2 former Eagles draftees taken during first round of USFL Draft

It isn’t expected to ever reach the National Football League’s level, but no one’s asking for perfection. We just hope we can get some competent football to tide us over in April until the NFL Draft. On a day when everyone found as many creative ways as they could to include the number two in their social media posts, the USFL kicked off Day 1 of their draft, and guess what? A couple of former Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks went fifth and seventh overall in Round 1.

Clayton Thorson was the 167th-overall selection during Round 5 of the 2019 NFL Draft. It was a much different time in Philly then.

Carson Wentz was still the franchise. Nick Foles had just signed a four-year deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars worth $88 million, and Nate Sudfeld was still hanging around as he cashed in with a one-year deal that would pay him $3 million. Cody Kessler was added by way of another one-year deal.

Thorson, thanks to injuries to Sudfeld and Kessler, would have an opportunity to battle for the third-string job. He just had one issue. Philly signed Josh McCown too.

Former Eagles QB Clayton Thorson gets a new lease on life in the USFL.

We feel like there’s no need to burden you with stories that you’re already familiar with. There isn’t an Eagles fan in the Delaware Valley or anywhere else on Planet Earth that’s unfamiliar with Thorson’s brief story in the City of Brotherly Love.

He struggled during the preseason. McCown looked like he knew a lot more about what he was doing, and Philadelphia, when they made a decision on the three quarterbacks that they would keep, waived Kessler and Thorson during final roster cuts. They’d eventually sign another newly minted USFL QB, Kyle Lauletta, to the practice squad on September 1st of that year.

Following his time in Philly, Thorson spent time on the rosters of two rivals, the Dallas Cowboys from 2019 to 2020 and the New York Giants from 2020 to 2021. Lauletta spent time with the Atlanta Falcons, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Cleveland Browns (twice).

Thorson never threw a pass in an NFL regular-season game. Lauletta made two appearances with the New York Giants. For his brief NFL career, he never completed a pass, but he threw five of them. One of which resulted in an interception.

All of that’s behind these young men now as they’ve been given new leases on life. The Houston Gamblers made Thorson the fifth-overall selection in the USFL Draft. Kyle Lauleta got the call as well. He was taken at seven. He’ll be pulling the trigger now for the Pittsburgh Maulers.

The QB Factory keeps churning them out!

For those who are interested, Shea Patterson went first-overall to the Michigan Panthers. Jordan Ta’amu went second to the Tampa Bay Bandits. The rest of the first round went down like this.

Bryan Scott went third to the Philadelphia Stars, Ben Holmes went fourth to the New Jersey Generals. Alex McGough (Birmingham Stallions) and Kyle Sloter (New Orleans Breakers) round out the rest of the first round as they wind up as the sixth and eighth-overall selections respectively.