The Houston Roughnecks added linebacker Reuben Foster to their roster in the United Football League dispersal draft. The former Crimson Tide All-American was among the 10 players from Alabama high schools and colleges who got new teams as the new league started building its rosters.

When the USFL and XFL merged into one league for spring football, they retained four franchises from each. But that also left four franchises in each league out of the game.

On Friday, the new league, the United Football League, began divvying up the players from the defunct franchises with a dispersal draft. The league released the draft results on Monday.

Each surviving team protected up to 42 players from its 2023 roster, then selected up to 20 players from the rosters of the dead teams of its former league.

Foster played for the USFL’s Pittsburgh Maulers in 2023. The USFL’s Houston franchise was called the Gamblers. But while that team moved forward into the UFL, carrying the Gamblers’ roster, coaching staff and front office, it adopted the branding of the Roughnecks, an XFL team that did not make it into the United Football League.

The state’s Class 6A Lineman of the Year at Auburn High School in 2012 and the Butkus Award winner as the nation’s best linebacker at Alabama in 2016, Foster most recently played in an NFL game in 2018.

Foster tore the anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament in his left knee during an offseason practice with the Washington Redskins on May 20, 2019. He spent two years on Washington’s injured reserve before being out of the game in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Foster made a comeback earlier this year in the USFL. In eight regular-season games with the Maulers, Foster posted 52 tackles, one-half sack and one interception, and Pittsburgh reached the league championship game before losing to the Birmingham Stallions 28-12.

Foster was the USFL Defensive Player of the Week for Week 3 when he led the Maulers with 11 tackles, recorded two tackles for loss, intercepted one pass and broke up another in a 21-13 victory over the Philadelphia Stars on April 30.

Among the other “dispersed” players with Alabama football roots was guard Calvin Ashley, who started his college career at Auburn. An All-USFL selection for the New Jersey Generals last season, Ashley was chosen by the Stallions.

In addition to Houston and Birmingham, the Memphis Showboats and the Michigan Panthers advanced from the USFL to the United Football League. The New Orleans Breakers joined the Generals, Maulers and Stars as the USFL team left out of the new league.

The XFL teams in the United Football League are the Arlington Renegades, D.C. Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks. In addition to Houston, the XFL teams that didn’t make it were the Orlando Guardians, Seattle Sea Dragons and Vegas Vipers.

Including protected and drafted players, the players with Alabama football roots on UFL rosters include:

Arlington Renegades

· Defensive lineman Davonte Lambert (Auburn), protected

· Defensive back Jared Mayden (Alabama), protected

· Offensive lineman Chris Owens (Alabama), drafted from the Seattle Sea Dragons

Birmingham Stallions

· Offensive tackle Calvin Ashley (Auburn), drafted from the New Jersey Generals

· Wide receiver Marlon Williams (McGill-Toolen), protected

D.C. Defenders

· Long snapper/tight end Trae Barry (Spanish Fort, Jacksonville State), protected

Houston Roughnecks

· Defensive end Tim Bonner (Demopolis), protected

· Tight end Braedon Bowman (South Alabama), drafted from the New Jersey Generals

· Linebacker Reuben Foster (Auburn High, Alabama), drafted from the Pittsburgh Maulers

Memphis Showboats

· Wide receiver Dee Anderson (Alabama A&M), drafted from the New Orleans Breakers

· Defensive tackle Connor Christian (Jacksonville State), drafted from the New Orleans Breakers

· Safety T.J. Green (Sylacauga), protected

· Guard Kirk Kelley (Troy), drafted from the New Orleans Breakers

· Linebacker Dylan Moses (Alabama), protected

· Linebacker TJ Neal (Auburn), protected

· Linebacker Shaheed Salmon (Samford), drafted from the New Orleans Breakers

· Tight end Wes Saxton (Hueytown, South Alabama), drafted from the New Jersey Generals

· Offensive tackle Sidney Wells (UAB), drafted from the New Orleans Breakers

· Tight end Jay Jay Wilson (Auburn), protected

Michigan Panthers

· Defensive tackle Garrett Marino (UAB), protected

San Antonio Brahmas

· None

St. Louis Battlehawks

· Offensive lineman Dallas Warmack (Alabama), protected

Players who weren’t protected or selected on Friday will be available in a second dispersal draft on Jan. 15, and teams will not be limited to choosing from their former league.

Players from Alabama high schools and colleges who were on USFL and XFL rosters at the end of the 2023 season who were not protected or selected on Friday include:

· Offensive lineman Ja’Chai Baker (South Alabama)

· Tight end Brandon Barnes (Russell County, Alabama State)

· Defensive lineman T.J. Barnes (Enterprise)

· Linebacker Jamal Brooks (Bessemer City, South Alabama)

· Defensive end Big Kat Bryant (Auburn)

· Tight end Sal Cannella (Auburn)

· Linebacker Jalen Choice (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Jacksonville State)

· Defensive lineman Nick Coe (Auburn)

· Cornerback Blake Countess (Auburn)

· Center Xavier Dampeer (Auburn)

· Linebacker Ben Davis (Gordo, Alabama)

· Cornerback Javaris Davis (Auburn)

· Running back Kingston Davis (Prattville, UAB/Miles)

· Cornerback Marco Domio (Auburn)

· Offensive lineman Quinterrius Eatmon (Vigor)

· Wide receiver Cam Echols-Luper (Auburn High)

· Generals safety Trae Elston (Oxford)

· Long snapper Thomas Fletcher (Alabama)

· Wide receiver John Franklin III (Auburn)

· Quarterback Aqeel Glass (Alabama A&M)

· Running back Ezra Gray (Alabama State)

· Defensive back Sedevyn Gray (West Alabama)

· Offensive tackle Brodarious Hamm (Auburn)

· Quarterback Geremy Hickbottom (Williamson)

· Offensive lineman Mike Horton (Auburn)

· Safety Bydarrius Knighten (Auburn)

· Linebacker Zakoby McClain (Auburn)

· Wide receiver Kelvin McKnight (Samford)

· Wide receiver Myron Mitchell (Jasper, UAB)

· Defensive back Stephen Roberts (Auburn)

· Guard Steven Rowzee (Troy)

· Defensive tackle Trevon Sanders (Troy)

· Tight end Jared Scott (Jacksonville State)

· Quarterback Brandon Silvers (Gulf Shores, Troy)

· Running back Bo Scarbrough (Northridge, Alabama)

· Defensive back Maurice Smith (Alabama)

· Wide receiver Eli Stove (Auburn)

· Linebacker Erroll Thompson (Florence)

· Defensive tackle Tyrone Truesdell (Auburn)

· Cornerback Christian Tutt (Auburn)

· Wide receiver Jordan Veasy (Gadsden City)

· Dee Virgin (West Alabama)

· Kicker Nick Vogel (UAB)

· Running back Kareem Walker (South Alabama)

· Wide receiver Damion Willis (Troy)

· Defensive tackle Gabe Wright (Auburn)

· Offensive tackle John Yarbrough (Homewood)

The UFL teams will begin training camp on Feb. 24. The season will kick off on March 30, when the Stallions and Renegades square off.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.