UCF Football: Can Dylan Wade boost the Knights’ TE room?

There is a lot of inexperience in the receiving room for the UCF Knights. Head coach Scott Frost saw the need for receivers and targeted them heavily in the transfer portal. One player that looked to be a big contributor was Ric’Darious Farmer from West Virginia, but he suffered an injury and will miss the rest of the year. Most of the offense will be new in 2025, and UCF has a very talented tight end room to help their new quarterback. One of the tight ends that should see a big target share in 2025 is Dylan Wade.

UCF Football: Who is Dylan Wade?

Dylan Wade was a three-star prospect out of Orlando, Florida, who committed to Maryland in the 2023 recruiting class. He was the 24th-ranked athlete in his class and played defensive end and tight end in high school.

In his freshman year, he only played seven games but caught two touchdowns on only four catches. Wade saw a big uptick in playing time in 2024, playing 506 snaps compared to only 172 in 2023. He would catch 29 of his 43 targets for 374 yards and two touchdowns.

Wade did not see consistent targets at Maryland. He had three or fewer targets in seven games for the Terrapins. On top of that, 11 of his 29 catches came in two games against USC and Rutgers.

Positional Outlook

There may not be a ton of experience in the UCF tight end room, but there is plenty of athletic ability.  Dylan Wade has the most experience, but only has 395 total yards so far in his college career.

Kylen Fox was a four-star prospect in the 2024 class, but last year only had three receptions for the Knights. And in this year’s class, Scott Frost was able to bring in Caden Piening, another big tight end at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds.

Thomas Wadsworth is a redshirt junior who has also shown good things in the spring to compete for playing time.

There will be plenty of competition at the tight end position. However, Wade looks to have a small lead after the spring. This was not how you drew it up, but you see the athleticism for Wade on this touchdown from a tipped pass.

2025 Outlook in the UCF Offense

No one really knows how the offense will look for Scott Frost’s return to UCF. Yet in 2017, tight end Jordin Akins was third on the team in receptions and yards.

New offensive coordinator Steve Cooper was an offensive analyst with Boise State last year and Broncos tight end Matt Lauter was second on the team in receptions and targets. With that in mind, it’s fair to say both Frost and Cooper will look to incorporate the position in the UCF offense.

Even in a spread offense, there can be multiple tight ends on the field. With question marks at the receiver position, the team may lean on the tight end position early on.

From watching the open practices, it looks like Wade and Fox will lead the group. Both are good in space and are a matchup nightmare up the seams. The quarterbacks looked more comfortable throwing in the middle of the field and the big targets allowed for big gains.

The offense also showed a lot of misdirection looking to get their tight ends open in the flat and with room to run. Wade only averaged 5.7 yards after the catch last year but has ability after the catch much like a receiver. The offense looks to be tailored to his strengths and his arrival to Orlando could lead to a big season in the Big 12 in 2025.