Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff - No. 49 Atticus Bertrams and Donnell Johnson III
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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 49 days to go, let's meet UCF punter Atticus Bertrams and defensive back Donnell Johnson III:
- Who is Atticus Bertrams?
- What did Bertrams do last season?
- What role is Bertrams going to have in 2026?
- Who is Donnell Johnson III?
- What did Johnson do last season?
- What role is Johnson going to have in 2026?
1. Who is Atticus Bertrams?
Position: Punter
Class: Senior
Height/Weight: 6-foot-4 / 235 pounds
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
High School: Newington College
Atticus Bertrams has had a ball on his foot since he could walk, he said following an April 7 practice session. Growing up in Australia, this meant playing soccer, rugby and Australian rules football, but just like many of his fellow countrymen before him, such an upbringing can lend itself to becoming an American football punter.
"I'm a very small part of a bigger thing, you know," Bertrams said. "There's so many of us now doing what I'm doing, and I think big picture for us is to leave sort of a reputation behind where Coach Alamar goes after I'm done, 'Hey, I want another Aussie.'
"That's kind of what it's all about. Your success grows the game more for other Australians behind you trying to do the same thing."
One of those fellow countrymen is former UCF punter Mitch McCarthy, whom Bertrams said he trained with for two years.
2. What did Bertrams do last season?
Bertrams served as the Badgers' holder and short-range punter in 2025, according to his Wisconsin Athletics profile page. He averaged 41.5 yards per punt, and of his 37 total punts, 18 ended up inside the 20-yard line, tied for the fifth-most in the Big Ten.
3. What role is Bertrams going to have in 2026?
Bertrams is looking likely to be the Knights' starting punter in 2026. Not only does he bring in his experience from the Big Ten, but Pete Alamar, UCF's special teams coordinator, mentioned after an April 7 practice session that fellow punter Mason Denaberg was still "a little bit behind fundamentally."
Back in 2024, when Bertrams also handled long-range punts for Wisconsin, his 45.3-yard average would have been in the top five in the Big 12 in 2025.
4. Who is Donnell Johnson III?
First Spring ✅ pic.twitter.com/R5gFLVqjhI
— DJ Johnson III (@DJJohnsonIII) June 10, 2026
Position: Defensive Back
Class: Redshirt Junior
Height/Weight: 5-foot-10 / 180 pounds
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
High School: Monroe High School
Johnson began his college football career at Clarke University, an NAIA school in Dubuque, Iowa. In his lone season there in 2024, he played in six games, recording 17 total tackles and four pass breakups.
5. What did Johnson do last season?
After joining the Knights as a walk-on during fall camp, Johnson did not see the field in 2025.
6. What role is Johnson going to have in 2026?
Even with Johnson getting more time with the program under his belt after joining the team nearly a year ago, the defensive back room still had a high retention rate from last season with starters Braeden Marshall, Jayden Bellamy, Demari Henderson and Antoine Jackson all returning. They are joined by a returning DJ Bell and a recovered Jayden Williams, plus transfers Caleb Flagg, Ty Bartrum and Jalen Duffie.
With how much experienced depth is in this defensive back room, Johnson's chances of seeing the field for lengthy periods of time are low. However, given he did not see the field last season, we could see a cameo from him sometime during the 2026 season, likely in the Knights' season-opener against Bethune-Cookman, similar to how several players only saw the field against North Carolina A&T in 2025.
Catch up on the rest of the list below:
No. 54 Cooper Terpstra and Trenton Turner
No. 55 Jacob Maiava and Noah Mercer
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Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics. Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation. He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
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