Honor Roll: Dean's List | 2026 Best Selections


Photo by Paul Rutherford/Ultiphotos

August 17, 2026
By Evan Lepler

Compiling the “Honor Roll” each week is, admittedly, an inexact science. 

I watch A LOT of ultimate every weekend, but it’s impossible to see everything. Statistics are informative and helpful, but also imperfect and occasionally misleading. Furthermore, even if everyone could see every point and digest every number, reasonable minds inevitably would still disagree.

I try to value winning. Of course, it also matters who you beat. I strive not to be completely swayed by certain stats without putting them in context, but sometimes the numbers are indeed overwhelming.

Obviously, it’s inherently troublesome to craft individual praise in a team sport. There were several circumstances during the season when a particular team delivered a brilliant all-around victory, but maybe the success was too widespread and balanced to elevate any single person. While others may see it as a disrespectful snub, I often view it as a true team tribute if no one person receives rave reviews after a marquee result or two-win weekend. 

There’s also the dynamic that I select seven players every week, regardless of whether there were four games or 14. Some weeks there’s more competition than others, so there’s no doubt that considerable elements of good fortune and happenstance are involved in who gets recognized each week. 

With all that said, here’s a compilation of all the individuals who earned a spot on the “Honor Roll” over the past 15 weeks of competition. While there are definitely some noteworthy names that are absent, it’s also a decent snapshot of the best players in the league throughout the 2026 season.

First, here are some facts and figures: 

  • Between 13 regular season weekends and two playoff weekends, 71 players earned a spot on the “Honor Roll” this year. 

  • Of those 71 players, an elite crew of 20 made the “Honor Roll” multiple times, while just eight names were on the list at least three times. 

  • The Flyers and Spiders shared the lead with nine different players getting recognized on the “Honor Roll” at least once.

  • The Minnesota Wind Chill were next with seven different players getting a nod, though all seven received the distinction just one time each. 

  • Rightly or wrongly, four teams—Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Vegas—never had a player make an “Honor Roll” appearance during the 2026 season. 

Here’s the ultimate breakdown.

The Five-Timers Club

Tobe Decraene, Boston Glory
Elliot Hawkins, Indianapolis AlleyCats

It’s interesting that neither of the five-timers will be participating at Championship Weekend, but despite that reality, both Tobe Decraene and Elliot Hawkins had absolutely magnificent seasons, regularly elevating their teams en route to the playoffs. Statistically, Decraene improved in virtually every category from last year—when he was named MVP—while Hawkins consistently produced at mind-boggling levels when he was on the field. It’s also pretty crazy that Decraene just turned 23 in June, while Hawkins won’t even be 21 until next February. 

Four More than Many

Alex Atkins, New York Empire
Kyle Henke, Austin Sol

Unlike the Five-Timers, these two four-time honorees will be leading their teams at Championship Weekend in Madison. Atkins led the league in total yards while averaging fewer than one throwaway per game, while Henke ranked top five in total scores, total yards, and completions, embracing more responsibility on the Sol O-line than ever before. Born just five and a half months apart—Henke’s a tiny bit older—both of these guys are firmly in their prime as elite, multi-dimensional difference-makers. 

Three-For-All

Daan De Marrée, New York Empire
Jacob Fairfax, Carolina Flyers
Oscar Graff, Boston Glory
Daniel Ritthaler, Oakland Spiders

An interesting and exceptional quartet here, with Fairfax still thriving at age 30, De Marree and Ritthaler ascending in their mid-20s, and Graff, just a year out of college, becoming Boston’s most important D-liner as a first-year Glory Captain. Frankly, it feels like De Marree and Ritthaler would’ve been among the Decraene/Hawkins or Atkins/Henke groups if they had been able to play more games and not been limited by various circumstances that kept them off the field at times this season. De Marree’s also been coming on strong late, as the only UFA player to earn “Honor Roll” praise after both postseason weekends. 

Twice Is Nice

Malik Auger-Semmar, Montreal Royal
Chander Boyd-Fliegel, Oakland Spiders
Lander Decraene, Boston Glory
Khalif El-Salaam, San Diego Growlers
Max Gibson, San Diego Growlers
Miles Grovic, DC Breeze
Ben Jagt, New York Empire
Max Pettenuzzo, Toronto Rush
John Randolph, New York Empire
Pieran Robert, Madison Radicals
Evan Swiatek, Austin Sol
Mark Turner, Houston 

Take these dozen names, randomly draw any seven out of a hat, and you’d probably have a pretty great line for any UFA situation. It’s a pretty cutter-heavy collection, but I think most coaches would confidently ride with anyone in this group. Boyd-Fliegel might be the Rookie of the Year, Jagt and Randolph look like all-league shoo-ins again, and Swiatek has been a hugely important returner for the Sol this summer. Auger-Semmar and Turner were the only players with multiple selections from teams with losing records, but those two guys were tremendous and—in my opinion—absolutely deserving of the individual attention. 

Solo Selections

Raekwon Adkins, Oakland Spiders
Matthew Armour, Austin Sol
Hayden Austin-Knab, Atlanta Hustle
Peter Boerth, Boston Glory
Sofiene Bontemps, Indianapolis AlleyCats
Will Brandt, Minnesota Wind Chill
Cameron Brock, Indianapolis AlleyCats
Tobias Brooks, Carolina Flyers
Justin Burnett, Minnesota Wind Chill
Dexter Clyburn, Oakland Spiders
Noah Coolman, Minnesota Wind Chill
Micah Davis, Minnesota Wind Chill
Nate De Morgan, Minnesota Wind Chill
Thomas Edmonds, Boston Glory
Bobby Elston, New York Empire
Langley Fitzpatrick, Seattle Cascades
Dylan Hawkins, Carolina Flyers
Charles Guay, Montreal Royal
George Gust, Austin Sol
Jordan Kerr, Salt Lake Shred
Carter Lankford, Oakland Spiders
Gordon Larson, Minnesota Wind Chill
Spencer Lofink, Seattle Cascades
Jacob Louie, Carolina Flyers
Jonathan Lyle, San Diego Growlers
Trevor Lynch, Carolina Flyers 
Hunter May, Colorado Apex"
Garrett Martin, Seattle Cascades
Stefan McCall, Oakland Spiders
Charlie McCutcheon, DC Breeze
Ricky McLeod, Seattle Cascades
Nanda Min-Fink, Colorado Apex
Felix Moren, Oregon Steel
Zach Morton, Minnesota Wind Chill
Sean Mott, DC Breeze
Jacques Nissen, DC Breeze
Anton Orme, Oakland Spiders
Justin Podnar, Toronto Rush
Nico Ranabhat, Madison Radicals
Luke Rehfuss, DC Breeze
Grayson Sanner, Carolina Flyers
Austin Taylor, Atlanta Hustle
Zeke Thoreson, Carolina Flyers
Matt Tucker, Carolina Flyers
Jason Vallee, Oakland Spiders
Wiebe van den Brink, DC Breeze
Brandon Van Deusen, San Diego Growlers
William Wettengel, Indianapolis AlleyCats
Cooper Williams, Carolina Flyers
Alec Wilson Holliday, Atlanta Hustle
Max Zwerin, Oakland Spiders

Some of these standouts had very steady seasons, serving as critically important cogs for their team every single week. Others might have been a bit more inconsistent, but showed ceilings that suggested All-UFA potential. It’s a fascinating mix of veterans—guys like Kerr, Mott, and Taylor, among others—along with the next generation of UFA superstars. 

On the youth front, six different Spiders on this list either recently finished college or are still in school, while the Wind Chill also have an army of young playmakers who have enabled Minnesota to arguably withstand injuries and absences better than anyone, with college kids like Davis, De Morgan, and Morton more than ready to step in and pick up the slack. 

Just scanning through these 51 names, it’s hard not to feel like the league is in a very healthy spot, with so many potential superstars just getting started and other more experienced veterans trying to hang on to their stature as premier pieces on successful teams. 

Truly, the level of play across the UFA is rising every year, and most competitive people recognize that if they are not still grinding for tiny edges of improvement, they are likely falling back to the pack. 

In closing, here’s a team-by-team glance at the number of different players each team had on the Honor Roll during the 2026 season. (If a player made it multiple weeks, they are only counted once on this list.)

  • 9 — Carolina Flyers, Oakland Spiders
  • 7 — Minnesota Wind Chill
  • 6 — DC Breeze
  • 5 — Boston Glory, New York Empire
  • 4 — Austin Sol, Indianapolis AlleyCats, San Diego Growlers
  • 3 — Atlanta Hustle, Seattle Cascades
  • 2 — Colorado Apex, Madison Radicals, Montreal Royal, Toronto Rush
  • 1 — Houston Havoc, Oregon Steel
  • 0 — Chicago Union, Philadelphia Phoenix, Pittsburgh Thunderbirds, Vegas Bighorns

With Championship Weekend just 10 days away, that means the final Monday “Honor Roll” of the season will arrive in exactly two weeks, when we’ll know our 2026 champion and we’ll have seen who elevated their level in the biggest moments of the season.