Written by Jake Ellenbogen
The St. Louis BattleHawks came away with an impressive upset on the road versus the Dallas Renegades on Sunday. Unfortunately, the win proved to be a little costly in the end as the BattleHawks lost one of their top tight ends Cole Hunt. Hunt was added to the team’s Reserve/Injured list in wake of the injury.
In a corresponding move to the Hunt injury, according to the official XFL transaction page, the BattleHawks have signed tight end Connor Davis off of the XFL’s Team 9 developmental practice squad. Davis is a product of Stony Brook University who received a training camp invite from the local New York Giants of the NFL. Davis did not stick in the NFL but did get an opportunity with the Birmingham Iron in the AAF. Davis caught three passes for nine yards in his short stint with the Iron. Now he will have his chance to make use of this opportunity that has arisen in the XFL. It’s worth mentioning that the 6-foot-8 tight end already has familiarity inside the St. Louis organization as he was with them in camp.
The 25-year-old tight end is an extremely strong player that will be able to make an impact right away as a blocker for this offense. While his pass-catching is not flashy, he’s certainly capable of operating as a receiving tight end when need be. Luckily for the BattleHawks, the Team 9 practice squad means that Davis has been active and has been practicing while waiting for his opportunity. In all likelihood, he knows the offense and this will likely be a smooth transition putting him right in the depth chart alongside Marcus Lucas and Wes Saxton.
As unfortunate as this injury is to former TCU tight end Cole Hunt, it’s a constant reminder to embrace the next-man-up mentality. This becomes now a big chance for Davis to go out onto the field and shine. It also is a reminder of why the XFL’s Team 9 practice squad is a fantastic idea and makes too much sense. If you are skeptical of it, here are some facts. There are 52 XFL signed players that are on injured reserve right now and in only week two, this is the second Team 9 player that has been signed to the active roster.