UCF Knights Football: End of Year Offensive Grades for 2024

The UCF Knights closed their football season with a disappointing home loss to Utah 28-14. After a 3-0 start, Colorado humbled the Knights at home, and the season eventually went off the rails. UCF would go on to lose five straight games and eight out of their final nine contests.

There was hope coming into the season, but up-and-down quarterback play was too much to overcome. In their second year in the Big 12, UCF went from winning three conference games to just two in 2024. The Knights blew two leads against top-15 opponents in the fourth quarter and were not competitive in too many games, either.

UCF Knights Offensive Overview

There was hope on offense entering the season, with transfer dual-threat quarterback KJ Jefferson from Arkansas entering the fold. However, after five games he was replaced by freshman Dylan Rizk.

The bright spot for the offense was running back RJ Harvey, who had 22 touchdowns and over 1,500 yards. The passing game never quite took off, but the leading receiver was Kobe Hudson with 770 yards. There was no other receiver that went over 500 yards.

Scoring was not the problem as UCF finished 49th in points per game with 30.4. The Knights had the fifth-ranked rushing attack per game but their passing game was ranked 97th. The offense could not find balance and that led to the disappointing record.

Now that the season is over, let’s look at the grades for each position group in the Knight’s offense.

UCF Knights Offensive Grades

Quarterback

KJ Jefferson: C

UCF has had multiple talented dual threat quarterbacks in their history. So, the addition of KJ Jefferson seemed like a good fit. Unfortunately, he never really found his footing at UCF; and in three of his five games, he threw for less than 200 yards. He did run for 267 yards, but after back-to-back poor showings against Colorado and Florida he was replaced as starter. Jefferson’s completion percentage was only over 60 percent in one contest, and he even struggled against New Hampshire, completing 7-of-14 for 164 yards.

Dylan Rizk: C-

After Jefferson was benched, freshman Dylan Rizk was given the job. He did marginally better in his six games.

Rizk had poor showings against BYU and Utah where he threw for a combined 209 yards. However, against Arizona and Arizona State, he played well. The freshman completed over 70 percent of his passes in both games.

Rizk was less of a running threat than Jefferson, finishing with just 132 yards on 22 attempts in six games.

Running Backs

RJ Harvey: A

RJ Harvey really turned heads with a superb 2024 season. There was a thought he may give up carries to transfer Peny Boone, but that did not happen. Harvey carried the ball 231 times for 1,578 yards and 22 touchdowns. He forced 69 missed tackles and had 54 runs of 10 yards or more. Harvey also had 20 receptions for 267 yards out of the backfield. He finished as the fifth leading rusher in the nation with 131 yards per game. Harvey lead the Big 12 in rushing and was named to the First Team All-Big 12. The running back was one of the few bright spots on the Knights’ offense.

All aboard the RJ Harvey Rocket🚀
RJ Harvey Highlights -> #GoKnights #Big12FB pic.twitter.com/4zLAzK4Kp1

— Big 12 Studios (@big12studios) November 2, 2024

Peny Boone: D

After rushing for over 1,300 yards at Toledo in 2023, Boone looked to form a great one-two punch with RJ Harvey. In 2024, he only played 45 snaps and did not play a game after week six against Florida. The first two games he would have 17 carries for 135 yards but in the next three games would only combine for 73 yards. It was a disappointing fifth year for Boone who was at his third different school.

Wide Receivers

Kobe Hudson : B

After Javon Baker left for the NFL, it was Kobe Hudson’s turn to be the go-to receiver. Despite that, Hudson actually had less yards in 2024 than he had in 2023. He finished with 47 receptions for 770 yards and four touchdowns. Hudson averaged less yards per reception and had four less touchdowns than in 2023. He would also only have three games over 100 yards in 2024.

Hudson’s best game was against TCU, where he finished with six catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns. The quarterback issues did not do Hudson any favors to showcase himself for the NFL. He did receive honorable mention on All Big 12 team.

KOBE HUDSON 🤯#UCF | #RatedProspect

pic.twitter.com/ZbLr1d28vl

— The Draft Network (@TheDraftNetwork) November 10, 2024

Jacoby Jones: C+

Jacoby Jones had a very good 2022 season at Ohio with 44 catches for 781 yards but an injury in his second year would cost him most of the year. In 2024, he transferred to UCF looking for a new start. He only would be targeted 35 times and caught 22 for 327 yards and two touchdowns. With that said, he picked up near the end of the season with back-to-back 100-yard games against BYU and Arizona.

Tight Ends

Randy Pittman Jr.: B+

Randy Pittman Jr. had the second-most targets on UCF and was the second leading receiver for the Knights. Pittman is an athletic receiving threat and found most of his production 10-19 yards down the field. He was able to play out wide, inline and also in the slot. He only blocked on 60 percent of his snaps but did have an impressive 72.4 grade on pass blocking by PFF. He decided to hit the transfer portal and is moving on to play at Florida State next year.

Evan Morris: C-

Morris played 264 offensive snaps and blocked 80 percent of his time on the field. He only had four targets in 11 games and caught two of them for only 10 yards. Morris was mostly used as a second tight end to block and had mediocre grades by PFF. He scored a 63.3 in run-blocking and a 55.0 in pass-blocking.

Offensive Line  

Unit Grade: B-

When you have as good of a running game as UCF did then the offensive line must have been doing a pretty good job. The Knights were fifth in rushing yards per game and also in rushing yards per attempt in 5.77 per rush. The line finished 78th in sacks allowed (28) and 55th in tackles for loss (66).  PFF graded the top five lineman for UCF pretty well in pass blocking but the run blocking was up and down across the board.