2023 XFL Draft

The XFL 2023 draft pool consists of 1,700 players that are eligible.[2][3] Of those, 528 players will advance to the preseason rosters.[4][5]

XFL personnel have evaluated nearly 6,000 players[6] in seven XFL showcases:[7][8][9] Washington, D.C. (College Park, MD),[10] HBCU (Jackson, MS),[11] Florida (Bradenton, FL),[12] Arizona (Tempe, AZ),[13] Hawaii (Honolulu, HI),[14] Texas (Arlington, TX) and "supplemental showcase" for players on the "XFL waitlist" in San Diego, CA, which was run by American National Combines (ANC).[15] The league also held a separate "Specialist Showcase" run by Nick Novak's Novak Kicking & Consulting.[16]

Selected players who participated in XFL showcases were given a "Player Pool Invitation" which was an official invitation to the 2023 draft.[17] XFL personnel also evaluated and invited players from NFL training camps and tryouts.[18] Players from 2020 XFL season were giving an automatic entry into the league’s draft pool.[19] International players were excluded, since the league was ineligible to seek P visas for players from outside the United States.[20]

The 2023 XFL Draft followed the same basic layout as the 2020 XFL Draft: starting quarterbacks will be allocated in a separate process and revealed November 15, while the remaining positions will be separated by position.[1][21] It followed a "snake" format, with each position phase following a random order set prior to the draft, and that order reversing between odd and even rounds of the phase.[22][23]

• November 15
  • Phase 0: Quarterbacks—2 rounds
• November 16
  • Phase 1: offensive skill positions (running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends)—11 rounds
  • Phase 2: defensive backs (cornerbacks and safeties)—11 rounds
  • Phase 3: defensive front seven players (defensive linemen and linebackers)—11 rounds
  • Phase 4: offensive linemen (offensive tackles, guards, and centers)—11 rounds
• November 17
  • Phase 5: special teams (kicking players, long snappers)—3 rounds
  • Phase 6: open draft (any position)—11 rounds

A supplemental draft was held on January 1, 2023 to allow players who were obligated to another league at the time of the November draft (this included players from the 2022 USFL season who signed before a loophole in the league's reserve clause was closed, as well as players on National Football League practice squad) to join the league.[4]

Teams did not have any reserve rights to any players they had employed in 2020, and thus all of the league's roster spots will be filled by way of the draft or the supplemental draft. Also, there were no territorial or college rights.

Reference[24][25][26]