2022 USFL Draft: Who is quarterback Chase Litton? What to know about Tuesday's potential first overall pick

It has been somewhat entertaining the past week on social media with bettors posting how much they miss football already and counting down to the 2022 NFL Kickoff Game between the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams and maybe the Dallas Cowboys. Well, there's some good news Tuesday with more football arriving. Sort of: It's the start of the USFL Draft and quite possibly the No. 1 overall pick will be former Marshall and NFL practice-squad quarterback Chase Litton.

I'm not going to go into how the entire USFL Draft works, but it's 35 rounds spread over Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and from a pool of about 500 players who have already signed on to be a part of the league. There are eight franchises in the new USFL, although all games (10 regular season for each club) will be played from Birmingham, Ala., with the season starting April 16. The postseason will take place from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, starting on June 25.

NORTH DIVISION

Michigan Panthers
New Jersey Generals
Philadelphia Stars
Pittsburgh Maulers

SOUTH DIVISION

Birmingham Stallions
Houston Gamblers
New Orleans Breakers
Tampa Bay Bandits

The Panthers, coached by former Rams and Titans coach Jeff Fisher, will pick first overall – they won the draft lottery – and will be taking a quarterback because every team must take a quarterback in Round 1. Then it goes: Bandits, Stars, Generals, Gamblers, Stallions, Maulers and Breakers. 

Rounds 2-4 will be for edge rushers and defensive ends and then so on and so on until it's back to quarterbacks in Round 12, etc. It's a modified snake draft. Eligible players must be at least two years removed from high school, compared to three years for the NFL. The USFL for some reason isn't disclosing the list of available players in advance of the draft. You hear names like Johnny Manziel and Colin Kaepernick, but it's hard to fathom they would be interested in this league.

Litton (who is from Tampa) is probably the most accomplished quarterback of the bunch expected to be taken in Round 1 Tuesday. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder played 34 games at Marshall and finished with 8,332 yards and 72 touchdown passes. He was one of four Marshall QBs in school history with at least 8,000 passing yards and 70 touchdowns, along with Rakeem Cato, Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich. Litton was not selected in the 2018 NFL Draft -- he should have returned to Marshall for his senior season -- and has spent time on the rosters of the Chiefs and Jaguars but never saw the field in a regular-season game. He also spent time in the XFL and CFL.

On March 10, the USFL will conduct a 10-round supplemental draft, adding 80 more players to the eight rosters. We might see more well-known players chosen then. 

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