XFL Power Rankings, Week 2: Roughnecks, P.J. Walker take spotlight

The first week of the XFL season is in the books and the Houston Roughnecks emerged as the class of the league while the Dallas Renegades struggled.

With the players lined up at the opposite 35-yard line, the 2020 XFL season kicked off with four games of action on Saturday and Sunday. As you’d expect to be the case with a newly formed football league, things went a bit against what preseason expectations were.

Some of the XFL favorites laid duds in Week 1, for one reason or another. Furthermore, some teams that were expected to either middle or bring up the rear in the league looked like possible juggernauts. At the top of the latter category is the Houston Roughnecks and quarterback P.J. Walker, who had the biggest opening weekend of any player.

All of this is just one week of a 10-game season. So let’s take stock of the league heading into Week 2 with a new batch of XFL power rankings.

8. Tampa Bay Vipers (0-1) – Last Week: 3

Despite the fact that the Vipers out-gained the Guardians in offense in this game, the fact that Aaron Murray and Quinton Flowers could not find the end zone or get anything of substance going when it mattered is concerning for this team.

I was a believer in Tampa Bay and their upside moving forward and, for what it’s worth, perhaps there’s a chance that they can build off their yardage gains and right the ship. But for now, this team looks like one that’s not going to be able to close, which was evident in the 23-3 loss to New York.

7. Los Angeles Wildcats (0-1) – Last Week: 4

You could make the argument that the Wildcats should be higher than No. 7 in the XFL power rankings but I have plenty of concerns about this team after Week 1. Not only did Charles Kanoff and the LA offense fall flat when the Roughnecks got rolling but their defense obviously had few answers for Houston down the stretch.

There are some things to like about Los Angeles moving forward as Kanoff flashed and running back Elijah Hood looked good. But if their offensive line and defense can’t get it together, who knows if they’re going to be able to pull it all together.

6. Dallas Renegades (0-1) – Last Week: 1

Not having Landry Jones severely hindered what figured to be the best team in the XFL in the Renegades. Phillip Nelson looked relatively lost as he couldn’t move the ball down the field and the rushing attack had little success given his struggles. This did not look like a Bob Stoops team without his former Oklahoma quarterback at the helm.

With Jones hopefully set to return in the next few weeks from his early-January knee injury, I’m maintaining hope in Dallas, especially with Tegray Scales anchoring a relatively impressive defensive effort.

XFL Power Rankings (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

5. Seattle Dragons (0-1) – Last Week: 8

Did Cardale Jones and the Defenders move the ball with relative ease on the Dragons defense? Absolutely. However, Brandon Silvers and the Seattle offense looked more than competent. Silvers tossed three scores as former North Carolina standout Austin Proehl was dominant and the rushing attack was solid as well.

If Silvers can limit the mistakes — the turnovers in particular — and the defense can string together a few stops moving forward, the potential for this Dragons team is quite evident.

4. St. Louis Battlehawks (1-0) – Last Week: 7

Jordan Ta’amu impressed me far more than I expected him to. The former Ole Miss signal-caller and 23-year-old was impressive going 20-of-27 for 209 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 77 yards. Moreover, Matt Jones helped the run game with 21 carries for 85 yards on the day.

Unfortunately, the Battlehawks couldn’t capitalize offensively with any kind of consistency. The defense playing well, however, does bode well for them moving forward and St. Louis could be a bit of a sleeper.

3. New York Guardians (1-0) – Last Week: 6

There truly was not much spectacular about Matt McGloin and the Guardians offense on Sunday as they made their XFL debut. They had only 16 carries for 44 yards in the run game and the quarterback threw for only 182 yards and a score while barely completing over 50 percent of his passes.

The New York defense was stout against Tampa Bay though, displaying a perfect bend-don’t-break mentality to hold the Vipers to a league-low three points in Week 1. Even if McGloin and the offense lack some upside, their defense could help them compete with anyone.

2. D.C. Defenders (1-0) – Last Week: 2

As they played in the first game of the 2020 XFL season, the Defenders picked up the first victory as well. Quarterback Cardale Jones showed he still had some electricity when on the field with a solid game, especially working with perhaps the best receiving corps in the league led by Rashad Ross and Eli Rogers.

You would have liked to see the Defenders live up to their name from start to finish in their first game but they did come up with some big plays down the stretch. With a loaded offense and a possibly opportunistic defense, D.C. remains among the favorites.

1. Houston Roughnecks (1-0) – Last Week: 5

Roughnecks quarterback P.J. Walker was the MVP of Week 1 in the XFL as he was dynamic and elite against the Wildcats. Walker threw for 272 yards on 23-of-39 passing while throwing for four touchdowns and only one pick and having six receivers with 20 or more yards and three with 45 or more yards.

We’ll see if the defense can put together a full game’s worth of the performance they turned on after going down 17-12 early on against LA. If that’s the case and Walker stays playing at this level, it’s hard to imagine anyone consistently being on the level of Houston this season.