Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff - No. 42 Artavius Jones and Chance Nixon

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 42 days to go, let's meet UCF defensive tackle Artavius Jones and running back Chance Nixon:

Who is Artavius Jones?
What did Jones do last season?
What role is Jones going to have in 2026?
Who is Chance Nixon?
What did Nixon do last season?
What role is Nixon going to have in 2026?

1. Who is Artavius Jones?

Welcome to UCF, @ArtaviusJ1 ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/bp3OLzLtAV
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) January 28, 2026

Position: Defensive Tackle

Class: Redshirt Sophomore

Height/Weight: 6-foot-3 / 325 pounds

Hometown: Blountstown, Florida

High School: Blountstown High School

Artavius Jones was a four-star prospect coming out of Blountstown High School, according to 247Sports.

He was a multi-sport athlete for the Tigers, playing not just on the football team, but also the basketball and track and field teams. On the latter team, Jones was a thrower who marked the end of his high school career with a silver medal at the FHSAA 1A State Championship in the shot put.

2. What did Jones do last season?

Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Artavius Jones (42) against the Mississippi Rebels during the 2026 Fiesta Bowl. — Jan 8, 2026; Glendale, AZ, USA; Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Artavius Jones (42) against the Mississippi Rebels during the 2026 Fiesta Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jones participated in one game with the Hurricanes in 2025, a matchup against NC State late in the season.

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

The UCF defensive tackle room is one of the Knights' older position groups, with a pair of returners in Horace Lockett and RJ Jackson Jr., and a pair of transfers, Brad Gurley and Josh Schell, all in their senior years. Plus, there's also Jeffson Lafontant and Thomas Collins, who are both redshirt juniors.

With such experience on the depth chart, Jones is going to need to have a remarkable showing at fall camp to earn consistent playing time in 2026. However, there could be a benefit to that, since Jones is one of only two underclassmen defensive tackles. While he might not be able to play much this season, he could instead learn from the upperclassmen and develop alongside freshman Noah Mercer to become options at the position in seasons to come.

4. Who is Chance Nixon?

Position: Running Back

Class: Redshirt Freshman

Height/Weight: 5-foot-9 / 179 pounds

Hometown: Oviedo, Florida

High School: Oviedo High School

Chance Nixon did not venture far from his alma mater, Oviedo High School, to UCF’s campus, just over five miles away. It’s also the same school that produced one of UCF's legendary quarterbacks: Blake Bortles.

5. What did Nixon do last season?

Nixon did not see the field in 2025, redshirting his true freshman season.

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

Considering how affected the UCF running back room was by injury in 2025, the fact that Nixon did not see the field once while fellow true freshman Agyeman Addae entered into several games is an indication that Nixon is at least starting from a position low on the depth chart.

Now, in 2026, Nixon is going to not only have to contend with Addae again, but also a recovered Taevion Swint and a pair of new transfers: Duke Watson and Landen Chambers. So, barring the injury bug striking for a second straight year, Nixon is likely not to see the field much, if at all, this season.

Now, if the injury bug does strike again, then Nixon could have the benefit of a year under his belt in the program over the likes of new true freshman Kaj Baker and Arthur Lewis IV. However, that is up to fall camp to determine for sure.

Catch up on the rest of the list below:

No. 43 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. 89 Caleb Rollerson	No. 90 Mujahid Jefferson	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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