4 Takeaways: UFL Week 5

At the midpoint of the 2026 UFL season, a familiar face has helped his team surge to the top spot of the league standings: DC Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu.

The 2025 UFL Championship Game MVP, Ta’amu completed 15 of 22 passes (68.2%) for 275 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Defenders’ 48-28 victory over the Birmingham Stallions (1-4) this past weekend.

Coupled with the Orlando Storm (4-1) suffering their first loss of the season — a 25-17 loss to the St. Louis Battlehawks (3-2) — the Defenders are now tied atop the UFL standings.

Standout wide receiver Ty Scott led the Defenders with three receptions for 84 yards and two touchdowns. After scoring just 10 points in a season-opening loss at St. Louis, the Defenders have averaged 40.5 points per game.

“I love our offense and the way [offensive coordinator Fred] Kaiss calls our plays and dials it up,” Ta’amu said. “We go week in and week out game planning our opponents, and we do a great job of finding our matchups.”

Elsewhere, the Houston Gamblers (2-3) earned their second win of the season in a 17-13 victory over the Columbus Aviators (1-4), and the Louisville Kings (2-3) manhandled the Dallas Renegades (3-2) to close things out, 47-25.

Here are my takeaways from Week 5 of the UFL:

1. Chandler Rogers leads Kings to win in first UFL start

Cal product Rogers got his first start over the weekend, with the Kings having traded former starter Jason Bean to the reigning champion Defenders. Rogers didn’t post jaw-dropping numbers, but he was efficient (13 of 18 for 150 yards, zero touchdowns and zero turnovers). He also ran for 22 yards. The Kings leaned on the running game to protect Rogers, totaling 147 yards and four scores on the ground. 

That was not the case for the league’s leading passer in Renegades QB Austin Reed, who finished with a season-high four interceptions in his team’s second loss in a row. That number could’ve ended up being even higher if Dallas head coach Rick Neuheisel hadn’t replaced Reed with wide receiver Greg Ward Jr. at quarterback late in the fourth quarter. With QB Luis Perez being traded to the Battlehawks, Ward served as the backup for Reed in this game. Ward started at quarterback in college at Houston, throwing for 3,557 yards and 22 touchdowns in his final season for the Cougars. 

The Kings had just one interception entering Sunday’s contest, but they turned Reed’s four turnovers into 27 points, including two returned for scores. Louisville defensive back Corey Mayfield Jr. finished with two of those picks. The Kings also totaled 5.0 sacks. 

“Austin had a rough day, no need to compound that, and I wanted to show the league that Greg Ward is a quarterback,” Neuheisel said postgame. “He went 6-for-7. The guy’s a player.”

2. HC Anthony Becht loses to old team; Storm fall to surging Battlehawks

Becht was at the helm for St. Louis for the past three seasons but moved to Orlando to take on a new challenge this year. The Storm had their hands full when facing Becht’s former team, including his former coach in now-St. Louis head coach Ricky Proehl, for the first time this season. Specifically, Orlando’s offense, led by one of the league’s best passers in QB Jack Plummer, was held scoreless in the first half and totaled just 29 total yards. The Battlehawks held Orlando to 211 total yards. At 3-2, St. Louis is the only team with wins over the league leaders in DC and Orlando.

Any extra motivation for Proehl facing Becht?

“No, I’ve got so much respect for Coach Becht and that staff,” Proehl said. “I’ve been with a lot of them since 2023, and I know what kind of football character he coaches and what kind of players he has. And they take on his personality.”

St. Louis QB Harrison Frost finished with two interceptions but also threw for 185 yards, completing passes to nine different players.

Birmingham’s trade to acquire Thompson-Robinson to help ignite its offense led to mixed results. With only a couple of days to learn the playbook, the UCLA product completed 65.1% of his passes for 312 passing yards and two touchdowns. However, he also threw two interceptions, as the Stallions fell to 1-4 and are now on the brink of missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.  

“The preparation is there,” head coach AJ McCarron said about his new quarterback. “He competed his ass off. I’m super proud of him. He just had some bad luck on a couple plays. You clean those up, and it’s a different ball game.”

4. Kings OLB Cam Gill is UFL’s sack leader

With five games left, Gill is tops in the league with 5.5 sacks, followed by Houston defensive end Malik Fisher (4.5). 

Other league leaders include Louisville linebacker Jaheim Thomas and Columbus linebacker Tony Fields II, who are tied for the UFL lead with 40 combined tackles.

DC’s Deon Jackson is tops in both rushing yards (267) and rushing touchdowns (five). Last year’s leader in all-purpose yards, Orlando wideout Chris Rowland, is once again leading the league with 525 total yards. 

Dallas defensive back Shaun Wade leads the league with three interceptions, while Renegades receiver Tyler Vaughns is tops in the league in receiving yards (399) and receiving touchdowns (five). 

Kings kicker Tanner Brown leads the UFL in field goal percentage (93%), making 14 of 15 so far with a long of 59.

4 ½: What’s Next

In Week 6, things kick off on Thursday evening with the Battlehawks facing the Kings. There’s one game the next night, with the Gamblers taking on the Aviators on FOX UFL Friday. The Defenders are playing host to the Renegades on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Stallions hitting the road to take on the Storm on Sunday to close things out.

[UFL 2026: Full Regular-Season Schedules, Results for All 8 Teams]