July 27, 2026
By Evan Lepler
Throughout the UFA season, there are typically dozens of noteworthy individual performances every week. But only seven special efforts can earn their way onto the weekly Honor Roll, highlighting the best of the best across the Association.
Players are listed alphabetically by last name.
Alex Atkins, New York Empire
It’s astonishing how effortlessly Alex Atkins accumulates yards sometimes. Granted, he occasionally avoids a turnover and picks up 60 yards because a talented teammate makes a remarkable catch on a 50/50 floater, but more often than not, New York’s big boisterous handler is just feeding open hands and piloting the Empire offense to one hold after another. Saturday’s 23-15 playoff win over DC was a fairly typical Atkins game: relatively steady, perhaps not even all that flashy for extended stretches. But then you look at the end of the game and he’s 34-for-34 with a game-high 718 total yards—the most for any player in the league this past weekend—along with four assists, four more hockey assists, one goal, and one block. New York’s offense was only broken once by the Breeze, and if Atkins and company can replicate that hold rate against Boston on August 8, the Empire will almost certainly march onward to Madison.
Tobias Brooks, Carolina Flyers
At just 21 years old, it’s pretty crazy that Friday’s victory over San Diego was already the 35th UFA game for Carolina’s Tobias Brooks. It was also (arguably) the best game he’s ever played at the professional level. He’s had days with more total yards and completions, but Friday’s five-assist, four-goal, zero-turnover evening yielded the highest plus-minus in his young and seemingly limitless journey that began when he was still just a senior in high school. Brooks journeyed downfield more frequently and produced a season-high 232 receiving yards to accompany his 299 throwing yards, as the Flyers cruised to a 25-14 win to earn their South Division title showdown in Austin.
Daan De Marrée, New York Empire
Nobody did more damage downfield during the opening round of the playoffs than Daan De Marrée, who registered a season-high 475 receiving yards in the Empire’s eight-goal win over the Breeze. The 25-year-old Belgian also tossed six assists, caught four goals, and completed 26-of-27 throws in the first postseason win of his UFA career. Beyond the numbers, De Marree also made a bunch of spectacular leaping grabs, saving possession for the Empire in situations where DC had a decent chance of creating a turn. His ability to repeatedly make difficult plays, while also being perfectly content to take the easy under, has helped strengthen New York’s offense into the best unit in the entire league.
Jacob Fairfax, Carolina Flyers
After Friday night’s highlight-laden six-goal performance on his 30th birthday, Jacob Fairfax was asked how he felt now that he was 30. His one-word response: “Old.” But obviously age is just a number, and Fairfax’s first game in his 30s was indistinguishable from all the rest of the games where he’s been a superior deep threat and dominant O-line force. There were a few occasions where throws from Tobias Brooks and Allan Laviolette floated a little bit, but Fairfax always made the play, using his size, instincts, and still electric athleticism to humble whichever Growlers defender was trying to slow him down. He finished Friday with 363 receiving yards, his second-highest total of the season. Since the beginning of yardage tracking (in 2021), New York’s Ben Jagt is the only player in the UFA with more receiving yards than Fairfax, though the Carolina cutter edges Jagt when it comes to total yards this decade.
Dylan Hawkins, Carolina Flyers
We don’t talk about "hockey assists” nearly as much as regular assists, but in the NHL, they are catalogued the same way in traditional box scores. Why am I mentioning this here? Well, Friday was another stellar game for Dylan Hawkins, with three goals, two assists, one block, and no turnovers, going 32-for-32 to help the Flyers offense—which was broken twice in the first quarter—completely dominate the game over the final 36 minutes. Those numbers are somewhere between solid and very good on their own, but then you see that he also was credited with eight hockey assists, matching the most any player had in the UFA all season, and that pushes his night from good to great. Remarkably, Hawkins’ eight hockey assists were the most any player has ever had in a UFA playoff game in the league’s 14-year history.
Elliot Hawkins, Indianapolis AlleyCats
While Elliot Hawkins may not have produced the ridiculous, eye-popping double-digit assist totals that he showcased in a pair of his regular season performances, I’d argue that he might have been even more impressive in Sunday’s road win at Madison. Over and over again in his first career UFA playoff game, Hawkins delivered for his team, silencing the Radicals’ raucous crowd and the hometown team’s momentum with several brilliant moments. He finished the night with four goals, four assists, one block, and 525 total yards, but it was his general gravity and playmaking that carried Indy to the 17-15 win, sending the AlleyCats to the Central Division title contest at Minnesota. I truly cannot believe Hawkins has been this dominant in the UFA at just 20 years old, and I wonder what other special things we might see from this frisbee prodigy as he continues to grow over the course of the next five to 10 years.
Jordan Kerr, Salt Lake Shred
Earlier this decade, Jordan Kerr was a perennial MVP candidate for the Shred. And while his role has evolved a little bit in the Salt Lake system, he still possesses the skillset and playmaking prowess that have made him one of the most lethal lefties in our sport. On Saturday in Seattle, Kerr helped his team shred the ‘Scades, collecting six scores, 652 total yards, and 34 completions without any throwaways. He also went 3-for-3 on his hucks and helped Salt Lake value possessions late in the game, as the Shred hung on for the 22-20 road victory, snapping the four-game losing streak that they had entering the playoffs. Relatively quietly, Kerr has moved up to third in the league in assists for the full season, trailing only Elliot Hawkins and Tobe Decraene. And over the course of the decade, no one in the UFA has more assists than Kerr, who’s tossed 316 since debuting in 2021.
vious weeks
