AAF Report: Chargers Amongst Most Improved NFL Teams
News & Notes From Around The World of Football, Buckle Up.
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ALL ACCESS FOOTBALL REPORT 5/7/25
The football calendar brings year-round excitement and All Access Football is here to cover it all. On this seventh day of May, we currently stand 108 days away from the kickoff of NCAA college football and 120 days from National Football League kickoff. Currently, the United Football League is entering the Week 7 stretch run, while the Indoor Football League is in full throttle and the Canadien Football League is reporting for training camp duties as we speak.
It seemed like a good week to bring back the ‘World Famous All Access Football Report,’ where we track the top teams and performers from across professional football. Starting today and every Wednesday, we will deliver updated rankings from the various leagues.
[Catch Ric Serritella on SIRIUSXM Channel 159 every Tuesday at 11pm-hour two]
With the NFL offseason in the books and rookie minicamps underway, our latest NFL Power Rankings lean towards the Washington Commanders (NFC) and Los Angeles Chargers (AFC) as the two organizations that have improved themselves the most.
In the UFL, it has been a balance of powers, as rotating quarterbacks, injuries and coaching turnover has provided plenty of turbulence, along with a weekly sense of unpredictability, which has made for an entertaining overall product. The Birmingham Stallions have won three consecutive spring league championships but the Michigan Panthers could be gelling at the right time!
If you love football and the pleasant pop-up surprise of ‘insert notable collegiate star here,’ then we encourage you to tune-in to the IFL. You are bound to see something new each week and the scoring drives provide more fireworks than the Fourth of July.
NFL POWER RANKINGS
The NFL offseason has come and gone, while rookie minicamps have begun. It’s time to assess how free agency and the draft have shaped the top of the NFL landscape. It’s true, the Super Bowl champion Eagles did lose quite a bit of ammunition but they were able to sustain enough of their core to be fit for another deep run. So long that Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are paired together in Kansas City, it would appear that the Chiefs have a shot every year. Could this be the year that the Baltimore Ravens or Buffalo Bills can finally get over the hump? Or, will we see a new contender rise in the ranks such as the Chargers, who have done as much as anyone to rebuild the franchise over the past two seasons. Meanwhile, the Commanders have seemed to push all the right buttons and would appear to be on the brink of contention, as they look to join the likes of the Rams and Lions for the right to represent the NFC.
RANK || TEAM
Philadelphia Eagles
Kansas City Chiefs
Washington Commanders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Detroit Lions
Denver Broncos
Cincinnati Bengals
NFL QUARTERBACK RANKINGS
The stats may not say it but Patrick Mahomes is still the best quarterback on the planet. Nobody does more with less and while the Chiefs fell just short of the three-peat, getting there alone was quite the feat in itself. One key stat that does matter is Mahomes’ dominant 4-0 postseason record over Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. A closer look at the most important position in sports reveals that few Super Bowl champion starting quarterbacks remain in the NFL. The Aaron Rodgers saga in Pittsburgh remains an abyss, while Russell Wilson has become a placeholder for New York Giants first round pick Jaxson Dart. Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Hurts just earned his first ring, while 37-year old Matthew Stafford gives the Los Angeles Rams a chance to win on any given Sunday.
RANK || PLAYER || TEAM
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
Josh Allen, Bills
Lamar Jackson, Ravens
Joe Burrow, Bengals
Jalen Hurts, Eagles
Matthew Stafford, Rams
Jayden Daniels, Commanders
Justin Herbert, Chargers
Brock Purdy, 49ers
Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers
UFL POWER RANKINGS
It has been a widely unpredictable, topsy-turvy kind of season for the United Football League. The defending UFL champions (and two-time USFL champion) Birmingham Stallions keep finding ways to win behind head coach Skip Holtz. Birmingham has seen four quarterbacks go down to injury during action but the winning ways remain, as they sit atop our power rankings. Lookout for the Michigan Panthers! Led by MVP candidate Bryce Perkins and gutsy runner Toa Taua, the upstart Panthers are the hottest team in the league right now. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Battlehawks have overcome the streaky play from quarterback Max Duggan due to the tremendous leadership provided by head coach Anthony Becht. The DC Defenders are still in the hunt, despite their recent beatdown at the hands of the Panthers this past week. There are still four weeks of regular season play remaining, plus playoff action, with several players who could garner NFL attention following the season. In Week 6 of UFL play, TV ratings averaged 645,000 viewers per game, up from 505,000 per game in Week 5, according to Mike Mitchell.
RANK || TEAM || RECORD
Birmingham Stallions (4-2)
Michigan Panthers (4-2)
St. Louis Battlehawks (4-2)
DC Defenders (4-2)
Arlington Renegades (3-3)
Houston Roughnecks (3-3)
Memphis Showboats (1-5)
San Antonio Brahmas (1-5)
UFL QUARTERBACK RANKINGS
From Alex McGough, to Matt Corrall, then Case Cookus and Andrew Peasley, the Birmingham infirmity report reads like a grocery list. The Stallions could be forced to turn to J’Mar Smith this week, who was brought out of retirement. After toiling around on the Los Angeles Rams practice squad for three seasons, quarterback Bryce Perkins stepped away from football for a year to get involved with some very successful business ventures. The love of the game pulled him back in this season and Perkins has been rewarded with the Panthers starting role, a job that took several weeks to officially secure. Also stuck in Rams quarterback purgatory was Dresser Winn who is still feeling his way in Memphis but has shown huge signs of delivering. The ‘King of the Spring,’ Luis Perez was of to a hot start but has since simmered, while DC quarterback Jordan Ta’amu was playing the best football of his career until this past week. Remarkably, Houston signal-caller Jalan McClendon just made his seventh career start since high school, despite his 30th birthday being just a few months away. That is what you call dedication and love for the game!
RANK || PLAYER || SCHOOL
Bryce Perkins, Michigan
Dresser Winn, Memphis
Luis Perez, Arlington
Jordan Ta’amu, DC
Jalan McClendon, Houston
Max Duggan, St. Louis
Nolan Henderson, Houston
Kellen Mond, San Diego
Alex McGough, Birmingham
Matt Corral, Birmingham
IFL POWER RANKINGS
The Indoor Football League has emerged as the premier arena football league in the world and has established an exciting, high-scoring, fan-friendly brand of football. The top pro prospect over the past two years has been wide receiver/kick return extraordinaire Quian Williams (Buffalo Bulls) of the Iowa Barnstormers. He would be an upgrade as a return man for several CFL teams and would be well worth an NFL training camp invite. One player who impressed us on the scouting trails a year ago who has since turned up in the IFL is Sal Lupoli Jr. of the Massachusetts Sharks. The all-time tackles leader (387) in Bentley history, Lupoli Jr. has had no problem making his mark early on with the Sharks. We will continue to monitor some of the top IFL standouts who seek next level opportunities. That is a big reason why the All Access Football platform exists. If you ever get a chance to make it out to a local IFL game, it’ll be well worth the experience and is highly recommended! Tulsa recently drew nearly 15,000 fans.
RANK || TEAM || RECORD
Quad City Steamwheelers (6-0)
Bay Area Panthers (4-1)
Arizona Rattlers (4-1)
Tulsa Oilers (3-2)
Vegas Knight Hawks (3-2)
Jacksonville Sharks (4-2)
Massachusetts Pirates (2-3)
San Diego Strike Force (2-3)
Tucson Sugar Skulls (2-3)
Green Bay Blizzard (3-4)
IFL QUARTERBACK RANKINGS
It has been year-over-year improvement for Tulsa dual-threat TJ Edwards, who has accounted for a whopping 26 touchdowns through his first five games. He has linked with former New York Jets legend Marvin Jones (Florida State), who is head coach of the Oilers and are legit championship contenders. With CFL training camp set to begin, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a team north of the border attempt to poach Edwards from ‘The Lone Star State.’ Green Bay Blizzard quarterback Max Meylor is tough in the pocket, a quick decision-maker and accurate with the ball. He starred at DIII Wisconsin-Whitewater and has been a steady IFL performer. Finding his way inside the arena is Tuscan Suga Skulls signal-caller Jorge Reyna (Fresno State), whose play has been impressive of late.
RANK || PLAYER || TEAM
TJ Edwards, Tulsa
Max Meylor, Green Bay
Jorge Reyna, Tuscan
Dalton Sneed, Arizona
Kenji Bahar, Massachusetts
Malik Henry, San Antonio
Kaleb Barker, Jacksonville
Nate Davis, San Diego
Jayden De Laura, Las Vegas
James Cahoon, Iowa
CFL POWER RANKINGS
The 112th Grey Cup will be held on November 16, 2025 in Winnipeg but the journey begins now. As you read this message, players are reporting at the nine various training camp locations across Canada from BC-to-Montreal. Fueled by assistant general manager John Murphy, the defending champion Toronto Argonauts added their 19th Grey Cup to the trophy case last season and enter as the favorites once again. Few teams work the waiver wire as well as Montreal general manager Danny Maciocia, as he has the Alouettes locked in one of the supreme organizations. In Hamilton, a new front office regime is in tact behind general manager Ted Goveia, as optimism is high for the Ti-Cats. While age and kinks have started to show, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers should never be counted out, as assistant general manager Danny McManus never leaves a stone unturned.
RANK || PLAYER || TEAM
Toronto Argonauts
Montreal Alouettes
Hamilton Tiger Cats
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
BC Lions
Ottawa Redblacks
Edmonton Elks
Calgary Stampeders
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Atlantic Schooners
CFL QUARTERBACK RANKINGS
It was a season filled with turmoil for 2023 Most Outstanding Player Chad Kelly, who started the season with a nine game suspension and suffered a gruesome leg injury during the CFL playoffs. The Argonauts are expecting to have Kelly back for training camp after he broke the tibia and fibula bones last November. While health questions remain, Kelly is the finest quarterback in the league, when healthy. A well-accomplished gunslinger, Vernon Adams Jr. is hoping that a fresh start in Calgary can help jumpstart him towards his first career Grey Cup. He can really air it out and should help turn around the state of the Stampeders, who also signed journeyman PJ Walker to groom as a backup. Taking over the full-time reins for Adams Jr. in BC will be Nathan Rourke, who appeared to be rusty in his return up north after bouncing around several NFL practice squads the past two seasons. In fact, there was plenty of musical chairs this offseason, as Cody Fajardo goes from Montreal-to-Edmonton to backup Tre Ford and McLeod Bethel-Thompson was dealt from Edmonton-to-Montreal to be the backup for Davis Alexander. All of whom are sure to be called on at some point during the season.
RANK || PLAYER || TEAM
Chad Kelly, Toronto
Vernon Adams Jr., Calgary
Bo Levi Mitchell, Hamilton
Nathan Rourke, BC
Trevor Harris, Saskatchewan
Zach Collaros, Winnipeg
McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Montreal
Davis Alexander, Montreal
Tre Ford, Edmonton
Dru Brown, Ottawa