USFL: Channing Stribling Profile

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With Week two of the inaugural USFL season in full swing, there have been plenty of standouts. From quarterbacks like Michigan’s Shea Patterson leading in passing yards to another quarterback Deandre Johnson even leading the league in rushing. But one player to pay attention to is Philadelphia Stars cornerback Channing Stribling.

The former Michigan Wolverine DB is currently tied for most interceptions in the USFL, one in each of his first two games.

As a three-star recruit coming out of Butler High School in Matthews, NC, Stribling had multiple Division I offers but some schools wanted him to play wide receiver. He ultimately chose the University of Michigan where he could focus on playing cornerback. By him choosing Michigan, he was able to focus and perfect his craft as an elite defensive back. 2013-2016 were his playing years with 2016 becoming his best statistical year. Stribling led Big Ten in pass breakups during conference play and was tied for fourth in interceptions along with starting all 12 games at cornerback. In a rival game against Ohio State, he registered four solo tackles, two TFLs, one sack, and one PBU (Nov 26). Tallied at least one PBU in five of the ten games. Finished his career with the fourth-highest single-season total pass breakups (17) in school history. All of his career highs are in his senior year:

Tackles: 5 – (3x), last at Indiana, 2016
TFLs: 0.5 – (3x), last at Michigan State, 2016
Interceptions: 2 – Wisconsin, 2016
Interception Return: 51 – Hawaii, 2016

After a couple of short stints with NFL teams’ practice squads, Stribling signed with the Memphis Express in the Alliance of American Football in late 2018 but the league ceased operations the following April 2019. He then signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL in September 2019. Now being selected by the Philadelphia Stars in the 2022 USFL Draft, he continues to look for more opportunities.

Channing Stribling is just one of many players that are looking for the chance to prove themselves and make it to the NFL, where the best of the best are. Today, players have a plethora of development leagues to play in where they can actually get game film against professional-level talent. The USFL is in full swing from adding helmets cams, more mic’d up players, and even a sky drone that follows the players from a closeup angle for viewers. We will see the growth of these players and the league as a whole over time. But Channing Stribling is a name to look out for going forward.