Former Bronco QB Leads Pack of Midwest College Football XFL Players
Former Western Michigan University quarterback Kaleb Eleby was selected by the Houston Roughnecks in this year's XFL Draft. Eleby was one of two Broncos picked and they weren't the only players from the midwest.
Players from Indiana, Purdue, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Michigan, and many more schools within the midwest had former football players taken in the XFL draft. There were players selected from colleges ranging from Division I to Division III in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
Michigan Men
Kaleb Eleby and Quentin Dormady were the only quarterbacks selected from the midwest, but several teams chose to dip their hands into the pot of athletes in the mitten state as well. There were players selected from Ferris State, Michigan State, Wayne State, Michigan, Central Michigan, and Eastern Michigan along with Western Michigan.
There were two offensive linemen taken, one from Ferris State and the other from Western Michigan. Three wide receivers were taken, one each from Wayne State, Eastern Michigan, and Central Michigan. There were two defensive backs taken, one each from Michigan and Michigan State. Lastly, there were three defensive linemen taken, two from Michigan State and one from Ferris state.
Indiana Injection
Indiana had a fair share of athletes chosen in the XFL draft as well, Purdue easily leads the way with four players and is the only school in Indiana with more than one athlete drafted. The first running back featured is from Notre Dame and is the only back chosen from Indiana.
There were three wide receivers drafted two from Purdue and one from Indiana. There was one defensive back from Ball State, who joins Drew Plitt, a quarterback taken by the Arlington Renegade. Then there were two tight ends taken from Marian and Notre Dame. Lastly, there was one defensive lineman and two offensive linemen all selected from Purdue.
Illinois Invasion
There were only five players in total drafted from the state of Illinois, led by both Western and Southern Illinois which both had two athletes selected. They each had a defensive back drafted, Southern Illinois had an offensive lineman while Western Illinois had a defensive lineman selected as well.
The Univesity of Illinois was the only other school to be involved in the XFL. They were lucky enough to have one linebacker chosen to take his football talents to the next level and represent the Fighting Illini.
Ohio Overkill
Ohio, who's no stranger to football and sending players to the pros, as they tied with Michigan for the midwest states as they had 11 players selected in this year's XFL draft. No quarterbacks were taken but they did have seven different positions selected from seven different schools.
There was one offensive lineman, running back, and wide receiver drafted from Ohio, they attended Akron, Ohio, and Heidelberg respectively. There were also three defensive backs and defensive linemen chosen, Dayton had a defensive back, Ohio State had a defensive lineman, and Miami (OH), and Cincinnati had one of each. Lastly, Cincinnati had two linebackers drafted and had the most players selected with four.
The entire results of the 2023 XFL Draft can be found here.