From Opponent to Starter: DTR’s Fast Break to Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 21, 2026
By Steve Irvine
Dorian Thompson-Robinson will be in Protective Stadium for the second consecutive game. This time, though, he’ll wear a different uniform and have a decidedly different role. He’ll also have the home crowd on his side this time.
All of those details make for a good story. But Thompson-Robinson hasn’t spent his first week as a Birmingham Stallion. The 6-foot-1, 206-pound quarterback is more concerned with preparing for his first UFL start when the Stallions play host to the D.C. Defenders on Friday night at 7 at Protective Stadium.
It’s been a hectic week for Thompson-Robinson, who learned on Sunday that he was traded from the Orlando Storm to the Birmingham Stallions for quarterback Matt Corral and defensive end Amari Bledsoe. Obviously, Thompson-Robinson didn’t have to board a plane to reach his new destination with the entire UFL living and training in Arlington, Texas during the season. He does have to quickly learn a new offense, which has resulted in long nights at the office, and show the coaches and teammates ways that he can make the offense better.
“It's been great, the whole team's been welcoming,” Thompson-Robinson said. “(Stallions head coach AJ McCarron) and staff have been great, kind of getting me caught up to speed. I've been picking up the scheme really well and been able to add my own twist onto some of the offense. You know, I’m excited to go play”
Truthfully, Thompson-Robinson thought he might be a Stallion from day one. He had conversations with McCarron before the UFL quarterback draft and expected to be in the Stallions camp competing for the starting job.
“I mean, he tried to draft me when this thing all first started,” Thompson-Robinson said. “So that was about the only time I really got to, I guess, communicate with him and stuff because I thought I was going to their team before I ended up going to Orlando.”
Thompson-Robinson competed to be the starter with the Storm but Jack Plummer won the job. Plummer started each of the first four games, including the 16-0 win over the Stallions last Saturday, and has played on 245 of the Storm’s 249 offensive snaps. Thompson-Robinson was 2-of-3 passing for 19 and had six yards rushing on one carry during those four snaps against Louisville.
Obviously, the former UCLA standout, who played two seasons with the Cleveland Browns and had five NFL starts, wanted more.
“I mean, this whole trade happened because I wanted to go play football,” Thompson-Robinson said. “I wanted to go show people I'm a starter, not only in this league, but in the one above it. So, you know, I mean, all that other stuff is not in my mind right now. I'm focusing on making sure we have a nice, clean game on Friday night.”
Thompson-Robinson said he’ll use his NFL experience, even though it was far from smooth, to help him in this situation. He played in 15 games over two seasons with the Browns. Thompson-Robinson was a fifth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft after a UCLA career where he accounted for 12,522 yards of total offense and 116 touchdowns in 50 games. By the fourth game, he was Cleveland’s starter, following an injury to regular starter Deshaun Watson, but he was replaced the following game. He started two more games that season for a team that finished 11-6 and lost in a wildcard playoff game. He started two games in 2024 and finished his two seasons in Cleveland with 880 passing yards, one touchdown and 10 interceptions.
He was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles but waived before the season began. He came to UFL to restart his career and will get that chance in Birmingham.
“I've gotten used to being in multiple offenses,” Thompson-Robinson said. “I had multiple coordinators in Cleveland. So there's not really much football, offensive-wise, that I haven't seen. It's just terminology, piecing it all together and then making sure we’re getting kind of on the same page with route depths and how I want to see routes ran on the field.”
Thompson-Robinson joins a quarterback room that includes former Samford standout Michael Hiers and former Texas Tech and Houston quarterback Donovan Smith. He said he met Hiers and the other UFL quarterbacks before the season and his relationship with Smith goes back to Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas. Thompson-Robinson was two years ahead of Smith in high school. When he was finishing a standout career at the perennial high school powerhouse, Smith was a sophomore backup quarterback and wide receiver.
“He was there at the same time,” Thompson-Robinson said. “I believe he was on either the freshman or JV team, though, when I was playing varsity. It's funny because my mom and his mom talk like every day. It's hilarious. They always try to keep up with each other and their sons.”
It will be easier now with their sons in the same place.