Recruiting class to reload WR corps
2021 receivers could make an immediate impact on the offense
When Jaylon Griffin ponders the situation, he gets excited.
Griffin, the No. 1-ranked junior college receiver, committed to UCF this past weekend and he knows there will be big shoes to fill. He also knows, however, the void left by Gabe Davis, Marlon Williams and Tre Nixon will provide opportunity.
“Coach [Darrell] Wyatt told me they’re recruiting me to come in to start. He likes the way I play,” Griffin said of the UCF receivers coach, who has a special bond with Texas since Sam Houston State gave him his first coaching job.
Sam Houston just happens to be in Griffin’s hometown of Huntsville, Texas, where Griffin starred in high school prior to moving on to Kilgore (Texas) Junior College. Griffin is the fourth receiver to commit to UCF’s 2021 recruiting class, which includes another Texas prospect in Cameron Brady (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) of Arlington Lamar as well as Xavier Franks (6-2, 180) of Magee (Miss.) and Davis Mallinger (6-1, 176) of Melbourne Viera.
“We’ll probably be getting a group chat planned pretty soon,” Griffin said.
Griffin picked the Knights over offers from Kansas, Nebraska, Fresno State and Houston.
“I picked UCF because they’ve always treated me like family,” Griffins said. “Coach Wyatt, he refers to himself as Uncle Wyatt every time we talk and we have good conversations outside of football, so that kind of brought me in.”
Losing Davis, who left UCF a year early and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills this year, was a big jolt to the UCF offense. Considering the other losses the Knights will have following the 2020 season, the Knights obviously are recruiting to fill holes.
They’re well on their way. Since May 29, UCF has landed three 2021 wide receiver commitments, which could go down as the best receiving class the Knights have landed in the program’s relatively short Football Bowl Subdivision history.
It’s also exactly what UCF needs. The Knights will be losing nine of their top 10 receivers from this past season. Davis is already gone, and at the end of the 2020 season Williams, Nixon, Jacob Harris and Alex Harris will exhaust their eligibility.
“I see it as a great opportunity. I know they’re all leaving, and I actually have a relationship with Dillon Gabriel, the quarterback,” Griffin said. “He’s excited about me committing and he said he feels like I can [fill] their shoes.”
The Knights’ 2021 class will provide a big lift, and the team already is expecting contributions from class of 2020 signees Ryan O’Keefe, Jarrad Baker, Ke’von Ahmad and Amari Johnson. There are also high hopes for Oklahoma transfer Jaylon Robinson. So there will be some fierce competition in the receivers’ room when the 2021 recruits arrive.
The 6-foot-3, 186-pound Griffin went to Kilgore to make himself better and to earn more scholarship offers. He did just that. He had six touchdowns last season and nearly 500 all-purpose yards.
“I feel like I haven’t done anything yet. I guess I feel like I have to prove that I’m for real,” Griffin said. “I want to be No. 1 in the nation this year [at Kilgore].”
Griffin obviously has size, but there are other things Wyatt told him he likes.
“He said he likes the way I can move around the field. He said I’m a long player and he likes the way I can move with my long legs,” Griffin said. “He said I have a different type of body. He said that I can do a little more than Gabriel [Davis], but he also said I can do the things that Gabriel did.”