The UCF Knights 2025 Transfer Portal Report Card: Defensive Backs

UCF Knights coach Scott Frost marked the first season of his return to Orlando by bringing in nearly 70 new players, many of them from the transfer portal.

Though, how exactly did all those players fare in their first, and in some cases only, season as a Knight? Well, that is what this series is for. This transfer portal report card examines the 2025 UCF team, position group by position group, through the lens of its transfer portal additions.

Next up, we examine the defensive backs room:

Name	Year	Previous School	Stats
Phillip Dunnam	Senior	Florida Atlantic	Started all 12 games. Recorded 60 tackles (43 solo), 3 TFLs, 2 pass breakups and 3 INTs with 1 pick six.
Jayden Bellamy	R-Junior	Syracuse	Started all 12 games. Recorded 27 tackles (20 solo), 8 pass breakups and 1 INT
DJ Bell	R-Junior	Memphis	Played in 11 games off bench. Recorded 17 tackles (11 solo) and four pass breakups.
Isaiah Reed	5th Year	Brown	Played in 4 games off bench. Recorded 1 tackle.
Jayden Williams	R-Senior	Florida Atlantic	Played in 2 games off bench. Recorded 7 tackles (4 solo).
Jyaire Brown	R-Junior	LSU	Played in 11 games (started 1). Recorded seven tackles (6 solo), 1 TFL and 1 pass breakup
Jaeden Gould	R-Junior	Syracuse	Played in all 12 games off bench. Recorded 5 tackles (3 solo) and 1 pass breakup.

Notes on some individual players:

Both Phillip Dunnam and Jayden Bellamy were named All-Big 12 Honorable Mentions.

Dunnam recorded the first three-interception game in UCF history.

Jayden Williams missed a majority of the season thanks to a thumb injury and the surgery to fix it failing.

Isaiah Reed was listed in UCF's Big 12 Player Availability reports in five weeks of Big 12 play. He was ruled out in four of those weeks.

Jaeden Gould blocked a punt in the Knights' game against North Carolina A&T.

Grade: A

A vast majority of the defensive backs UCF acquired via the transfer portal last offseason saw time on the field for a majority of the season; the only two that did not were bitten by the injury bug.

The defensive backs join the EDGEs and linebacker rooms as the only UCF position groups to have multiple players earn All-Big 12 honors, though it is the only one where both were honorable mentions.

The Knights ended up finishing 25th in the nation and third in the Big 12 in fewest passing yards allowed and 48th in the nation in team passing efficiency defense.

While Braeden Marshall, Demari Henderson and Antione Jackson may have carried the torch for the returners, a majority of UCF's defensive back depth chart was made up of these transfers. With the impacts they've made on games this season, helping make the Knight passing defense one of the team's bright spots, this room earns an "A."

Stay tuned for more 2025 UCF Transfer Portal Report Cards and catch up with previous report cards below: