UCF's wide receiver room is a complete reset.
Every receiver who caught a pass in 2024 has moved on, whether through graduation or the transfer portal. Tasked with rebuilding the position is a familiar face: Sean Beckton, a UCF Hall of Famer who Scott Frost has also elevated to associate head coach.
The current group includes a few older players by way of the portal, plus some youth aiming to get in the mix.
"It's been good," Beckton said, reflecting on the first part of spring practice. "The guys are working hard. We've got a long way to go with them. You know, it's an inexperienced group. Some guys have really showed that they can help us. Some guys we're still trying to figure out, if they're going to be able to help us this year. But we're pushing hard and grinding them every day.
"Coach Frost, he's going to get the maximum out of the offense and really the whole team. And we're excited. Every day we come out trying to get better."
Though a different position, Beckton is reminded of when he was coaching UCF's defensive backs in 2009 and had a near turnover of the room following the graduation of Joe Burnett, Johnell Neal, Sha'Reff Rashad and Jason Venson.
"I had all those young DBs with AJ Bouye and Kemal Ishmael," Beckton said. "All those guys, they were our best players, so they had to play. So we ended up grinding them up at corner and in a safety spot and put them in tough situations in fall camp. And then the first three games was kind of (a learning curve). And then as they figured it out, the rest is history. Those guys played. A lot of those guys had good careers here and played in the NFL.
"We're going to find the best guys out of that group. And then the only way they can get better is actually doing it. And once we get into a situation where we have more teams, more scrimmage stuff, get the feel of that, I think we'll see those guys progress really well."
This time, Beckton wasn't sure what to expect once he got on the field. He's been pleasantly surprised.
"They're faster than I initially thought," he said. "They understand that they need to be pushed a little bit more. But they've taken some really, really good coaching so far. I really like the passion they have. Every day they show up with bright eyes and they ask good questions. Sometimes you get guys in there to ask questions just to ask them.
"We've got a lot of stuff we're trying to do offensively, trying to figure out what we want to do with this bunch, so it's kind of a process. But they're taking it in every day. Things change on them, and they make the adjustment really quick."
Catching is just one part of the equation. If you're going to play receiver for Beckton, you're going to have to block.
"One of the first clips I showed those guys when I got here was the Fiesta Bowl game where Rannell Hall, Josh Reese, JJ Worton, Taylor Oldham, Breshad Perriman and all those guys were blocking downfield to really, really take that game over. I said this is the mentality we must have in the receiving room. We're going to bring that back. Thus far, I've seen it. Not where I want it yet. Obviously, we're still young in the spring, but they're getting to understand what I want on every single play.
UCF does return a few freshman receivers who spent last year on the scout team.
"I really like all the young guys that were here last year," Beckton said. "(Bredell) Richardson has shown some things. The walk-on kid, Caleb Rollerson, has shown some promise. (Jordyn) Bridgewater was here. Those guys I've kind of been around a little bit last year.
The portal additions are also impressing.
"One of the guys that's new and really has taken off is DayDay Farmer," Beckton said. "I'm really excited about him. Then DJ Black and Duane Thomas. You throw all those guys, and Marcus Burke too that just got here from the transfer portal, and I'm really excited about them."
DayDay Farmer, who at one point had committed to UCF in high school, comes back home after one season at West Virginia in which he caught six passes for 54 yards.
DJ Black played last season at Division II Limestone where he earned Honorable Mention All-American honors after catching 41 passes for 939 yards and 11 touchdowns, an average of nearly 23 yards per reception.
Duane Thomas, a transfer from Charlotte, had a much better 2023 when he caught 24 passes for 244 yards
"Those guys have had their great days, and then some days they kind of look like, well, we've got some more work to do," Beckton said. "So that's the process. We've got a lot of offensive stuff that we're trying to figure out with them. Everything's new to everybody, so I'm not concerned at all."
Black, a native of South Carolina, chose UCF over Michigan State in the portal.
"Well, right now I'm still trying to figure out how he rolls," Beckton said. "I've got to press him a little bit more. Some of the things that I'm trying to get accomplished with him, sinking his hips. He's a long strider. He's fast. Everybody knows he's fast. So I don't really spend as much time with him with the vertical stuff.
"I'm just trying to get him to concentrate a little bit more, get in and out of breaks, create some separation there. But he's gotten better in the first five days."
Thomas, who is originally from Miami, has been a nice surprise. Beckton said his nickname is 'Speedy.'
"Right now so far he's probably been one of my most consistent guys," Beckton said. "I'm really, really happy that he's here. He's really been a spark plug for our room. He's always got that high energy, passionate about himself. We've got him playing a little bit of slot. We can eventually move him around where he can play outside, which I'm doing a little bit with him this week where he's playing outside at Z and X.
"So I told him, 'You're a slot right now, but I'm going to have to put you in some situations outside to get you the ball there too.' But he's been really, really good. I'm excited to continue to work with him."
Bredell Richardson was one of UCF's bigger recruit signees in the 2024 class. Teammates raved about his circus catch ability last spring and preseason, though he was unable to crack the depth chart.
"I've been on Bredell since last year about playing harder," Beckton said. "He's starting to show a little bit. Once he figures out that he can go at a faster clip, he has that monotone tempo that he tries to play with, and I'm on him every single day.
"He's probably got the best hands out of the group. Hopefully, he continues to progress. Right now, I told him in yesterday's meeting that I was proud of how much he's taken to coaching, and he just said, 'Yes, sir.'
"I'm excited to see where he's going to end up here at the end of the spring. Right now, he's making some plays out there. It's kind of caught Coach Frost's eye. I've just got to keep him going forward, understanding that he's got to play every single rep like his hair is on fire."
UCF has a pair of true freshman receivers that enrolled in January: Waden Charles and Carl Jenkins Jr.
"Waden Charles has done extremely well," Beckton said. "I'm really excited about how well he's picked up the game. He's been faster than I thought he would be, watching him on tape.
Pleasant, understands everything. He's one of those guys I was talking about, about questions. He asks great questions on everything he's doing.
"And then Carl Jenkins is very similar. They're both carbon copies. Those guys are going to be the future of this program at the receiving spot.
"It's just whether those guys, how quick they can pick up and understand all the volume of the offensive scheme of things. But Waden Charles has done extremely well. And Carl Jenkins, their length, both of those guys' length, really, really impressed me. And then their speed has been faster than I thought they would be, watching them on tape."
Leadership wise, Beckton has been happy with three older portal players: Duane Thomas, Marcus Burke and DJ Black.
"He's been a guy that's really been more vocal in everything that we're doing, meeting-wise, and on the field. Marcus, he's just got that personality. He's kind of like me, one of those quiet leaders when I played. And then same thing with DJ, one of those quiet leaders. But when you hear from him, the rest of those guys straighten up, which is good."
