The UFL returns for a third season beginning Friday night, and it does so following a highly eventful offseason that saw a thorough restructuring of the league in terms of team locations, coaches and players. As plenty of buzz surrounds the emerging spring league, the 2026 season kicks off Friday night.
DraftKings is once again offering a full array of cash games and tournaments based on UFL regular-season and postseason games. DraftKings' UFL DFS rosters largely mirror that of NFL contests, with a notable exception -- there is no TE-specific spot, but rather two WR/TE spots and two additional flex spots that can be filled with a running back, wide receiver, or tight end.
QUARTERBACKS
Matt Corral, BHAM at LOU ($9,800):
Corral is back for another turn with the starting job in Birmingham, where he appeared to be thriving last season before suffering a season-ending hip injury in Week 4. The one-time third-round pick of the NFL's Carolina Panthers put some encouraging play on tape before going down, scoring 11.4 to 22 DK points in his four almost full games.
Corral also threw a pair of touchdowns apiece in the last pair of contests, and he flashed plenty of rushing upside by recording at least 15 yards on the ground in each game, including tallies of 24 and 52 in two of them. Corral also has the benefit of an excellent mix of continuity – reliable targets like Deon Cain, Marlon Williams and Jordan Thomas are back in the fold – and an exciting infusion of new skill-position talent, including ex-NFLers Anthony McFarland, Snoop Conner and Laviska Shenault.
Brandon Silvers, STL vs. DC ($8,700):
Silvers is another UFL vet that will be lining up under center with a solid working knowledge of many of his weapons, as well as an encouraging body of work at the spring league level. Hakeem Butler, Blake Jackson and Jahcour Pearson are Silvers' top three receivers and returning Battlehawks, which should certainly help the quarterback's cause. Meanwhile, running back Jarveon Howard, who impressed at various points last season, is back to helm the backfield and keep the defense honest.
Silvers put together a productive three-game stretch at the end of last season where he completed 13 of 18 passes for 205 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions and then going 6-for-10 for 81 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions in the playoff loss to DC in spot duty. Now enjoying a clear grip on the starting job, Silvers gets a rematch with a Defenders squad that allowed a 65.0 percent completion rate and 12:7 TD:INT last season.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jalan McClendon, CLB at ORL ($9,300)
RUNNING BACKS
Deon Jackson, DC at STL ($7,500):
Jackson was a revelation for the reigning champs last season, as the former Indianapolis Colt took the top job from Abram Smith during the first half of the season and capitalized on the opportunity. Jackson recorded double-digit DK points in six of the last eight games, including the postseason, topping out with totals of 21.6 and 27.7 in that sample.
The versatile Duke product averaged an impressive 5.0 yards per carry and added four rushing touchdowns, and although he wasn't utilized much as a receiver, he's proven amply capable of thriving in that capacity as well during his NFL days.
Jackson unsurpisingly enters the season atop the depth chart, and the Defenders offense as a whole enjoys plenty of continuity in terms of returning personnel. Therefore, it wouldn't be surprising to see him reach double-digit touches, and his explosiveness could allow him to go a long way toward delivering a strong return on investment on just a handful of plays.
Benny Snell, LOU vs. BHAM ($6,000):
Another ex-NFL back that jumps off the Week 1 page is Snell, a fourth-round pick of the NFL's Steelers back in 2019 who put together a prolific college career at Kentucky before setting into a complementary role in Pittsburgh. Snell boasts 63 games of NFL experience and 1,096 total scrimmage yards of production in that stretch, and he'll open the season atop the Kings' depth chart.
Snell is a big-bodied back that could enjoy plenty of success with red-zone/goal-line work, which naturally raises his fantasy ceiling. The Stallions have field capable defenses during their history, but Birmingham was a bit more generous last season while allowing 92 rushing yards per game and nine rushing touchdowns overall.
ALSO CONSIDER: Toa Taua, CLB at ORL ($7,700)
WIDE RECEIVERS
Hakeem Butler, STL vs. DC ($7,800):
As mentioned in Silvers' entry, Butler returns for another season as the Battlehawks' presumptive No. 1 receiver. The UFL's Offensive Player of the Year and All-UFL honors recipient in 2024 had an injury-shortened season in 2025, but Butler still averaged just over 23.0 yards per reception and scored four touchdowns on just 13 catches.
The veteran's big-play upside has been on display in all three of his spring seasons, when he's scored 17 total touchdowns in 27 games. Butler's size makes him a threat all over the field, including the red zone, and he has familiarity with Silvers from having practiced and played with him over the last two seasons. Butler carries double-digit DK-point upside any time he takes the field, making him a highly appealing option for tournaments in his very offense-conducive home environment.
Deon Cain, BHAM at LOU ($7,600):
As allued to in Corral's entry, Cain makes his return to helm the Stallions' receiving corps after putting together a combined 80-1,132-11 line across 27 games at the spring-league level dating back to his days with the USFL's Philadelphia Stars in 2022. The veteran brings no shortage of experience considering he also toiled at the NFL level for 15 games earlier in his career, and he should once again play a prominent role in Birmingham's air attack.
Cain posted 14 receptions for 212 yards and two touchdowns over the first four games of last season while primarily playing with Corral as his quarterback, so the chemistry is certainly there. Cain averaged 5.0 targets per game during the regular season before bringing in six of 11 looks for 124 yards in the playoff loss to the Defenders, and Cain should profile as one of the most secure mid-salary plays in Week 1.
Cornell Powell, DC at STL ($6,400):
Powell thrived last season following the season-ending arm injury to Ty Scott, and he finished the season with a 29-418-7 line and 14.4 yards per reception over nine games (seven starts). Powell then recorded six receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown during the Defenders' two-game postseason run to the UFL title, and he corroborated his upside by recording 18.9 to 33.4 DK points in three of his games.
A 2021 fifth-round pick of the Chiefs, Powell never got an extended opportunity at the NFL level given the depth of Kansas City's offense, but he's already proven he has plenty to offer at the spring league level. While Scott is back in the fold this season, Chris Rowland and his 7.1 targets per game are now in Orlando with the Storm, which should open up plenty of big-play opportunities for Powell with a quarterback he knows well in Jordan Ta'amu.
ALSO CONSIDER: Tyler Vaughns, ARL vs. HOU ($7,500)
FLEX
Lucky Jackson (WR), LOU vs. BHAM ($6,600)
Jackson made plenty of waves with the Defenders back in 2023, when he recorded a 36-572-5 line over 10 games. That helped earn him an NFL opportunity with the Vikings over the next three seasons, although he appeared in just three regular-season games in that span without recording any statistics. The talented wideout is now back for another run in the spring league after undoubtedly having gained some valuable experience.
Jackson will serve as a starting wideout while working with Jason Bean, who flashed some playmaking ability during his college days at North Texas and Kansas and finished his amateur career with 7,313 total scrimmage yards and 69 total touchdowns. Bean has a nice deep ball and Jackson has plenty of ability to make plays downfield, making the veteran receiver an intriguing mid-salary option at the Flex spot to open the campaign.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jashaun Corbin, ORL vs. CLB (RB) ($7,000)
TEAM DEFENSE
Columbus Aviators at Orlando Storm ($3,800): Team defense is a tough play this week given the high degree of uncertainty around each team's unit. While offenses, particularly those with new pieces, will naturally take some time to gel, the same can certainly be true for defenses to an extent. Nevertheless, we'll look to take a chance on the Aviators, who are facing a fellow relocated team in the Storm. Jack Plummer has beaten out Dorian Thompson-Robinson for the starting quarterback job for Orlando, and while the latter would have been an ideal signal-caller to target with a defense due to his ball-security issues, Plummer may not be that much more effective. The Purdue product threw 31 interceptions during his college career while also taking 96 sacks in a 47-game period that included 39 starts. Moreover, he committed 14 fumbles and lost six of them, adding further fuel to the belief that the Aviators' defense could rack up some production to open the season.
