“Huge” Free Agent Signings for Battlehawks

St. Louis Battlehawks Head Coach Anthony Becht couldn’t help but smile when asked about two of the team’s recent free agent signings in Andy Isabella and Denzel Mims.

“I’m excited about both those guys,” said Becht. “We’ve always had a strong wide receiver room, for me it’s about competition. Just bringing out the best and making sure we have the best pieces for our offense moving forward and those are two huge signings for us.”

An All-American at UMass, Isabella led the country in 2018 with 141.5 receiving yards per game and was selected in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals. He spent almost four full seasons with Arizona before spending time with Baltimore and Buffalo, playing in a total of 41 NFL games.

“He’s still a very good player,” stated Becht. “Sometimes you just kind of get lost in that mix and you don’t get those opportunities as much.”

The immediate opportunity has shifted from St. Louis to Pittsburgh as Isabella was signed to the Steelers practice squad on Friday.
“Hope Andy kills it but we will be waiting w/arms open if and when he returns,” posted Becht.

The Battlehawks retain Isabella’s rights and his return to the NFL only reinforces the approach Becht and General Manager Dave Boller have employed–recruiting those players who were close to making an NFL roster in preseason or training camps.

“You have to sell exactly what the opportunity brings for them so that they can accelerate with their NFL career, because their eyes are on the prize,” said Becht. “There is a serious advantage, depending on where they are in their career, maybe a year or two where they’ve been in training camps but not being able to stick–at that point, why not come here in our league. Come with the Battlehawks and play for us so you can showcase your skills to not just the one team you’re signing a Futures deal with, but all of the teams that now can look at your skill set and maybe say ‘we kind of liked him coming out of college, didn’t really fit what we wanted, needs some work’ and now boom, you’re a different guy. Because if you come to us, you better be a different guy. You better improve every single week because that’s what I’m trying to do for you–fill those holes and get you better so that you ultimately can get to those goals for you, whether you want to stay with us forever or get to the NFL and do those things.”

The Battlehawks plan to continue with a hybrid West Coast offense, with elements of the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Rams systems customized by Becht and Offensive Coordinator Bruce Gradkowski.

“When we put install in, we’re showing clips of (those teams) because it’s the same kind of stuff–we’ll make it our own the way we do it,” said Becht. “We cater to our strengths, and we’ll find those best guys, like we do every year, and we’ll plug and play them and give them the best opportunity to shine like we have with guys like Hakeem Butler and Darrius Shepherd over the past. Those guys have really accelerated what they’ve done maybe since they left college and become stars in our league.”

Becht has known Mims for several years, having called many of his games for ESPN when he was an All-Big 12 player at Baylor for ESPN. In 2020, Mims was drafted in the second round (59th overall) by the New York Jets and caught 42 passes for 676 yards in 30 games. Mims then moved on to the Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Jacksonville Jaguars.

“Probably wasn’t the stretch run that he envisioned for himself, but he’s been working really hard to try and get an opportunity,” said Becht. “I was really excited about the fact that after Dave (Boller) and everyone got together, he was open to this. Again, this is all about a platform for players and I want to give him that opportunity to shine. Really, it comes down to we got him here but it’s up to him to make the most of it.”

Becht had hinted that there was another former NFL second-round pick on the way to St. Louis, which came to fruition on Thursday when outside linebacker Kemoko Turay inked his deal.

“He’s a stand-up pass rusher, a long body who can get to the quarterback,” said Becht. “He brings us more competition, more depth, and is another guy with a great opportunity.”

Named to the Freshman All-American team at Rutgers, Turay finished his collegiate career with 103 tackles, 15.5 sacks, 20.5 tackles for a loss, and was drafted 52nd overall by the Indianapolis Colts in 2018. He had four sacks that season but broke his ankle five games into 2019. Turay played a total of 38 games for the Colts before signing with the San Francisco 49ers in 2022 and has since spent time with the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers.

Becht and Boller will continue to shape the Battlehawks roster over the next few weeks in preparation for the 2025 UFL season, which kicks off on March 28^th.

Season tickets for the St. Louis Battlehawks are available at UFLBattlehawks.com/tickets and begin at just $18 per game.