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I know we get talk about Alabama vs whoever the worst NFL team is, but what about Alabama vs an XFL team?


Bolts223

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I still lean towards the XFL team winning but I do think it would be closer.

Clemson, Alabama and LSU certainly have players that would be better than anyone on an XFL roster.

But they would also have players that would be worse than anyone on an XFL roster. 

Thoughts?

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Too early for me to tell. Today is still an exhibition, if anything - the XFL looks fun, but these teams have been practicing for a month and have no film on each other. I don't think we're seeing everything they have yet.

I'm leaning the college teams would win. But, that's a very, very early take.

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I’ve only seen the 2 teams playing right now. Alabama would murder either one. I haven’t seen one guy on this field who was even close to being an all-American. I’ve only seen 2 offensive linemen I recognize and one was a garbage Dlineman. And this QB Kanoff is holy **** bad.

 I think people have rightfully dismissed the Bama vs worst NFL argument so many times that they’re not thinking this through 

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6 hours ago, SkippyX said:

Alabama did not beat a real college team this year, so I think the answer is XFL team.

You're missing the point of the argument.

Replace Alabama with "LSU" for this season if you really want.

The question is, can ANY College team beat an XFL Team. I'm going to give a hot take and say maybe as many as a half dozen could.

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7 hours ago, ET80 said:

Too early for me to tell. Today is still an exhibition, if anything - the XFL looks fun, but these teams have been practicing for a month and have no film on each other. I don't think we're seeing everything they have yet.

I'm leaning the college teams would win. But, that's a very, very early take.

Ditto. The XFL is full of NFL rejects, while the best NCAA team probably has a few players that will stick in the league. XFL coaching is definitely below high end NCAA tier. Arguments could be made either way though, where its much harder for college vs. pros.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_College_All-Star_Game

This is the starting baseline to look at. Obviously there are some differences but it sets a good barometer.

I'd say these XFL teams probably aren't too far off the early NFL champion teams in terms of where the roster was in regards to how they played as collegiate players. The best still weren't really going pro. On the flip side this is a college all star team which is necessarily better than any individual team. You also obviously are dealing with a different game at the time where it was so run dependent that size was maybe even a bigger factor then than now. College players are also more advanced now than they were then because there is far more training in their younger years.

Still how many players that beasted in college do nothing in the pros? And how many that do succeed still took time to get there. These XFL rosters are still going to be guys that are just below NFL quality. Even the guys that sucked in the league were still good enough to get the oppurtunity.

I have to think the XFL team would win most of the time, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a college team winning or at least competing.

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6 hours ago, mse326 said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_College_All-Star_Game

This is the starting baseline to look at. Obviously there are some differences but it sets a good barometer.

I'd say these XFL teams probably aren't too far off the early NFL champion teams in terms of where the roster was in regards to how they played as collegiate players. The best still weren't really going pro. On the flip side this is a college all star team which is necessarily better than any individual team. You also obviously are dealing with a different game at the time where it was so run dependent that size was maybe even a bigger factor then than now. College players are also more advanced now than they were then because there is far more training in their younger years.

Still how many players that beasted in college do nothing in the pros? And how many that do succeed still took time to get there. These XFL rosters are still going to be guys that are just below NFL quality. Even the guys that sucked in the league were still good enough to get the oppurtunity.

I have to think the XFL team would win most of the time, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a college team winning or at least competing.

And a few guys in the XFL didn't necessarily suck their way out of the NFL. Some of them just had an injury or two not go their way, and didn't have the necessary college pedigree or extensive history to get someone to take a chance on them. Guys like Eli Rogers, Rashad Ross, and Nelson Spruce, who by all accounts played very well in the pre-season and when given an opportunity during the regular season.

 

Nelson Spruce played some terrific football for the Rams through training camp and the pre-season. He owned the Pac-12 career receptions record. He STILL owns plenty of Colorado records over guys like Laviska Shenault. He had multiple season-ending injuries, though, and wasn't a high investment, so his team moved on from him. 

But, you have situations where there's a guy like Rashad Ross, who played well on special teams and looked nice on limited offensive snaps during the regular season, had glowing reports during training camp, and enjoyed a productive pre-season for the Redskins. What happened? The Redskins' front office wanted to keep their jobs. They made bad investments like a first round pick in Josh Doctson or tons of money for Paul Richardson, and they kept those guys on the roster instead of Ross, because those guys were high investments and Ross wasn't. Simple as that.

Eli Rogers played very well for the Steelers in a slot role, but he was a FA before Antonio Brown was traded, and then the Steelers had guys like JuJu, James Washington, Diontae Johnson, and Donte Moncrief who were either more proven or higher investments.

Because, realistically, if you're a team, your first-round pick is going to make the roster over a good depth guy, barring an extreme screw-up by the first-rounder. Same goes for a prized free agent signing. And if you have a player with multiple season-ending injuries in a row, you're moving on from them unless they're a pro-bowler (but teams still move on from them sometimes), a franchise QB (and let's face it, the Skins moved on from Alex Smith; he's not a bad football player), or a young, high draft pick. 

And even if you're one of the teams that brings these guys in as a FA, you're probably investing significantly at their positions. Which means that they'll have a steep climb to make the team over the high draft picks and whoever the established vets are at the position, unless the team is completely bare at a position, such as the Vikings WR room, which allowed a later draft pick like Diggs to maintain his playing time and an unheralded UDFA like Adam Thielen to get a starting spot. They still tried to make Laquon Treadwell a starter over one of those guys. He just was awful at football, and those guys held on for dear life and managed to avoid injury. 

Life is tough for later round or UDFAs, and some of them are genuinely good football players, but everything has to break right for them to get a legitimate shot on most teams. The XFL is a chance for those guys to get their shot.

Edited by HoboRocket
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