Transfer Portal: Knights 'Must' Land More DL Talent Before Entering Big 12
Four days ago, an offensive overview of what the Knights needed from the Transfer Portal was published. It was a complete overview from quarterback to offensive line.
Today, a much more position-specific look at the defensive line. Between defensive tackle and defensive end, they might be the positions UCF head coach Gus Malzahn and his staff must hit the hardest moving forward. Here’s a look at the statistics and some of the players expected to be coming back, with thoughts about how to help improve the defensive line overall.
Keep in mind, the Knights have been quite successful with the Transfer Portal to date. Big Kat Bryant (DE - Auburn), Ricky Barber (DT - Western Kentucky), Lee Hunter (DT - Auburn) and K.D. McDaniel (DE - Kentucky) all came to play for the Knights and had success.
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Now, UCF desires another infusion of experienced talent. While one cannot expect to just land a 6-foot-4 and 320-pound behemoth like Hunter, a player that holds NFL aspirations and will be back next fall, adding more size to the middle of the defense has likely already become a prime priority. That’s especially true with how the Knights run defense finished the 2022 season.
The USF and Tulane contests showed the vulnerabilities for the UCF run defense, part of it being up the middle. USF ran for 298 yards and Tulane managed another 254 yards on the ground.
Further, when Hunter and/or Barber were not in the lineup, there’s quite frankly has not been enough quality depth for UCF to enter the 2023 season and consistently compete at a high level in the Big 12.
Make no mistake, defensive tackle help should be priority No. 1 for the Transfer Portal additions for the Knights. There’s also adding different body types at defensive tackle.
The Knights need to be able to rotate even more athletic bodies in the middle of the defensive line. Players that the entire UCF defensive coaching staff trusts to come in for the starters and make plays in the backfield. If that’s a one-gap penetrator, UCF can do well with that type of defensive tackle.
UCF has operated a multiple defensive front (4-2-5 and 3-3-5) and there will likely continue to be a place for a quick and penetrating player. That same style of defensive tackle would also complement Hunter with his size and power, as well as help Barber not see as many double teams, too.
At minimum, UCF should bring in one defensive tackle from the Transfer Portal, and quite frankly, two would be preferred. It’s still not the only concern that comes from the defensive line. UCF only earned 22 sacks from the regular season. That was far below expectations.
While just about every college football program coveted them during the past couple of Transfer Portal cycles and likely will again, UCF absolutely must sign at least one more pure edge rusher.
Giving an experienced quarterback like Heisman finalist Max Duggan even an extra half second of time to complete a pass has shown to lead to touchdowns. He was a big reason that TCU finished No. 3 in the College Football Playoff Rankings and did so with a 12-1 record.
Luckily for UCF, Duggan will move on the National Football League. That does not mean several talented Big 12 quarterbacks will not compete against the Knights. When combining the soon to be Big 12 members into the current group, seven quarterbacks finished in the top 50 in the nation for passing yards per game.
Next fall, UCF will certainly be challenged to bring down the quarterback more often than it did during the regular season. If not, many Big 12 signal callers could go off on the Knights. Looking at the UCF statistics, one player did lead the way off the edge.
Tre’mon Morris-Brash has been expected to return to Orlando for one more season, but the Knights entering the Big 12 in 2023 means needing waves of pass rushers.
Morris-Brash led the Knights with six sacks and 13 tackles for loss, while being second on the team with 53 stops.
He was a good defensive end despite opposing teams having attempted to block him in a myriad of ways to not allow him to beat them. If there would have been more consistent help around Morris-Brash, he could have possibly reached 10 sacks because the protections would not have been as geared to slow him down.
Only four other Knights produced more than one sack, and none of them surpassed three sacks. That was disappointing. It really cost the Knights in some big moments. While the players in coverage certainly deserve some of the blame here (more on that in an upcoming article), edge defenders, and defensive linemen overall, must be able to win more one-on-one pass rushing battles.
Thus, depending on which defensive ends become available in the Transfer Portal, UCF could easily sign two, much like defensive tackle.
In addition to the Transfer Portal additions, UCF needs other returning UCF edge defenders like Josh Celiscar and McDaniel to improve next fall, as well as young prospects like but not limited to Malachi Lawrence, Jamaal Johnson and Keahnist Thompson, to develop and do so quickly.
Overall, two defensive tackles and two defensive ends make sense. Let’s see what the Transfer Portal brings to Orlando.
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