New York Guardians: Matt McGloin is XFL franchise’s first QB
By Ed Stein
On day one of the XFL draft, quarterback Matt McGloin was allocated to the New York Guardians. He becomes the face of the franchise.
The XFL held its inaugural draft on Tuesday. To make it fair, before the event started, teams were awarded quarterbacks by the league based on a want list. The New York Guardians received ex-Oakland Raiders starting signal-caller Matt McGloin. The former Penn State Nittany Lions standout is the face of the franchise for now.
There are six stages to the XFL draft based on players who registered to be in the pool. The first was the above-mentioned quarterback allocation. After that, there are four 10-round positional drafts, offensive skill positions, offensive line, defensive front seven, and defensive backs. The final stage is a 30-round open draft to fill the 71-man initial roster.
Before the draft started, New York Guardians Head Coach Kevin Gilbride got his man. Someone who has battled his adult life to earn playing time and lead offenses, Matt McGloin. He has the most NFL experience of any other quarterback in the draft pool, appearing in 13 regular-season games for the Raiders between 2013-1016.
McGloin came to national attention as part of the upstart 2012 Penn State team that went 8-4. He was well known to Nittany Lions fans before then. In 2010, as a sophomore, McGloin became the first walk-on QB to start since football scholarships were awarded at the school in 1949.
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The once glorious Penn State program was decimated by the Jerry Sandusky scandal in 2012. Scholarships were cut as part of NCAA sanctions and many players left the team for greener pastures. The quarterback, however, stayed. McGloin had a great season, one of the best in school history.
He doubled his production from the 21 combined games he started the two years prior, completing 270 of 446 passes for 3271 yards. Additionally, McGloin threw for 24 touchdowns. His single-season yards and touchdowns were school records in 2012 and are both still third all-time.
Undrafted, the Scranton, PA native was signed by Oakland as a free agent in 2013. He made the team out of training camp, behind Terrelle Pryor and Matt Flynn on the depth chart. Due to a combination of injuries and ineffectiveness by the quarterbacks ahead of him, McGloin became the Raiders starter in mid-November, holding the job for the final six weeks of the season.
He won his first start behind three touchdown passes before dropping the final five. McGloin played in only six more games over the next three seasons in Oakland as a backup. Since 2017, the “Red Rifle” has bounced around to various NFL rosters but never stuck anywhere.
Next. 3 NY Jets who shined against Dallas. dark
Just shy of his 30th birthday, McGloin has one more chance to prove himself. Something he’s done since arriving in State College, PA as a walk-on in 2009. The New York Guardians have found a valuable team leader.