Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff - No. 4 Braeden Marshall and Taevion Swint

Welcome to UCF Knights on SI's countdown to kickoff!

In this series, we are going to introduce you to every single player on the 2026 UCF football roster so that you can know what to expect from them or even pinpoint the ones you want to follow throughout the coming season. We are going to go through the Knights' roster in reverse jersey-number order, with the day each player's entry is published corresponding to the number of days remaining until UCF's season-opener on Sep. 3 at 7 p.m. against Bethune-Cookman.

For this entry, we have two players with the same jersey number. So, with seven days to go, let's meet UCF defensive back Braeden Marshall and running back Taevion Swint:

Who is Braeden Marshall?
What did Marshall do last season?
What role is Marshall going to have in 2026?
Who is Taevion Swint?
What did Swint do last season?
What role is Swint going to have in 2026?

1. Who is Braeden Marshall?

Position: Defensive Back

Class: Senior

Height/Weight: 5-foot-10 / 200 pounds

Hometown: Lake Mary, Florida

High School: Lake Mary High School

Braeden Marshall is entering his fourth season with his hometown team in 2026, and while the age of the transfer portal has seen players move across the country, Marshall has stayed a Knight. His motivation for doing so stems from wanting to leave a legacy, he said following an Aug. 24 practice session.

"I always felt like, you know, in life I always want to be remembered, you know, for something in a good way or a positive way," Marshall said. "I feel like, you know, showing my loyalty, especially to my hometown, is one of the reasons why I stayed."

2. What did Marshall do last season?

Marshall started 10 of the 11 games he played in last season, serving as the Knights' nickelback. He recorded 22 tackles, 20 of which were solo, two tackles for loss, one pass breakup and two interceptions.

3. What role is Marshall going to have in 2026?

Marshall was "consistent " and "looked like a guy that played a lot of football," defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said following an Aug. 24 practice. So, with his role on the defense already carved out after last season as starting nickelback, Marshall seems likely to resume that role in 2026.

4. Who is Taevion Swint?

Position: Running Back

Class: Redshirt Freshman

Height/Weight: 5-foot-10 / 185 pounds

Hometown: Kissimmee, Florida

High School: Osceola High School

Several UCF players talked about how they chose to come to Orlando because of the coaching staff, but for Taevion Swint, a four-star recruit out of Osceola High School, it was more than just that.

"I never came to UCF just because people was telling me to come here," Swint said following an April 24 practice session. "I came here because I just felt so much love, you know what I'm saying? I'm home. So it's like, why should I have to leave the city?"

5. What did Swint do last season?

Thanks to suffering a meniscus injury during fall camp, Swint was sidelined for the entirety of his true freshman season in 2025, which allowed him to use his redshirt.

6. What role is Swint going to have in 2026?

Swint is poised to factor into the Knights' main running back rotation alongside Duke Watson and Landen Chambers, based on comments made by coach Scott Frost and offensive coordinator Steve Cooper throughout the offseason.

Frost said in an interview at Big 12 Media Days he was "excited" about Swint last season before his injury and that he had an "unbelievable" spring practice. Following an Aug. 12 practice session, Cooper called Swint and Watson "complementary players, but they do a lot of the same things."

So, while the more experienced Watson and Chambers may end up taking more snaps than Swint, who is going to make his college football debut in 2026, the young back has flashed enough potential to carve out a space for him in the running back rotation alongside them.

Catch up on the rest of the list below:

No. 5 Josh Derry and DJ Bell


No. 6 Isaiah Nixon and DayDay Farmer	No. 7 Duane Thomas Jr. and Antione Jackson	No. 8 Demari Henderson and Rocco Marriott	No. 9 Waden Charles	No. 10 Kaleb Annett and Sincere Edwards
No. 11 Landen Chambers and Ken Talley	No. 12 Keyone Jenkins and Aymeric Koumba	No. 13 Caleb Rollerson	No. 14 Alonza Barnett III and Kahmel Johnson	No. 15 Will Stone and Preston Hall
No. 16 Dante Carr and TJ Branch	No. 17 Jailen Duffie	No. 18 Caleb Flagg and Caden Piening	No. 19 Rashad Henry	No. 20 Lewis Carter and Kaj Baker
No. 21 Ty Bartrum	No. 22 Amarion Queen	No. 23 Jordan Nunuha and Jayden Burnett	No. 24 Tackett Curtis and Arthur Lewis IV	No. 25 Rukeem Stroud
No. 26 Duke Watson and Elijah Keys	No. 27 Nicholas Antoine	No. 28 Matt Irwin	No. 29 Tyce Porcher	No. 30 Otis Hardy
No. 31 Noah McGough	No. 32 Matthew Occhipinti	No. 33 Phil Picciotti	No. 34 Jahleel Culbreath	No. 35 Agyeman Addae
No. 36 Dylan Bennett	No. 37 Rocklyn Kelley	No. 38 Jayden Jennings	No. 39 Andrea Parisi	No. 41 Bruno Dall
No. 42 Artavius Jones and Chance Nixon	No. 43 Cole Kozlowski	No. 44 Kyle Hicks	No. 45 Quentin Hatch	No. 47 Arthur Kingdom and Sam Powell
No. 49 Atticus Bertrams and Donnell Johnson III	No. 53 LaParka Langston	No. 54 Cooper Terpstra and Trenton Turner	No. 55 Jacob Maiava and Noah Mercer	No. 56 Patrick Ryan
No. 57 Camp Lott	No. 58 Connor Meadows	No. 61 Owen Spell	No. 66 Brady Wayburn	No. 67 Noah Senka
No. 68 Ethan Higgins	No. 70 RaiShaun McHaney	No. 71 Amahn Williams	No. 72 Dominick Campbell	No. 73 Henry Tabansi
No. 74 Matthew Prigmore	No. 75 Tyler Gibson	No. 76 Justin Royes	No. 77 Kasiyah Charlton	No. 78 Preston Cushman
No. 79 Daniel Marcellinus	No. 80 Elijah Hardy	No. 81 Zack Palmer	No. 82 Jordyn Bridgewater	No. 83 Dylan Burk
No. 84 Thomas Wadsworth	No. 85 Carson Hinshaw	No. 86 Chase Hinshaw	No. 87 Brooks Hall	No. 88 Grayson Brousseau
No. 90 Mujahid Jefferson	No. 91 Donteye Drew	No. 92 Jeffson Lafontant	No. 93 Brad Gurley	No. 94 L A Jesse Harrold
No. 95 RJ Jackson Jr.	No. 96 Anthony Coaxum	No. 97 Josh Schell and Mason Denaberg	No. 98 Alhassan Iddrissu	No. 99 Thomas Collins

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