Meet The 2026 UCF Knights: Countdown To Kickoff - No. 92 Jeffson Lafontant

With 92 days to go until the 2026 UCF football season kicks off, learn more about the player wearing the Knights' No. 92 jersey: defensive tackle Jeffson Lafontant.

Nov 1, 2025; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears running back Caden Knighten (22) is brought down by UCF Knights defensive back Jaeden Gould (11), linebacker Jayden McDonald (38) and defensive tackle Jeffson Lafontant (92) during the second half at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

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.

So, with 92 days to go, let's meet UCF defensive tackle Jeffson Lafontant:

1. Who is Jeffson Lafontant?
2. What did he do last season?
3. What role is he going to have in 2026?

1. Who is Jeffson Lafontant?

Position: Defensive Tackle

Class: Redshirt Junior

Height/Weight: 6-foot-3 / 295 pounds

Hometown: North Miami Beach, Florida

High School: North Miami Beach Senior High School

Fun Fact: He finished 5th in the Shot Put at the FHSAA Class 2A Track and Field State Championships in his senior season of high school.

Lafontant is one of three defensive tackles from the 2025 Knights squad that are returning for 2026. He began his college football career at Bethune-Cookman, where he stayed for two years, playing in eight games as a freshman and four as a sophomore in order to use his redshirt.

2. What did he do last season?

In his first season as a Knight, Lafontant played in 10 out of 12 games, all of which he came off the bench, serving as a co-backup to RJ Jackson Jr. alongside Rodney Lora. He recorded 11 total tackles, two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

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

With RJ Jackson Jr. and Horace Lockett returning, plus the acquisitions of Thomas Collins, Brad Gurley and Josh Schell from the transfer portal, Lafontant could very well be looking at a similar role he held during the 2025 season: a borderline backup/third-string player. This is also under the assumption that his place on the depth chart is not usurped by Miami (FL) transfer Artavius Jones or a talented freshman like Trenton Turner or Noah Mercer.

However, with defensive tackle being the position that rotates the most, according to UCF defensive tackles coach Kenny Martin, this could still provide Lafontant with scattered opportunities throughout games during the season. They just might not be as plentiful as the aforementioned five players, unless the injury bug strikes.

Catch up on the rest of the list below:

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