Talking Defensive Expectations as UCF's Spring Practice Approaches

Can the UCF Knights produce a defense that can be feared in 2022?

Brian Smith | Feb 14, 2022

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UCF Knights

ORLANDO - UCF Football has made a major turn for the better with its defense in 2021. The defensive side of the football saw vast improvement in the secondary during the back half of the 2021 season, and the pass rush really came on as well. With critical recruiting “hits” from both the high school ranks and the Transfer Portal, the 2022 defense has a chance to be good, if not special.

Will it be?

There are still concerns, but also time to fix the situation through preparation and practice. Here’s a look at the defensive expectations coming into the 2022 spring practice for the Knights.

Secondary Must Lead the Way

There are more players in the back end of the defense with experience than just about any other program in the country. Long, athletic and now with that valuable experience, this group needs to start taking the football away from opposing teams.

Last season, only one full-time UCF cornerback – Davonte Brown – intercepted a pass for the Knights. Too many dropped interception opportunities, and a few more passes could have been “jumped” as well. Now, Dyllon Lester and Justin Hodges also picked off passes, but they both moved all around the secondary (actually a good sign – versatility is key). This next season, at minimum, UCF’s cornerbacks need to push towards 10 interceptions as an entire group. Why?

As stated above, talent and experience. There’s not much this group has not seen. Those experiences are going to be tested during spring ball and it’s going to be a sign of whether or not the actual 2022 season comes any place close to reaching 10 picks in a season, just from the cornerbacks. There are no more excuses about experience. As for the safeties, this is the variable.

Will the defensive coaching staff move the safeties down in the box more because of the experience and talent at the cornerback position? If yes, that’s probably fewer interceptions for them, but also could lead to even better run defensive statistics. To be balanced, the better expectation for the safeties will come from the following.

Big plays. Whether it’s a key fourth down and one stop in the backfield from Divaad Wilson or a deflected pass from Quadric Bullard or another safety, it’s all about big plays. While cover skills are coveted, being physical and helping the front seven with the run game more than during previous seasons is a true expectation. The cornerback talent will help to allow for that.

Projection: UCF will start playing more Cover One, i.e. man-up at cornerback and say “beat us” with safeties playing a diverse role on any one given play behind the cornerbacks. Sure, there will be plenty of zone coverage mixed in, but the cornerbacks give UCF a chance to run some in-your-face defense that’s just not been there all that often in the past few seasons.

This will lead to more interceptions and a chance for the downhill defensive mentality that the UCF coaching staff would like to consistently put into place as the program adds more and more talent to the secondary.

Nationally, it’s going to be interesting to see what the pundits say when they see UCF’s secondary challenge talented teams like Louisville or SMU or Cincinnati with its cornerbacks.

Linebacker Has Question Marks, But Big-time Talent

The arrival of Terrence Lewis adds the type of athleticism that’s rarely seen at the linebacker position. He’s long, fast, physical, and possesses an impeccable knack of when and where to attack the line of scrimmage. In short, Lewis brings incredible skills to Orlando by way of the University of Maryland and Miami (Fla.) Central.

The Transfer Portal addition of Lewis, combined with the returning talents of Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, gives the Knights a great one-two punch. The depth and exactly where the linebackers line up is a bit of a question mark, especially within the nickel and dime packages. Thus, there’s simply too much guessing right now for a good projection. Need to see how spring practice shakes out first.

To that end, UCF needs to add at least one more linebacker from the Transfer Portal prior to the 2022 fall camp beginning. UCF’s linebacker depth chart is ultra thin. Without more additions, there are going to be freshmen playing in the middle of the defense and that rarely works out for any program, Alabama included. Seeing spring ball first, then beginning to make more definitive calculations, makes the most sense.

Down in the Trenches

Point blank, UCF needs Auburn transfer Lee Hunter Healthy. They also need everyone else healthy. This is not a complete unit quite yet, but getting very close. What’s a complete unit? Depth, depth, and more depth.

Defensive players chase the football. Therefore, they burn more calories. That’s why defensive coaches almost always try to rotate bodies early and often during a game (especially in cities like Orlando where UCF plays – humidity!). The Knights will be formidable with returning players like Ricky Barber and Cam Goode in the middle, plus Hunter, among others. At defensive end/outside linebacker, Tre’mon Morris-Brash and Josh Celiscar lead the way, but there’s also Landon Woodson and Kentucky transfer K.D. McDaniel.

How well these players blend together and understand blitz calls, over-under alignments, and other strategic alignments and concepts will likely determine how impactful they are as a group. There’s a chance for a lot of sacks with the athleticism the Knights possess along this front. Now spring ball is the defining point. Much like cornerback, this is an experienced group.

The expectation is to push for 35 or more sacks. Yes, that would be a high projection. The UCF defense produced 36 as a team last season. The total of 35 is just for the front four. Tough to get there? You bet. Possible? Absolutely. Morris-Brash might be the most gifted athlete on the team. He should reach 10 sacks, at bare minimum, by himself.

With Hunter being double teamed (good luck to teams that do not double team the 320-pound big man), that means the other players are one-on-one. That’s going to be fun to watch in spring and more so in the fall.

The run defense will be good. Mark that down. Second year for the defensive scheme so players will know more and be comfortable. The physical skill is also really good across the entire front. UCF should hold teams to 120-130 yards per game, if not even less.

Last season, injuries and a lack of true depth along the defensive line saw UCF get hammered against good running teams during some games. That’s not as likely in 2022. It all starts with Hunter in the middle, and then everyone one else tees off. UCF’s front four should be really good.

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