Senior Evaluation: 2022 UCF Commitment Quan Lee

A look at UCF wide receiver commitment Quan Lee brings to the Knights.

Brian Smith | Dec 7, 2021

One of UCF’s top 2022 recruits is Quan Lee, a receiver that’s a big play waiting to happen. Watching his junior film, seeing him live during seven-on-seven play and during the 2021 regular season, and now watching his playoff film helps to define him and his progress as a player.

There’s much to like about what he does on the football field. The Knights will be bringing in a player that can make a plethora of plays as a wide receiver or as a punt and kickoff return specialist.

Quan Lee

Vitals: 5’11”, 175 pounds

Position: Wide Receiver

School: Gainesville (Fla.) Buchholz

Recruitment: Committed to UCF on Aug. 31. Earned offers from programs around the country, and originally committed to Miami. Lee was a prime target for the Knights when he committed and he’s one of the centerpieces of the recruiting class.

Frame

Lean muscular build; stout despite being just 175 pounds. Lee has a well balanced weight distribution from head-to-toe.

Athleticism

As laterally quick with the football in his hands as any player in Florida. Explosive leaper. Dynamic acceleration that transcends to making catches others simply cannot reach let alone catch. Stop-and-start ability is tremendous.

Competitiveness

Point blank, it would be very hard to find a more competitive person than Lee. He’s absolutely a player that wants to win each repetition. More specifically, it does not matter if he’s playing cornerback or wide receiver, Lee wants to dominate. That’s also the case with his ability to make plays in the return game as he’s a big-time punt return specialist as well.

As for the skills that Lee continues to improve, there’s one that definitely shows itself within his senior film.

Finding the Soft Spot in the Zone

Teaching a young receiver to “sit down” in the zone means being an equal distance between two zone defenders, allowing the quarterback the best opportunity to complete a pass and also allow that player a chance to gain yards thereafter.

Lee really sped up his ability to find the in between areas of a zone, and it allowed quarterback Creed Whittemore excellent opportunities to find his favorite target. Lee’s ability to continue learning zone coverages, combination coverages (zone to one side and man to the other) will benefit him in playing early for UCF.

For a high school senior, he’s well on his way to where he needs to be. Good for him to learn how to find those soft spots and make plays with the football after the catch. It took his receiving game to another level.

Deep Ball Receptions

One of the best plays from Lee’s senior season was an over-the-shoulder catch against Nease High School during the 7A State Playoffs. The pass came to him on his outside shoulder towards the sideline, as it should have, and Lee kept running through the catch.

Many wide receivers slow down when they have to look back over their shoulder. Lee did not hesitate and made a tremendous play. Watching that particular play adds to a fantastic collection of post routes, corner routes, and routes with double moves that Lee knows how to run in addition to the go route mentioned directly above.

UCF has a tremendous history of speed receivers, and Lee will add to that tradition. He could make an impact in that department as early as 2022.

Area to Improve - Stacking Cornerbacks

Because of his speed, not many high school teams really came after Lee with bump-and-run coverage. That’s an area that he will encounter more within the college ranks at UCF.

It’s as simple as him respecting his craft by way of working with UCF cornerbacks, many of which can be quite physical. The more Lee learns about tendencies with cornerbacks that want to play him at the line of scrimmage, the more likely he will be to not only catch the football, but score touchdowns.

To accomplish that task, he needs to be able to use his body as a shield. There’s an art to stacking a cornerback that plays bump-and-run coverage. It’s an acquired skill that even NFL Pro Bowl wide receivers continue to hone throughout their professional careers.

The objective is to use not only the quickness of a receiver’s feet, but also the hands to quickly move past the cornerback and then be directly in front of him so that those over-the-shoulder deep balls are easier to catch, as well as selecting where he wants to go during any given route.

After doing that a time or two during a game, opposing defensive coordinators will likely call off tight coverage which allows for shorter routes to lead to a lot of easy passing yards.

Lee has the talent and mindset to be an excellent route runner and do so quickly. He already knows the skill of stacking, and once at UCF he will be challenged more and more during practices to help him grow as a route runner even further than he is now.

UCF Commitment Quan Lee against Nease High School. @QuanLee_5 https://t.co/ZC5Vt61UdW #hudl
— Inside The Knights (@UCF_FanNation) December 7, 2021

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