The 2023 USFL season will be the second season of what is now the new version of the league. For this new edition, the teams have the best quarterbacks available.
The defending champions of the first season were the Birmingham Stallions, they reached the championship game thanks to their starting quarterback J’Mar Smith who will be the starter in the 2023 season.
Aside from the starters, most USFL teams have a couple of backup quarterbacks in case their starter is injured during the season.
Starting Quarterbacks Predictions for the 2023 USFL season
Kyle Lauletta (New Jersey Generals): He started two games in the 2022 USFL season, although Dakota Prukop (second option), De’Andre Johnson (third option) have experience playing in the ace pro players it is very likely that Lauletta will be the starter for the 2023 season due to his little prior experience with the Generals.
James Morgan (Pittsburgh Maulers): Back in Pittsburgh after a short stint with the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad in 2022. Morgan has extensive experience with multiple NFL practice squads. This will be his second stint with the Maulers.
Case Cookus (Philadelphia Stars): Even though Vad Lee (second option) had a 2022 season with 1,000+ passing yards it is unlikely that he will be the starter as Cookus threw a little more yards and had 12 TD and only 5 INT , on the other hand Vad Lee posted 6 TD and 6 INT.
J’Mar Smith (Birmingham Stallions): Last season was perfect for Smith, the odds of him being the starter for the 2023 season are high, plus Stallions’ head coach Skip Holtz has the winning strategy adapted with Smith. The backup quarterbacks are Jalen Morton and Alex McGough.
Carson Strong (Michigan Panthers): He was part of the team during the first season, now that Shea Patterson is gone he could be the starting quarterback since it is very likely that he knows the playbook much better than Josh Love.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson (New Orleans Breakers): Kyle Sloter is gone, he was the starter during the 2022 season for the Breakers, but with Bethel-Thompson things could be even better than they were with Sloter since Bethel-Thompson Experience is long and well known in the Canadian Football League where he played 6 seasons with the Toronto Argonauts and won two Gray Cups (CFL’s ‘Super Bowl’).
Ryan Willis (Memphis Showboats): Among all the quarterbacks in the Willis team, he has the most experience as a professional. In 2022 he played with the St. Louis Battlehawks (XFL) and in 2021 he was part of the Chicago Bears’ practice squad and active roster.
Montell Cozart (Houston Gamblers): During the USFL’s first season, Cozart played for the defending champion Birmingham Stallion but he was not a defining player during the season. His best experience was in the Canadian Football League playing for the Calgary Stampeders where he won a Gray Cup.