u/Pitiful_Ad8641

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Welp, that's a big kick in the nuts. Not just because I’m a DC fan but as a UFL fan I really wanted Jordan to break TD record. His injury highlights the real need for this next generation of spring football QBs to establish themselves.

We have lots of movement on the mountain this week. Who fell? Who climbed? Let’s find out.

To the mountain!

Still Off:  Houston, Reed
Reed is getting TDs but his team desperately needs a W and a pedestrian % isn’t going to get it for them. Had Dekkers kept the offense going in the 2nd half, he was on pace to make the climb. Alas he didn’t and St. Louis could have comeback. 

Falls off:   Ta’amu + McLendon
Everyone raise a glass for Ta’amu. Idk if he comes back next year but to be so close to breaking the TD record stings. Very glad he got his ring and title MVP. McLendon falls because at some point ya gotta throw downfield my man and look before you just throw a screen!

Basecamp: Rogers +Perez+ DTR
Perez falls thanks to his pick 6 that was the difference in the game. St. Louis needs him to just avoid mistakes exactly like that. Rogers and DTR stay where they are. Both have established themselves as starters but haven’t yet ripped a wow game to get to the next level. Making the playoffs for either would help.

Summit Camp: VACANT
Why do a pyramid? This is why. We have other QB power rankings in this sub, they’re great, go and support the time it requires to make such posts. Who’s the real #2 QB in the league now that Ta’amu is hurt? 

Summit: Plummer
Plummer rises on account of Ta’amu getting hurt and is a solid bet for your ‘26 MVP at this rate.
With just one INT all year, that's pretty dang impressive.

Before we look ahead to this week’s nominees, let’s first look back on last week’s group to see how they did:

Last Week: Renegades + Louis Perez + Birmingham + DC Ball Control
Rough week for my faith. Renegades saw another season virtually end in a collapse for the second season in a row. If they start out hot again next year, how could we trust them? DC Ball Control was just as bad. Did ya’ll just miss me believing in you? Louis Perez threw a pick six that turned out to be the difference in the game.

My sole bright shining beacon of success was a 14-3 victory by the Stallions in a hot Birmingham. Score just 14 pts in the playoffs and see how that works out for ya horse people?

Now for my nominees for this week:

The Weather:
Look mate, we’ve got enough trouble filling seats as is. We don’t need the crap you pulled in Birmingham Sunday where it was hot af. Just chill, maybe sit these next few weeks out. I believe in you!

Anthony Becht:
You got your team hosting a playoff game at the moment with your spot locked down. But we’ve hosted playoff games like twice already and both times it ended in a L? New market, new team, better vibes right? RIGHT? Spend these next two weeks getting fully prepared, treat these two games like a live scrimmage, I wouldn’t even be mad if you lost one. No reason. I believe in you!

Chandler Rogers:
When Louisville won its first game and celebrated by trading away its QB1 in Jason Bean, I was perplexed. But everyone is celebrating the intangibles you brought in all the sideline interviews and you got this team red hot. Keep it up these next few weeks and make the playoffs. I believe in you!

Jason Bean: Speaking of Bean, what’s going on with you my man? DC traded for you, yet you weren’t the first QB out there after Ta’amu went down? That means they ain’t feeling you entirely on the practice field yet. Get it together and get out there. I believe in you!

Before we look ahead to this week’s nominees, let’s first look back on last week’s group to see how they did:

Last Week: Columbus + Jalen McClendon + AJ McCarron + Shannon “The Amateur" Harris
Columbus lost. Jalen McClendon didn’t fumble though! AJ McCarron’s squad not only wasn’t blown out but won and is right back in the playoff race. Shannon “The Amateur" Harris needed to just beat a losing team at home to clinch the playoffs. That was cute. Lose again this week and we’re going to have problems.

Reader Nominated: Columbus again
With one of the new markets essentially eliminated, it’ll be curious to see how its attendance holds up.

Now for my nominees for this week:

Renegades: It’s now or  never in '26 man. Doesn’t matter if it’s by an inch, you fight for that inch and get the W. I believe in you!

Louis Perez: You’re playing a team St. Louis crushed 31-6 without you. So clearly you won’t need to do much. Just keep shaking off the rust and guide this team to the playoffs where they may actually need you to ball out. I believe in you!

Birmingham: 2 win streak and arguably the softest opponent you’ve faced in more than a month. This is not a spot to get cocky though and you’re very much still fighting for your playoff lives. Go out there and get this settled early. I believe in you!

DC Ball Control: The only way we lose at home like that is by turning the ball over like we did in the 2nd half. Get it together this week. I believe in you!

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The Return of the “King"! I’ll be honest, it’s been very weird all year doing this without Perez. I emphasize career accomplishments vs weekly performance in this but never mentioning the guy with the arguably richest tapestry was awkward.

Besides Perez, we have additional movement on the mountain this week. Who fell? Who climbed? Let’s find out.

To the mountain!

Still Off:  Houston
That game was winnable at the end but the QB missed open throws. When it’s winning time, that’s when a QB trying to make my mountain needs to buck up, not fade away. 

Falls off:  Reed
Reed falls off. Yes, he has the record breaking start to his UFL career in his back pocket but part of this Dallas slump has to be attributed to his inability to make those dynamic plays we saw earlier from him. 

Basecamp: McLendon + DTR + Rogers
Rogers had a good day and gets back on the mountain. 

DTR had a low % but stays on the mountain with his two TD passes.

McLendon remains on here. He didn’t fumble and not his fault the Columbus OC thought it best to run early against St. Louis’ Front 7.

Summit Camp: Plummer + Perez
Was Perez the best QB of the weekend? Probably not. But he’s back on + climbing because that was an impressive debut regardless and now the race for milestones with Ta’amu becomes fun. Welcome back!

Plummer has been consistent for a good majority of the year and does just enough every week to get Orlando to the finish line.

Summit: Ta’amu
Ta’amu had a less than average day, thus he should fall right? Except I wrote last week: “Regardless, a below average Ta’amu game incoming, I bet one of these next two games. “ Classic 1. He stays where he is because minus MAYBE Perez, no one else has the tapestry.

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Late last night, a prestigious and exclusive committee met at a Cousin’s sub shop, with one member fresh off of a red eye from Orlando to Milwaukee. There they fought and toiled and burned the midnight oil. It is my honor and PRIVILEGE to present to you this week’s edition of The Committee’s Tiers:

Eliminated: Columbus + Houston
The Committee has its first two eliminations from the ‘26 tiers! While both of these two teams aren’t mathematically eliminated, we feel that both these team’s seasons are realistically over.

Collapsed AGAIN: Dallas
Reminder: this team started 3-1. Reminder: they did this last year too. Now they need two teams above them to lose. 

Last Spot: Louisville + Birmingham 
The playoff chase these last three weeks are going to be compelling which is great for the league. These two teams have the inside track 

Somehow Adult Table: Orlando
A very infuriating game to watch for us was Sunday night’s Orlando-Houston game. Orlando lets these teams hang around and then pulls out a W. If Houston’s QB could hit 2 throws, very likely Houston wins. This team needs to close out wins or they’ll run into a team in the postseason that can and will.

The Title Game: St. Louis + DC
The league is secretly hoping that these two teams are on opposite ends of the bracket. The storylines almost write themselves. Two of the main franchises, rivals, Ta’amu vs Perez 2 for the Spring King of the Era title etc. Give us this game to cap the season off.

Before we look ahead to this week’s nominees, let’s first look back on last week’s group to see how they did:

Last Week: Louisville + UFL Schedule Makers: + Pat McAfee + DC Defense 

3 pts Louisville, c’mon man! What a letdown from blowing out Dallas last week. Speaking of Dallas, DC’s defense got the rout going in earnest with a pick that DC cashed in for points.

DC enters a new time in their schedule where we face Louisville for two weeks and then Orlando twice. I was skeptical but I’ve come to like this as a way to build rivalries with these new teams.

It’s only been a day (when I wrote this) Pat, don’t get cocky. 

Reader Nominated: Dallas + Columbus.

Columbus saved their season by avenging last week. Dallas, on the other hand, put theirs in jeopardy by losing in horrific fashion. 

Now for my nominees for this week:

Columbus: The league needs you to string some wins together and make this playoff race interesting. It starts against St. Louis, which is going to be tough with that front. With the power of my faith though, anything is possible so: I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Jalen McClendon: Could we just not with the fumbling this week? Please? I believe in you! 

AJ McCarron: A week ago, everyone was trashing your coaching. Turns out, it could be worse in the game management department? You’re at home, again, facing an imploding Dallas squad. Let’s dig deep and not get blown out this time, k? I believe in you!

Shannon “The Amateur" Harris: No one is more pleasantly surprised by this year than I am. Now get down to the heart of the season. Wanna drop "The Amateur” from your name? Have your team finish the regular season strong and lock in a 1 or 2 seed. Then win your playoff game. It starts this week, let’s get to work, I believe in you! 

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There was some movement on the mountain this week. Who fell and who rose? Let’s find out together!

To the mountain!

Still Off:  Henderson/Tagovailoa/Dekkers
Houston’s hospital ward of a QB situation remains off. Will Dekkers return this week?  

Off the Mountain: Rogers
Rogers falls off with a sub 50% completion percentage and an Int. Was parting with Bean the right choice? I assume his intangibles in that Louisville locker room played a big part but I’d have to imagine we see Mike DiLiello soon?

Basecamp: McLendon + Reed + Frost 
McClendon remains in basecamp. The 3-headed running attack should be the main focus of Columbus’ offense but he remains competent enough, despite fumbling again, to win with. 

Reed drops. He had a crucial mistake, already down 14 in the first half. How much was Perez mentoring him? Does Dallas regret the trade?

Frost climbs onto the mountain. What’ll be key to watch is in lieu of Perez playing, does Frost improve enough you can start wondering if Perez is mentoring Frost?

Summit Camp: Plummer + DTR
Plummer stayed with a good game despite the loss, that game was more about Becht punting.

DTR climbs to take Reed's place. I said last week that the DC game was more about DC than DTR and he looked good against Orlando.

Summit: Ta’amu
Here’s a question: If Ta'amu breaks Jim Kelly’s TD mark, and just makes the playoffs, is he the greatest spring QB ever? What if he makes the title game? What if he breaks Bobby Herbert’s yardage mark? Regardless, a below average Ta’amu game incoming, I bet one of these next two games.

​

The playoff race has heated up! Before we look ahead to this week’s nominee’s, let’s first look back on last week’s group to see how they did:

Last Week: Jason Bean + Matt Corral + DTR: + Mike DiLiello

Only DTR played this week and I thought he actually did decently. Not perfect by any means but certainly enough to build on.

Reader Nominated: Birmingham + Columbus + St. Louis + Houston. Orlando’s attendance.

St. Louis and Houston won. St. Louis is still a prime candidate for a top seed. Houston I still have on the outside looking in but Birmingham and Columbus did not, hurting their playoff chances almost fatally. Orlando joined Dallas and Houston as markets who increased their attendance from their second home game.

My four nominees for this week are:

Louisville: That 47 points and a blowout was really nice last week. But that was last week.

UFL Schedule Makers: Ok this is extremely personal but next year can ya’ll just not with the Thursday games. Your season starts Friday night.

Pat McAfee: Once I watched your show a lot. Then your crew got really annoying to me + there were a lot of awful sports takes. I watched the Repole interview and it was ok. I’ll hold you to this though, if you’re going to actually get up to date with this league, I better not see some clip of another poorly educated take this monday.

DC Defense: I’m putting you all on notice. Ya’ll been making big plays and helping blow folks out. But Reed is the best QB you have faced this season and you’re coming off a game where DTR threw

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Late last night, a prestigious committee met over some Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies provided to them by a committee member’s niece who had extras. They fought and toiled and burned the midnight oil well into the night. It is my honor and PRIVILEGE to present to you this week’s edition of The Committee’s Tiers:

Pain: Birmingham
It’s been a dark time for our horse brethren. Almost lost their team, lost their HC, their team just got blown out. The Committee would like to remind you all that you had The Greatest Dynasty No One Came To Watch just two years ago and we hope that that history gets you through this dark time.

Own Worse Enemy: Columbus
What chance to enter the island of relevancy fumbled away! The schedule gods still favor them down the stretch but our faith that they will go on a run took a big hit.

Not Dead Yet: Houston + Louisville
If the playoffs ended today, both of these teams would be outside looking in but Louisville traded away or released a chunk of their team and then dropped a 40 burger on Dallas. Houston did just enough to top Columbus. Louisville has the tougher road ahead in our opinion but either or both teams need to stay alive in this playoff chase down the stretch by upsetting 1-2 of the teams above them.

Suddenly Interesting: St. Louis + Orlando + Dallas
Suddenly there is a real question about who the second best in the league is. Is it St. Louis? But they lost badly to Dallas earlier in the year? Can Orlando hang with the big boys? Did Dallas just have a bad day against Louisville?

The Standard: DC
DC fans know “The Standard is the Standard” and watching the DC Defense make plays while Ta’amu had a “wow” day had to have helped wash away some of that stink from the fall. We expect stumbles but if Ta’amu plays like that more often than he has a bad week, this is the team to catch.

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Last year, I invoked a “Houston Rule”:

“If you're a Houston QB, it's highly unlikely you will ever make the mountain and this is no disrespect to you or your fans. It's solely because CJ the Stupid is liable to never start you again after you make it on here and I would be putting you in harm's way, you're welcome.” 

After going back, this rule obviously no longer applies. So for the first time in a year, a Houston QB was eligible. And Henderson didn’t make it on.

With that said, who actually made the mountain? Let’s find out together!

To the mountain!

Still Off: Henderson+ Frost
Shoutout to Henderson for diving with a broken finger. Frost stays off and I imagine we see Perez sooner than later? 

Off the Mountain: Bean
Obviously, with getting traded, Bean can’t be on here.  But now that Bean is a Defender he will be forever in our Hearts.

Basecamp: DTR, McLendon + Rogers
Watching Friday night, I thought DTR actually showed enough to sneak on here. The Conerly interception was a disguised blitz. DTR didn’t see it, but idk if there are many spring QBs that would sniff that atm? 

McClendon’s stats are good but he has to fix his fumbling problem or he risks falling off. Columbus would have at least two more wins if he could hold onto the football.

Rogers takes the place of Bean both on the Kings and on here. Sunday was more about Louisville run game than Rogers but did enough to get on here imho.

Summit Camp: Reed + Plummer
Both are on thin ice to drop. Plummer stays but needs to more against the better teams.  If Reed plays another bad game he has to drop but his “rich tapestry” of a record breaking start to the year I felt gave him one bad game like we saw Sunday.

Summit: Ta’amu
He followed the solid game vs St. Louis with a WOW game against Birmingham. Look for another Solid-WOW game followed by 1-2 like the beginning of the year where they don’t need him to do much.