UCF Spring Football: Key Position Battles You Must See

The UCF Knights are starting a new chapter with a familiar face. Scott Frost looks to bring UCF back to prominence after two subpar years in the Big 12. The Knights will have many new faces in 2025, as some leave for the transfer portal and others to the NFL. Many have high expectations from what coach Frost did before he left. Should there be patience or can a new voice make a contender right away? One thing’s for certain, there are plenty of position battles that will help make things interesting this season. Let’s look at some position battles to keep an eye on before the end of spring football for the UCF Knights.

UCF Knights: Position Battles To Watch

Quarterback

UCF will have a spread attack under Scott Frost, but it is unknown how much the quarterback will be running the ball. Frost was only the coach for two years at UCF, when Mckenzie Milton was the quarterback. In 2016, Milton had 100 attempts for 158 yards with two touchdowns. Yet vastly improved in 2017, where Milton acquired 106 carries for 613 yards and eight touchdowns.

This year things are a little different. The competition will have four quarterbacks, with two from last year’s roster and two incoming transfers.

Dylan Rizk

Dylan Rizk played six games in 2024 and started four of them. His completion percentage was 60.5, as he threw for 904 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. However, one of those interceptions was costly in a game against Utah that UCF could not come back from.

As a runner, Rizk had only 22 rushing attempts for 132 yards. At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Rizk has a frame that should allow for contact if he must become a dual threat option.

Jacurri Brown

Jacurri Brown transferred to UCF last season after two years with Miami. He only threw 68 passes last year and had four interceptions to only one interception. Brown was used more as a runner, and had 49 attempts for 426 yards and four touchdowns. The transfer quarterback needs to improve in his accuracy, but is a playmaker running the ball. Could Brown be used again as a change of pace quarterback?

Tayven Jackson

Tayven Jackson was a top-15 quarterback recruit in the 2022 class before transferring to Tennessee. He would only stay there his first year and move on to Indiana. In two years at Indiana, Jackson only threw 166 passes for 1,267 yards. He also threw six touchdowns and interceptions. Jackson started one game last year against Washington with minimal passing success, but did lead the Hoosiers to a victory. The quarterback is very athletic, but has only rushed for 77 yards in his career. There is potential but he will need to show that he can win the starting job.

Cam Fancher

Cam Fancher will also be on his third team in college. He played at Marshall for two years and then was at FAU last year. He is the most accomplished runner in the quarterback room. Fancher has 1,522 rush yards in his career with eight touchdowns and has a 5.5 average per attempt.

However, Fancher has struggled with decision making as a passer. He has 27 touchdowns to 23 interceptions, and his completion percentage has been under 60 percent in three out of four years.

Running Back

UCF has had some great running backs the past few years and 2024 was no different. RJ Harvey was the Knights’ engine on the offense, with over 1,800 total yards and 25 touchdowns.

However, this year, there is only one running back returning that has any experience. Under Frost, UCF average 40 rushing attempts per game, so the offense will need to find players to carry the load. Frost used a multi-back system last time he was at UCF, so it will be interesting if the workload will be split up again.

Myles Montgomery

Myles Montgomery was a lower ranked recruit out of Jacksonville that committed to Cincinnati but transferred to UCF last year. He looks to be the front runner with 51 attempts for 293 yards and three touchdowns last year. He only has nine receptions in his career so he has not shown to be much of a receiver in his career. Montgomery average 3.5 yards after contact and had eight runs of 10 yards or more.

Jaden Nixon 

Jaden Nixon played three years at Oklahoma State but only rushed for 500 yards in that time. In 2024, he transferred to Western Michigan and had his best year by far. He finished with 925 yards, 12 touchdowns, and averaged over six yards per carry. Nixon has more receiving reps with 44 catches in four years for 273 yards. He is explosive and 61% of his runs were over 15 yards in 2024. Nixon is also able to fight through contact and has over four yards after contact throughout his career.

Taevion Swint

Taevion Swint is an incoming freshman out of Kissimmee, FL that has enrolled early. He was the 23rd ranked running back in the 2025 class. His best year was in 2022 with over 1,600 yards and 20 touchdowns. He has similar size to Jaden Nixon and ran track in high school. With Swint being in the first Frost recruiting class, he may be able to get on the field early in his career.

Wide Receiver

The passing game for UCF was not overly impressive last year but they are still losing three of the top four in targets from last year. Jacoby Jones is the only returning receiver with over 20 targets from year ago. There is uncertainty but plenty of targets to go around. There are some talented transfers and incoming recruits that could get playing time right away.

Duane Thomas 

Duane Thomas is transferring to UCF after two years at Charlotte. He played sparingly in 2024 but had 24 receptions for 244 yards in his freshman season. He will compete for the slot position.

RicDarious Farmer 

Another competitor for the slot, RicDarious Farmer transferred from West Virginia after only one year. He played 10 games with the Mountaineers, but only had six receptions on 10 targets for 54 yards. He is a former four-star recruit and was ranked as the 34th-best player in Florida and the 46th ranked wide receiver. In high school, he was best in the middle of the field and was good after the catch.

Marcus Burke 

Marcus Burke is a former four-star wide receiver from the 2021 class who has been at Florida the last four years. He only has 43 targets and 19 catches for 270 yards in four years. It is not a huge sample size but he only has three drops and has a 50 percent contested catch rate.  He has good size at 6-foot-3 and will be in the competition for the spot opposite Jacoby Jones.

DJ Black 

DJ Black first started at South Carolina but did not see any game time action. In 2023 he transferred to Limestone and had eight receptions for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Black had a big increase in production in 2024 with 939 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had his best game against Barton with 153 yards. Can Black make the jump in competition? He has good size at 6-foot-3 and his tape shows the ability to win right away off the line of scrimmage.

Carl Jenkins Jr.

Carl Jenkins Jr. enrolled early after reaffirming his commitment to UCF and looks to be in line for early playing time. He played basketball in high school and uses that to his advantage. Jenkins has speed to win on short passes but also knows how to use his frame against smaller defenders. He has strong hands to snag the ball and could be a playmaker early on. Check out my interview with Carl Jenkins to get to know more about him.

Cornerback

The Knights will have to find replacements in the spring for the loss of Mac McWilliams and Brandon Adams. They accounted for two of the top three in snap count at the CB position.

However, UCF did get good news, as Chasen Johnson decided to not transfer. Johnson looks to have leg up on the CB1 position and had three passes defended last year.

Jayden Bellamy

Jayden Bellamy played two years at Syracuse and mostly lined up on the outside. He had three interceptions and six passes defended in two years. According to PFF his coverage grade has been above 72 in both years at Syracuse. Bellamy also graded well in tackling. He should be a great addition and compete for instant playing time.

DJ Bell 

DJ Bell was at Memphis for three years but played very little his freshman season. Bell logged over 500 total snaps the following two seasons, with two interceptions and three passes defended.

According to PFF, Bell had a big jump in coverage production. From 2023 to 2024, he increased his overall grade from 55 to 76 – which fans must like to see.  Bell only allowed 42 percent completion rate when targeted in 2024.

Jyaire Brown 

Jyaire Brown was a top-200 recruit in 2022, but has underperformed so far in his career. He had a promising freshman season at Ohio State playing 195 snaps. However, that drastically decreased with only 48 snaps played in 2023. Brown then transferred to LSU in 2024, but only had 34 snaps and in four games.

Hopefully, the third time will be the charm for Brown. Last year, he played 27 of his 34 snaps in the slot, but at Ohio State he was primarily playing outside. It will be interesting where the UCF coaching staff puts Brown. His versatility should allow him to compete at both inside and outside.

Ja’Cari Henderson and Antoine Jackson

Both Henderson and Jackson are the only other cornerbacks with over 100 snaps from last year. They both primarily played outside and gave up six touchdowns between them. Their coverage grades were both under 54 on PFF, so they will both need to improve to keep the transfer players from overtaking them.