UCF Football: Can Jaden Nixon carve out a major role in the Knights offense?

Entering the 2025, the UCF Knights will look to replace the production of RJ Harvey, who was taken in the second round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. One potential option for UCF is redshirt senior Jaden Nixon, who has a chance to shine this upcoming season.

UCF Football: Who is Jaden Nixon?

Jaden Nixon was a three-star prospect out of Frisco, Texas, in the 2021 recruiting class. He was the 67th-ranked RB in the 247 composite and was just inside the top-1000 prospects of his class. In his senior year at Lone Star High School, Nixon ran for 783 yards with 15 touchdowns. He also hauled in 29 receptions for 283 yards and five receiving touchdowns. Nixon would commit to Oklahoma State and spend three years there, but only rushed for 500 yards.

He would decide to move on from the Cowboys and join Western Michigan in 2024. That proved to be a good decision, as he had his best season of his career.

Nixon ran for 925 yards with 12 rushing touchdowns and averaged 6.4 yards per carry. He was not involved much in the passing game and had his lowest receiving total since his freshman year. Nixon would enter the transfer portal after one year, and deciding on UCF and playing for Scott Frost.

In spring practices, he has shown off his receiving skills out of the backfield and should see a big role in the passing game.

Positional Outlook

RJ Harvey is off to the NFL, and his production will be hard to replace. Harvey had over 1,800 total yards and 25 touchdowns a year ago. Peny Boone, the fourth-leading rusher from a year ago, is also gone.

Currently, redshirt senior Myles Montgomery looks to be the leader of the running back committee. Montgomery finished with 293 yards and three touchdowns in his first year with the Knights in 2024.

Jaden Nixon looks to be the 1B to Montgomery, but could take most of the passing work. Montgomery has only nine receptions in three years at Cincinnati and UCF. Scott Frost likes to use multiple backs, and it looks like that will not change going forward.

After Montgomery and Nixon, redshirt freshman Stacy Gage and four-star freshman Taevion Swint will push for playing time. Gage did not play his freshman year but has shown flashes in spring practice. Swint was just outside the top-300 players in the 2024 recruiting class, but has dealt with injuries so far in the Spring.

Strengths and Areas of Improvement

Jaden Nixon is a slashing back with elite speed. He had a touchdown run of 92 yards last year and 16 of his runs were 15 yards or more in 2024.

66 YARDS FOR 6! @Jusynixon | @WMU_Football | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/LGiaDeGpYV

— MACtion (@MACSports) November 7, 2024

Nixon shows good vision and patience in following blocks. He has good contact balance to take a hit and stay on his feet, forcing 34 missed tackles last year.

Nixon is not the biggest back at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds. However, he shows good power for his size. At Western Michigan, he was able to average 4.57 yards after contact.

Another strength is his receiving ability out of the backfield. Nixon has averaged over nine yards after the catch throughout his career. In the spring at UCF, he has shown the ability to take short passes for long gains.

JADEN NIXON WOULD NOT BE DENIED 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ESVDzAiw6m

— ESPN (@espn) October 19, 2024

Nixon has struggled in pass protection and needs to improve to be able to stay on field consistently on third down. He has not shown the ability to be a bell cow back, with only two games last year with more than 14 carries.

At Western Michigan he was able to get in the open field very quickly, he will have to do that consistently against better competition.

2025 Outlook in the UCF Offense

Nixon and Montgomery look to be the two lead backs of the offense. However, Taevion Swint could earn more carries as the season goes along.

When Scott Frost coached the Knights in 2017, UCF had a multiple backs utilized in the offense – with three backs having more than 60 attempts. With that in mind, it bodes well that Nixon will see proper utilization this season.

While Montgomery is the more powerful runner between the tackles, Nixon looks to be the change of pace back. He is the most accomplished receiver on the roster, and could hit around 30 receptions for this season.

The dual threat ability at quarterback for UCF should help all the running backs get into open space. The question will be how the passing game will progress to keep defenses honest. Regardless, the UCF offense could see Jaden Nixon featured frequently this season; and that could spell good things for Knights fans this year.