Here’s a few “quick hits” as we approach Super Bowl kickoff…

NFL’s labor scale tipping in UFL’s favor

The estimation from National Football League Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith that, on a scale of 1 to 10, the chances of a lockout happening in 2011 are “a 14” isn’t good news for fans of NFL teams.

It could be the best news yet for the United Football League, however.

The UFL will head into its second season with two more teams (six total) and an increased talent pool which will include more 2010 draft entrants and veterans from the NFL, Canadian Football League and defunct Arena Football League willing to give it a shot.

More media and player exposure in 2010 will help the UFL going into 2011, as will the possibility of moving to an eight-team field. But the NFL not playing football – for any or all of 2011 – would give the UFL an added shot in the arm in terms of public awareness, and, perhaps, an influx of players who would want a guarantee of playing professional football somewhere two falls from now.

Tuskers kick off UFL’s offseason announcements

It’s official – the first press conference of the UFL’s 2010 offseason will be Tuesday, and the Florida Tuskers will do the talking.

The centerpiece of the presser will be the announcement of the Tuskers’ next head coach, which media reports earlier this week said would be offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.

After this press conference, look for the league to keep rolling out announcements on a regular basis – and for fans, both patient and impatient, to start to get their fill of official UFL news.

UFL draft buzz

Last weekend’s Senior Bowl featured many of the NFL’s top prized prospects for April’s 2010 draft.

There were, however, some players who could slip through the cracks and make it to a UFL camp near you in late summer.

Focusing on the running backs from the Senior Bowl, there were three who look like they might have a better shot at starring in the UFL than in the NFL – Wayne State’s Joique Bell, Southern California’s Stafon Johnson and Alabama’s Roy Upchurch. According to nfldraftbible.com, both Johnson and Bell are predicted to be sixth-round picks, while Upchurch isn’t slated to be drafted at all.

As for yesterday’s “Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Challenge” all-star game, here’s a few perhaps-UFL-bound names to remember as we go forward – quarterbacks Tim Hiller (Western Michigan), Jonathon Crompton (Tennessee) and Ryan Perrilloux (Jacksonville State), running backs Toney Baker (North Carolina State) and Trindon Holliday (LSU), wide receiver David Nelson (Florida), defensive end/outside linebacker Alex Daniels (Cincinnati) and kicker Aaron Pettrey (Ohio State).