The best available fits for the needs Harris named in DC

Shannon Harris didn't hedge. He told Greg Parks of UFL News Hub, at the UFL Showcase in Orlando, that DC needs help on both lines and an in-line blocking tight end. "There's always a need from an offensive line and defensive line standpoint," Harris told Parks. "It's hard to find really good tight ends, really good blocking, in-line tight ends. So that's a need for us as well."

The Defenders pick seventh in both published rounds of the November 18 UFL Draft. The UFL Blitz board has players who fit those jobs, and two of them sit right at DC's first two picks.

Both lines, right on the clock

Cam'Ron Stewart is the board's top edge rusher at No. 7, with a board score of 79 and a first-round grade. That's DC's first-round slot. The Temple product earned second-team All-American Conference honors in 2025 after 32 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks, all career highs. The board rates DC's edge group C-, tied for last, so a rusher who already produced at that level is a natural fit if he's there.

If the Defenders go offensive line at 7, Hollin Pierce is the board's top tackle, and the only first-round offensive lineman, at No. 3 with a board score of 80. He started 50 straight games at Rutgers, including all 13 at left tackle in 2024, when he was second-team All-Big Ten and a Phil Steele honorable mention All-American, the program's first All-America offensive lineman since 2009. He might be gone by the time DC is on the clock. If he is, the next tackle, Illinois' Melvin Priestly, is No. 24 with a third-round grade.

DC's clearer line need is inside. The board rates the interior offensive line C, seventh in the league, and the Defenders allowed 28 sacks in 2026, most in the UFL. Mehki Butler is the board's top interior lineman at No. 23, a third-round grade and a board score of 73. He started all 12 games at left guard for Arkansas State in 2022 and all 13 games in 2023, then started all 12 at left guard in 2024, when he was All-Sun Belt second team. He was an NJCAA first-team All-American at Iowa Western in 2020. He's likely still there at pick 15, and maybe even at 7 if Pierce and Stewart are off the board.

The second-round pick lines up just as cleanly. Damonte Smith is the board's top defensive tackle at No. 15, with a board score of 75 and a second-round grade, exactly DC's second published slot. He started all 12 games at Middle Tennessee in 2025, earned first-team All-CUSA, and led the Blue Raiders with 11.5 tackles for loss to go with 34 tackles, 3 sacks and an interception. The board rates DC's defensive tackles C-, last in the league. If Smith is gone, the next tackle on the board is Stanford's Clay Patterson at No. 20, still a third-round grade.

The blocking tight end can wait

Harris told Parks that really good in-line blocking tight ends are hard to find. The board backs that up: the ones who fit that job sit later, which is fine. The board already rates DC's tight ends B-, tied for second in the league, so the Defenders can let the first two rounds go to the trenches and still find the blocker.

Tanner Arkin is the cleanest fit. The Illinois tight end is No. 176, and he's in the official draft pool. New England used him in two-tight-end sets this fall: 5 games, 2 starts, 60 offensive snaps and no catches, then waived him on November 9. That's the in-line job Harris is talking about.

Johnny Pascuzzi is a similar college profile a few spots later, at No. 180. He started 13 of 14 games at tight end for Tulane in 2025 and caught 12 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. That's a starter who lived in-line, not a move tight end asked to run the offense.

The first two rounds air on NFL Network on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. ET. The rest of the UFL Blitz board is here.