(STATS) - Keeping the dream alive.

Nearly 150 former FCS-level players will play a key role in the XFL draft Tuesday and Wednesday.

A pool of about 1,000 players have been announced for eight new franchises to populate 71-player rosters through the draft. Selections will be made on XFL.com and league and team social media channels.

Notable former FCS standouts include quarterbacks Vad Lee of James Madison, Drew Anderson of Murray State and Peter Pujals of Holy Cross; running backs Khalid Abdullah of James Madison, Dom Bragalone of Lehigh, De'Angelo Henderson of Coastal Carolina and Lenard Tillery of Southern; and offensive linemen Daniel Cooney of San Diego and Matt Schmidt of Furman.

Also, defensive linemen Andrew Ankrah of James Madison, Roderick Henderson of Alabama State, Eric Jackson of Central Arkansas and Victor Ochi of Stony Brook; linebackers Patrick Afriyie of Colgate, Ed Shockley of Villanova and Davis Tull of Chattanooga; and defensive backs Malik Reaves of Villanova and C.J. Smith of North Dakota State.

Prior to the draft, one quarterback will be assigned to each team, then the teams will be given up to 1 minute, 30 seconds to make each selection from a set of positional groupings: skill players (quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends); offensive linemen; defensive front seven (defensive linemen and linebackers); defensive backfield; and open draft (all remaining players after positional drafts plus place-kickers, punters and long snappers).

The eight franchises are the Dallas Renegades, DC Defenders, Houston Roughnecks, Los Angeles Wildcats, New York Guardians, Seattle Dragons, St. Louis BattleHawks and Tampa Bay Vipers. Oliver Luck is the XFL commissioner.