Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff

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.

This entry, however, will deviate a bit from that formula. During preseason camp, the Knights added a new face to their roster. So, let's learn more about that new addition: defensive tackle Donteye Drew.

Who is Donteye Drew?
What did he do last season?
What role is he going to have in 2026?

1. Who is Donteye Drew?

Position: Defensive Tackle

Class: Redshirt Junior

Height/Weight: 6-foot-2 / 240 pounds

Hometown: Tampa, Florida

High School: Tampa Bay Technical High School

A high school teammate of defensive back Rukeem Stroud, Drew helped Tampa Bay Tech reach the FHSAA 7A State Championship game as a junior in 2021. It was a season in which he recorded 81 tackles, 35 of them solo, and 28 tackles for loss, according to MaxPreps.

Drew went the JUCO route to start his college football career, playing his first two years at Holmes Community College in Goodman, Mississippi. After redshirting his true freshman season in 2023, he played in nine games in 2024, recording 14 tackles and assisting on a sack.

2. What did he do last season?

Drew played in five games in 2025 for Division II school Allen University, recording seven tackles and a sack.

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

Given his addition to the team with so little time before the season and to a defensive tackle room that is dealing with RJ Jackson Jr. recovering from an injury and Horace Lockett being held out of practice, adding an experienced player like Drew gives the Knights an emergency depth option should the injury bug strike.

Similar to fellow fall addition Mujahid Jefferson, Drew is likely not going to see the field over the rest of the position room that was with the team through spring practice. However, if Jackson or Lockett's past injuries come back to haunt them later on, his addition means the Knights would at least be nine deep at defensive tackle in such a scenario.

Catch up on the rest of the list below:

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 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

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