UCF's Tayven Jackson Gives Early Assessment Of Quarterback Competition
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One day from their first scrimmage on Thursday, and the UCF Knights' quarterback battle remains ongoing.
"We get an opportunity to play more situational football here, coming up very soon, it's going to be tomorrow," offensive coordinator Steve Cooper said after Wednesday's practice. "So, we'll get a better idea of where those guys are at right now."
For the first time since fall camp opened, all three contenders for the job spoke with the media during UCF's Player Media Day on Monday:
1. Tayven Jackson
After playing in five games with Indiana last season, completing 23 passes for 349 yards and four touchdowns, Tayven Jackson said he chose UCF from the portal for the opportunity to be coached by Scott Frost and McKenzie Milton.
"It's been great, just picking their brain," Jackson said. "They have a lot of knowledge at the quarterback position and a lot of knowledge on winning football games in this conference."
Jackson said it has been a "healthy" and "fun" competition so far.
"I feel like I got a chip on my shoulder," Jackson said. "I've been through this process three years now, competing for a quarterback position. I played in some big-time games, in big-time conferences. I feel like I'm a really good football player, and I can put us in really good situations."
2. Jacurri Brown
Jacurri Brown is the lone returner in contention for the starting job. He played in nine games last season, starting two of them, completed 35 passes for 398 yards and one touchdown with four interceptions and rushed 53 times for 401 yards and four touchdowns. However, with a brand new coaching staff led by Frost, he said his status as a returner means nothing.
"Obviously, I want to carry myself like I'm the guy every day, and that's how I wake up and move around, but at the end of the day, I'm not gonna step on anybody's toes and try to be, you know, that guy," Brown said. "So, I give guys opportunities to lead and be that, because the end of the day, like I said, I just want to win."
Cooper said Brown has leadership traits, like all three contenders, and called him a "fun kid to be around."
"What he's shown is, obviously, there's certain things that he can do with the football in his hands," Cooper said. "When he pulls down the ball and he has some room to run, that's a really good thing, and then he's obviously making progress in other areas, getting through progressions and that kind of thing."
3. Cam Fancher
Cam Fancher is coming off a season in which he was a team captain for Florida Atlantic. He completed 126 passes for 1,528 yards and six touchdowns and ran 99 times for 365 yards and three touchdowns.
Fancher did not throw the ball during the media's observation period of Wednesday's practice, but Cooper said it is because he is an older player.
"Early in practice, we try to do some stuff that helps those guys out," Cooper said. "You know, occasionally we'll do that for each position group, depending on what the day is and what each guys need."
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With the fall's first scrimmage looming, Cooper said he and the rest of the coaching staff want to see consistency from the quarterbacks.
"I think that what we did was really smart; it's paying off because competition... that's going to bring out the best of most of us, and those three guys just happen to be the guys that you would want to be in a competition with, because the iron sharpens iron with that group," Cooper said.
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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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