New Jersey Generals vs Birmingham Stallions Prediction, 4/16/2022 USFL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

New Jersey Generals at Birmingham Stallions

On April 16, the New Jersey Generals will face off against the Birmingham Stallions in Week 1 of the USFL inaugural season.

Mike Riley sits at the helm of the New Jersey Generals this season. He's coached in the professional ranks for a while now this will be the fifth professional team that Riley has coached. He'll be looking for on-field leadership from his QB in Ben Holmes. Holmes played his college ball Division II Tarleton State. In 2020, he was an undrafted free agent which makes sense because he didn't even become a starter in high school until his senior year. By the time he went to Tarleton, he had two years of eligibility left and made the most of them by going 23-2 over those two seasons. After college he bounced around The Spring League and the Indoor Football League. He'll get a chance to take the helm and see what he can do with it.

In terms of pass catchers, one of Holmes best targets will be tight end Nick Truesdell. Truesdell is a veteran of the AFL, XFL, IFL and AAF in addition to some NFL teams. Randy Satterfield and J'Mon Moore will be in the wideout positions. All three of these targets are over 6'0", so this should allow Holmes some big targets to connect with.

If anything, the Generals should have a strong run game with former Ohio State Buckeye, Mike Weber, leading the way. Weber averaged over 6 yards a carry in college, but he was never able to crack the starting lineup in the NFL while playing for the Packers outside of a couple of games filling in for those with COVID. He'll be joined in the backfield by Trey Williams who appeared in a couple games for the Indianapolis Colts. He also had short stints with Dallas, Washington, Miami, New England and Pittsburgh in addition to playing in leagues like the CFL and AAF.

Skip Holtz will lead the Birmingham Stallions this season. Holtz has a long track record in the college coaching ranks with a combined 22 years of experience for teams like East Carolina, Connecticut, Louisiana Tech and South Florida. He'll also lean on QB play from Alex McGough who was drafted to the NFL out of Florida International in 2018. Seattle drafted McGough after not taking a quarterback since Russell Wilson. His athletic ability and skill led to the lofty draft choice, but ultimately, he couldn't get on the field. Therefore, McGough made the practice squad circuit and ended up here. With lots of potential, getting a shot with the Stallions might be exactly what he needed.

The Stallions got the first pick at wide receiver and wanted to give McGough a nice target. With that in mind, the Stallions chose Victor Bolden. Bolden went undrafted in 2017, and despite that, was able to make the team for the San Francisco 49ers. While he wasn't able to get much traction as a wideout, Bolden was dangerous in kick return situations. He also spent some time with Buffalo. He'll look forward to being "the man" on this Birmingham team.

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The New Jersey Generals remaining schedule:

Week 2 - Friday, April 22 - Michigan Panthers
Week 3 - Sunday, May 1 - at Philadelphia Stars
Week 4 - Sunday, May 8 - at Pittsburgh Maulers
Week 5 - Sunday, May 15 - New Orleans Breakers
Week 6 - Sunday, May 22 - Houston Gamblers
Week 7 - Sunday, May 29 - at Tampa Bay Bandits
Week 8 - Sunday, June 5 - Pittsburgh Maulers
Week 9 - Sunday, June 12 - at Michigan Panthers
Week 10 - Sunday, June 19 - Philadelphia Stars

The Birmingham Stallions remaining schedule:

Week 2 - Saturday, April 23 - at Houston Gamblers
Week 3 - Sunday, May 1 - at New Orleans Breakers
Week 4 - Sunday, May 8 - Tampa Bay Bandits
Week 5 - Sunday, May 15 - at Philadelphia Stars
Week 6 - Sunday, May 22 - Michigan Panthers
Week 7 - Sunday, May 29 - at Pittsburgh Maulers
Week 8 - Sunday, June 5 - New Orleans Breakers
Week 9 - Sunday, June 12 - Houston Gamblers
Week 10 - Sunday, June 19 - at Tampa Bay Bandits

Tony's Pick: With the Stallions strength at QB and WR, we like them in this first week matchup.

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