Evaluating the UCF Roster, Forecasting Recruiting Needs
ORLANDO - UCF currently holds 12 commitments. How many more will the Knights add to the recruiting class?
There’s much more to consider with recruiting than ever before. There’s the need to understand how many players from the transfer portal will be added, the possibilities for junior college additions, and there’s the new rule from the NCAA that impacts each FBS program.
That rule will allow up to seven additional players to come from the high school ranks, as long as a school such as UCF loses a player to the transfer portal. In short, up to seven transfers can be replaced by seven high school players, allowing for the possibility of signing more than 25 prospects overall, the usual limit per NCAA rules.
Before going into the podcast with details about each position, a couple of points to make. There is a change with defensive football. Everything is based on personnel packages nowadays. The need for additional numbers on defense is evident.
There’s a nickel package, a dime package, defensive ends that move inside during passing downs, safeties that move to linebacker in certain circumstances, and of course just volume that’s needed at a premium position like cornerback, a position the Knights need to stack with more talent to begin with.
If UCF coaches could clone Apopka (Fla.) High School cornerback commitment Nikai Martinez it likely would. Take three a year and move on. That's how valuable cornerbacks are to a football team, and that does not take into account any of the other defensive positions.
UCF would love to add another hybrid linebacker/safety like TJ Bullard from Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep. Same idea as will Martinez. The Knights need talent and volume.
While the UCF recruiting class needs more offensive players as well, defense will likely be the focus from this point all the way through the Dec. 15 national signing date for high school and junior college players.
As a projection, look for UCF to sign at least 20 combined high school and junior college players, and then there are the college transfers to consider as well. This class could push 25, perhaps 30 players. Much depends on the number of players that look to transfer out of UCF first. Keep that in mind.
Here’s today’s version of The Daily Knight further breaking down the UCF recruiting needs:
For UCF insights, college football news, and recruiting information go to: The Daily Knight podcast. It will be found on iTunes and Spotify. For more UCF and recruiting information, go to Twitter: @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation, as well as my YouTube Channel and Instagram page. Like and Subscribe!
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