Three Returning UCF Knights Players Who Will Define the Season After NFL Losses

After losing nine players to the NFL, learn which UCF Knights players set to step up in their places have the most potential to impact the 2026 season.

Oct 4, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; UCF Knights defensive end Isaiah Nixon (6) reacts after a play during the second half against the Kansas Jayhawks at FBC Mortgage Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Between Malachi Lawrance's selection in the first round of the NFL Draft, undrafted free agency signings and minicamp invites, the UCF Knights lost nine players to the NFL this offseason.

Some of them held depth roles on last season's Knights squad. Others were central to certain areas of production. Regardless of their level of playing time, someone is going to fill their roles next season.

Here are the three players that are set to fill in such roles left behind that have the greatest likelihood to define the Knights' direction through the 2026 season.

UCF lost both of its starting EDGEs to the NFL, but with both of those departures comes the emergence of Isaiah Nixon as a starter.

The St. Petersburg native saw time in 11 of the Knights' games last season, tallying career highs with 24 total tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. He is set to have big shoes to fill with one of the starters that was in front of him getting selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, but he does not necessarily need to play to that level in order to be productive. 

Still, he is going to need to produce if it's to once again finish in the top 40 in the nation in total defense.

With Paul Rubelt's departure to the NFL, Preston Cushman now steps up to take over as the leader of the offensive line after transferring in last offseason.

The Knights' offensive line was the source of penalty trouble last season. However, this time around, it has a new coach in AJ Blazek, who had success limiting penalties last season. Plus, according to Cushman, they've spent the offseason working on different cadences.

Rubelt might have spent more seasons in Orlando than Cushman is going to have, but the Ole Miss transfer is going to be the one on the O-line this season who spent the most time on the field in 2025. Such experience can provide a foundation and point of comparison for what the unit does in 2026.

So far, it remains uncertain who the Knights' starting kicker is going to be in 2026. While Texas transfer Will Stone may have played in more college football games than the returning redshirt freshman Noah McGough, neither has attempted a field goal in an official college football game before.

After senior Noe Ruelas put together one of the most accurate seasons in program history in 2025, going from an experienced kicker like that to a kicker slated to attempt his first college football field goal is a sharp transition. This is a contrast from the rest of the Knights' offense, a unit that is going through its own transition, but their new additions come to Orlando with experience at the position they're playing.

Kickers can be placed into situations with games on the line, which makes Stone and McGough's development crucial for next season.

Catch up on more UCF news below:

Ranking UCF's NFL Departures from Least to Most Impactful for 2026

Scott Frost Provides Alonza Barnett III Update As Spring Practice Winds Down

UCF Women's Basketball Officially Announces Trio Of Returners