At the midpoint of the 2025 UFL season, DC Defenders QB Jordan Ta’amu has emerged as the league’s best player.

Ta’amu continued his impressive play over the weekend, leading his team back from a 15-point second-half deficit to pull off a 37-33 comeback win over the Arlington Renegades on Sunday.

[MORE: What is the UFL? Everything to know about the 2025 United Football League]

Ta’amu threw for a league-high 308 passing yards and ran for 37 more and a score. With his effort, Ta’amu helped lead the Defenders to the biggest come-from-behind victory in UFL history. The Ole Miss product leads the league in passing yards (1,213) and passing touchdowns (nine). 

“That’s amazing,” Ta’amu said after the game. “I love making history.”

The Defenders rebounded from a shocking Week 4 loss to the San Antonio Brahmas (1-4) and improved to a league-best 4-1 on the year with the win. Meanwhile, Arlington dropped to 3-2, even with star defensive back Ajene Harris posting six combined tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.

In other action, the Memphis Showboats (1-4) earned their first victory of the season, 24-20, in overtime against the defending champion Birmingham Stallions (3-2) on Friday. Elsewhere, the St. Louis Battlehawks (3-2) narrowly held off the Michigan Panthers (3-2) on Saturday, 32-27.

Closing things out, the Houston Roughnecks (2-3) took care of business against the Brahmas (1-4) on Sunday, 27-3.

Here’s a look at other storylines from Week 5:

Hakeem Butler shines in bounce-back win for Battlehawks 

In his first game back since Week 1 after dealing with a lingering hamstring issue, Butler showed why he’s the reigning UFL Offensive Player of the Year. The big-bodied receiver accounted for two long touchdowns for St. Louis — one for 67 yards and the other on a reverse pass from fellow wideout Blake Jackson for 57 yards — as the Battlehawks held on for the 32-27 win in front of 30,406 boisterous fans at The Dome at America’s Center. 

“It was fun just to be out there,” Butler said after the game. “I was more ecstatic about the blocking and just being out there hitting guys than even catching the ball.”

Making his first start in place of an injured Manny Wilkins, QB Max Duggan went 9-for-12 for 124 passing yards and one touchdown. Duggan also rumbled for a team-high 70 rushing yards and two scores. 

Michigan running back Toa Taua totaled 74 yards and two touchdowns in the loss, while Panthers QB Bryce Perkins continued his impressive play, completing 21 of 25 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

Explosive plays dominate Week 5

Butler’s big plays were part of a larger trend of UFL offenses creating explosive plays over the weekend. The eight teams combined for a league-high 59 plays of 20-plus yards in Week 5.

Those numbers included 10 touchdowns of at least 20 yards.

[MORE: Isiah Hennie’s kick-six, Battlehawks’ trick play top best plays from UFL Week 5]

Scoring continues to climb, too. After averaging a combined 40.5 points in Week 4, games in Week 5 averaged a combined total of 50.8 points per contest. Offenses appear to have caught up with the defenses as we enter the second half of the season.

QB Dresser Winn guides Showboats to first win 

It took extra time to get it done, but Memphis interim head coach Jim Turner led his team to their first victory, a 24-20 victory on Friday night over Birmingham. In his first start, Winn finished 17-for-29 for 235 yards — highlighted by a monster 78-yard touchdown to Dee Anderson on the opening drive — and no interceptions. 

The big play for the Showboats was a 108-yard touchdown return on a missed 63-yard field goal by Birmingham kicker Harrison Mevis at the end of the first half, which gave Memphis a 17-3 lead heading into halftime.

The Stallions outscored the Showboats 17-3 in the second half to force overtime. However, Birmingham failed to convert on either of its two-point attempts in extra time, while Memphis had two successful two-point conversions.

Making his first start of the season for the Stallions, QB Case Cookus completed 15 of 33 passes for 145 yards, two touchdown passes and an interception. 

What’s wrong with the Stallions? 

After a three-game winning streak, Birmingham lost its second game of the season this week at home to the previously winless Showboats. 

Last season, the Stallions lost just one game all year on their way to a third consecutive spring football championship title. Birmingham had lost just four games over the past three years entering the 2025 UFL campaign. However, it appears other teams have caught up to the talent-filled roster Birmingham head coach Skip Holtz has put together.

Injuries and sloppy play have also plagued the Stallions, which are tied for the league lead in giveaways (nine) and are third in the league with 38 accepted penalties for 290 yards. 

“I think there’s a lot more parity, but we’ve also had 10 starters miss a game,” Holtz said. “We’re on our third quarterback after four games. There’s not any continuity. I feel like every week we’re starting over again. There’s all these distractions … My frustration is not that we lost, you know what I mean?

“It’s not, ‘Well, everybody’s catching up.’ We’ve got to get some consistency going, and that’s probably been the difference between this team and teams in years past.”

Roughnecks are rolling 

Curtis Johnson has officially put together his first two-game winning streak as a head coach in the UFL. After going 1-9 last season and losing their first three games of this year, the Roughnecks improved to 2-3 with a convincing road victory over the Brahmas. 

With San Antonio’s offense struggling, local product Kellen Mond was replaced at quarterback by backup Jarrett Guarantano in the third quarter. Guarantano didn’t fare much better, completing 6 of 15 passes for 29 yards. 

However, Houston QB Jalan McClendon had another solid performance, going 22-for-32 passes for 171 yards. Defensively, the Roughnecks held the Brahmas to 118 total yards in their home opener. 

“We’re in striking distance to achieving our goal,” Johnson said. “And I think we’ve definitely shot some momentum (in our team). It’s not just winning, but it’s how we won it. It was pretty convincing today.”

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him at @eric_d_williams.

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