{"id":343690,"date":"2026-07-17T18:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/343690\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:15:20","slug":"ucf-builds-on-strong-experienced-cornerbacks-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/343690\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF builds on strong, experienced cornerbacks unit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ninth in a position-by-position preview of the UCF<\/a> football team heading into fall camp:<\/p>\n

TODAY: CORNERBACKS<\/p>\n

What to expect<\/p>\n

New cornerbacks coach David Overstreet II<\/a> inherits a veteran unit that returns a pair of starters in Jayden Bellamy and Antione Jackson. Bellamy was the highest-graded cornerback on the roster (77.8) last season, according to Pro Football Focus. The redshirt junior ranked fourth in the Big 12 among cornerbacks in passes defended (8). Jackson, meanwhile, ranked seventh on the team in tackles (39) and second behind Bellamy on pass breakups with five.<\/p>\n

D.J. Bell played a large role as a reserve last season, appearing in 11 games, mostly at wide corner, where he recorded 17 tackles and four pass breakups.<\/p>\n

Transfer Jailen Duffie made 20 career starts in three seasons at North Dakota State, finishing with 42 tackles, 5 passes defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Duffie was the second-highest graded cornerback on a team that finished 12-1.<\/p>\n

True freshmen Elijah Keys and Amarion Queen will provide some much-needed depth, as will redshirt freshman Rukheen Stroud, who returns after spending last season with the Knights.<\/p>\n

What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest thing is they care how much you know until they know how much you care. I really want to show my players I actually truly care about them. Not just a number. I don\u2019t care about No. 7. I care about Antione Jackson. When you have that investment in your players, you can coach a player to the depth of your relationship. So, the deeper the relationship is, the more you coach that player.\u201d \u2014 UCF cornerbacks coach David Overstreet II on his coaching philosophy.<\/p>\n

Returnees<\/p>\n

Jayden Bellamy
Antione Jackson
DJ Bell
Rukeem Stroud<\/p>\n

Arrivals<\/p>\n

Jailen Duffie (North Dakota State), redshirt junior
Elijah Keys (Duncan U. Fletcher High), freshman
Amarion Queen (Martin County High), freshman<\/p>\n

Departures<\/p>\n

Jyaire Brown (transfer to Southern Miss): 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 BRKUP
Ja\u2019Cari Henderson (transfer to Appalachian State): 3 tackles
Chase Jarrett (transfer to Colgate)
Terrell Jackson (TBD)
Isaiah Reed (eligibility): 1 tackle<\/p>\n

Projected depth chart<\/p>\n

CB1 \u2014 Jayden Bellamy
CB1 \u2014 Antione Jackson
CB2 \u2014 DJ Bell
CB2 \u2014 Jailen Duffie<\/p>\n

Previous<\/p>\n

Quarterback<\/a>
Running back<\/a>
Wide receiver<\/a>
Tight end<\/a>
Offensive line<\/a>
Interior defensive line<\/a>
Edge<\/a>
Linebacker<\/a><\/p>\n

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>. Sign up for the Sentinel\u2019s Knights Weekly<\/a> newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ninth in a position-by-position preview of the UCF football team heading into fall camp: TODAY: CORNERBACKS What…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[111,28,114,1335,139,141,140,76046,110,3865],"class_list":["post-343690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-college-sports","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social-sports","tag-sports","tag-ucf-knights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}