Recapping Saints QB Hunter Dekkers debut with UFL's Houston Gamblers

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How did Hunter Dekkers do in his first UFL game? The young quarterback was one of two dozen former New Orleans Saints players trying their hand in the spring league, and he made the most of his opportunity. Houston Gamblers head coach Kevin Sumlin named former Delaware quarterback Nolan Henderson the starter, but he said Dekkers would play as well, and he was true to his word. Dekkers did enough to salvage Week 1’s loss to the Dallas Renegades to make it a question of whether he should start in Week 2’s home opener. Sumlin has not announced a permanent quarterback change just yet.

Henderson got the start but was benched after Dallas went up 20-3, having completed 3 of 8 pass attempts for just 34 yards and a couple of interceptions. Dekkers took over and went 19-of-29 for 227 yards, and while he did take three sacks Dekkers made up for it by rushing for 28 yards and Houston’s only offensive touchdown on the afternoon. Altogether he accounted for 255 of Houston’s 284 yards of offense. The final score was 36-17.

Dekkers and the Gamblers will kick off in Week 2 against the 1-0 Birmingham Stallions at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium. The matchup is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 5. Birmingham has won each of the last four meetings between these two teams but squeaked out a 15-13 road win against the Louisville Kings last week, so they might be vulnerable. We’ll see if Dekkers gets on the field and capitalizes on that opportunity.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 UFL Schedule: How did Saints QB Hunter Dekkers do in debut?

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