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XFL D.C. Defenders

Defenders Run Game, Led by No. 1 Pick Abram Smith, Is Best in the League

March 24, 2023 - XFL (XFL)
D.C. Defenders News Release


D.C. Defenders running back Abram Smith came into the 2023 XFL season with defined goals.

"I wanted to be the best back in the league," Smith said this week. "I wanted to showcase my skills. I wanted to show everybody who believed in me that there's still something to believe in; that my dream isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

The season is only halfway done but the 24-year-old bruiser out of Baylor University is checking boxes on each of those benchmarks.

Best back in the league? Smith leads all other rushers by 177 yards.

Showcasing skills? Just take a look at his 62-yard touchdown run from this past weekend against the St. Louis Battlehawks. Or, better yet, his 70-yard touchdown waltz later in the game.

Keeping the dream alive? Oh yes.

Smith isn't the only one thriving in D.C.'s run-heavy offense. Thanks to a standout line and a collection of talented runners around Smith - including quarterbacks Jordan Ta'amu and D'Eriq King - the Defenders have rushed for 174 yards per game on their way to a 5-0 record.

"The coaching staff did a good job getting guys that can run," offensive lineman Ty Clary said. "Jordan and D'Eriq can both run. Our running backs have been awesome. The O-line room, we feel like we're a physical room. It's just the identity that was instilled from the start."

The other seven XFL teams base their offense around the passing game. The Defenders are the only team to average more rushing yards than passing yards; no other team has gained even 100 yards per game on the ground.

D.C. has 870 rushing yards; the Seattle Sea Dragons are second with 466. Smith has almost that many rushing yards alone with 432.

It's not just that the Defenders are running the ball more than any other team under offensive coordinator Fred Kaiss, either. They are also the most effective team on the ground as D.C. leads the league in yards per carry and first down percentage.

"When you see running backs who run hard, not just run into open gaps -then they're back there blocking, too - you want more for them," Clary said.

Smith isn't the only one putting up big-time numbers. Ta'amu, the starting quarterback, is fourth in the league with 208 yards. King, the backup quarterback who plays significant snaps in the Defenders offense, leads the league with five rushing touchdowns.

Even at running back, Smith has some great mates. Ryquell Armstead, a former 1,000-yard rusher at Temple University and Jacksonville Jaguars running back, is seventh in the league in rushing yards and third in rushes of 10 yards or more.

"Whoever we have back there, and we've played two or three guys at that position, they've all done a great job," D.C. offensive line coach Russ Ehrenfeld said. "None of those guys are selfish. It's not about them. It's about the team."

Smith's unselfishness is ingrained in his DNA. There is no better example than his college career in Waco, Texas. After spending his first two seasons as a running back, Baylor had a team need at linebacker and the coaching staff moved him to the position during the 2020 season.

He made 48 tackles in five games but switched back to running back ahead of the 2021 campaign. Not only did Smith win the starting job but the Abilene, Texas, native also emerged as one of the best running backs in the Big 12. Smith rushed for 1,601 yards and 12 touchdowns on 257 carries.

The experience playing linebacker has helped him as a running back, Smith said. His physicality increased. His knowledge of defensive concepts like gap integrity grew. He says he can look at a defense and now see where a player should be instead of where they are at that moment.

"Every time I step on the field, I know I gotta produce," Smith said. "I know I gotta show something. When I was first playing special teams, I wasn't fulfilled with that. I wanted my parents to see more. I know I had more in me. For me to go and play linebacker then play running back, I just wanted to show what I can do on the field."

After his standout senior year, Smith was not selected in the NFL Draft. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints but released in late August.

Then the Defenders came calling. D.C. selected him with the No. 1 overall pick of the offensive skill position portion of the XFL Draft.

"I didn't know really a whole lot about Abram until our offensive coordinator, Coach Kaiss, started talking about him before he ever got here to Texas," Ehrenfeld said. "Then just talking to some other people that are friends of mine that are either in the coaching profession or maybe former players that knew of him, they were like, 'Coach, guy's a great player.'"

Weeks of work in training camp and the first few weeks of the season culminated in last week's monster game for Smith and the offensive line.

Smith carried the ball 23 times for 215 yards and three scores, including his two long touchdown runs. The offensive line had a day, too. On both of his long runs, Smith was virtually untouched as he broke through the line and headed for the end zone.

The development of the offensive line through the first half of the season has been impressive, and they've done it despite playing four different players at center.

Ehrenfeld emphasizes good technique and fundamentals from his group, and they have bought in to his teachings and the overall offensive scheme.

"I love my guys up front," Smith said. "They know that. They know I trust them. They know I'm gonna have their back and I'm gonna follow them wherever they take me."

Smith and the rest of the D.C. rushers are going to be following them a lot more over the coming weeks.

Ehrenfeld said the Defenders have no plans of slowing down their rushing attack.

"We're gonna run it until people make us stop running it."

The North Division-leading Defenders will play in primetime on Monday night against the South Division's top team, the Houston Roughnecks, in D.C. at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.

Check out the D.C. Defenders Statistics



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