panthers take a leap after Jeff Fisher stepped down as head coach, with the experienced Mike Nolan taking over?

It hasn’t been great. While the Panthers looked dominant in Week 1, scoring a USFL-best 29 points while allowing just 13. We saw Josh Love complete 18-of-20 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. But the Panthers came back down to earth in Week 3, scoring just 13 points as the offense fluttered. The effort hasn’t been any better since, with the Panthers scoring the second-fewest points in the USFL so far.

5. Philadelphia Stars (4-4)

• Previously: Ranked fifth
• Last season’s results: 6-4

After losing to the Stallions by just three points in the USFL Championship, the Philadelphia Stars entered the 2023 season with a massive chip on their shoulders. Yet, once they led the USFL in scoring, the Stars, highlighted by quarterback Case Cookus, appeared to be Championship contenders. Unfortunately, an injury to Cookus in the fourth quarter robbed their chances of hoisting the trophy.

But Cookus is back to 100% now, and head coach Bart Andrus is ready for his second season leading the Stars. Hopefully, it comes with a better defensive effort, too, as the Stars did finish in a tie for the second-most points allowed in the league in 2022.

We haven’t seen that defensive surge yet, as Philadelphia has allowed more points than any other USFL team through eight games. Despite leading the North division, the Stars have lost the point differential by 31.

USFL power rankings 2023: Best of the best

4. Memphis Showboats (5-3)

• Previously: Ranked fourth
• Last season’s results: 4-6 (as Tampa Bay Bandits)

Everything feels different for the Memphis Showboats this season. While many of the same players return, the team formerly known as the Tampa Bay Bandits is now the Showboats, moving cities, changing uniforms, and moving forward with Brady White at QB. After scoring the second-fewest points in the USFL, changes were needed. We’ll see if the Showboats can generate any steam.

The Showboats got off to a rough start, losing three in a row, but now they’ve gained tons of momentum by winning five in a row. This feels like a team that’s figured things out under coach Todd Haley and is making a strong push for the playoffs.

3. Houston Gamblers (5-3)

• Previously: Ranked third
• Last season’s results: 3-7

After struggling to get anything going in 2022, the Houston Gamblers have a new head coach in Curtis Johnson, along with first-year dual-threat QB Kenji Bahar running the show. Both are unproven.

It took three weeks, but the Gamblers finally got their first win of the 2023 season. Allowing 181 points through eight games is far from ideal, but they have also scored the second-most points. If Bahar can find more consistency through the air, the Gamblers might be able to reach contender status, but not if this defense continues to struggle.

2. New Orleans Breakers (5-3)

• Previously: Ranked second
• Last season’s results: 6-4

The New Orleans Breakers were respectable last season, reaching the playoffs while having the USFL’s best defense. Yet, they still swapped head coaches and quarterbacks. Larry Fedora and Kyle Sloter are out, and John DeFilippo and McLeod Bethel-Thompson are in, but will the results be better or worse?

The Breakers have been the most improved team in the USFL in 2023. They rank third in the USFL in scoring, but their defense has slipped to being fifth in points allowed. Incredibly, the Breakers have the USFL’s leading passer and the leading rusher in what’s been a nearly unstoppable offense through eight weeks.

1. Birmingham Stallions (6-2)

• Previously: Ranked first
• Last season’s results: 9-1, USFL Championship winners

Proving they were the best USFL team last season, the Birmingham Stallions remained on top of our USFL power rankings heading into the new year. Lou Holtz returned as head coach, and he has his quarterbacks, J’Mar Smith and Alex McGough, with him. Smith, in particular, has been working with Holtz for seven years, dating back to their days at Louisiana Tech.

In addition to having stable leadership, the effective backfield led by running backs Bo Scarbrough and C.J. Marable returned, which has led to the second-best rushing attack in the league.

Although the Breakers knocked the Stallions off their stead, Birmingham has since bounced back and now has the highest-scoring offense in the USFL and the best scoring differential in the league by far. The Stallions are the USFL’s best team, and it’s not even close.