The quarterback position has long since been decided for the UCF Knights this season. That job is going to transfer Alonza Barnett III. However, head coach Scott Frost also has a freshman on campus, Rocco Marriott, to get excited about.
Marriott has been impressive so far during Fall Camp. That was enough to earn some high praise from Frost.
“Yeah, we were excited to get Rocco,” Scott Frost said. “He came in with some residual knee issues from high school. I don’t think he was 100 percent in the spring. He went through it anyway. I’ve seen just a giant leap forward from him. He’s making a bunch of plays out there.”
A Kansas City native, Marriott played at Platte County High School before going to UCF. While there, he won the Missouri Class 5A State Championship. He would also be tabbed as one of the 10 biggest steals of the 2026 recruiting cycle by Charles Power of Rivals.
“He’s obviously a big, strong, fast athlete. And you throw somebody into a college football scheme and system offensively where they have to run things and know everything, and there’s always a tendency to maybe play a little slower, be tentative, make some mistakes,” Frost said.
“And I’ve really seen him turn a corner from just his confidence and knowing what to do and then letting it rip. So hopefully we can keep pushing him forward and expect good things from him.”
Rocco Marriott is the Top QB Recruit in UCF Knights History
Rocco Marriott is coming to UCF as the highest-ranked quarterback recruit in program history. With that, there’s going to be a ton of pressure that lands on his shoulders.
Marriott was given a .9020 composite ranking by 247 Sports. That was good enough to make him the 23rd-ranked quarterback in that recruiting cycle. Rivals, meanwhile, had Marriott as a four-star recruit and the 20th-ranked quarterback in the country.
Becoming the highest-ranked quarterback in UCF program history is no small feat, either.
UCF has two first-round picks at quarterback in Daunte Culpepper and Blake Bortles. Then, there’s current UCF quarterbacks coach McKenzie Milton, who was a two-time AAC Offensive Player of the Year while leading the Knights to 24-straight wins in 2017 and 2018.
Scott Frost Compared UCF’s Freshman QBs
While Rocco Marriott is getting most of the attention among the young quarterbacks at UCF, he’s not alone. The Knights also brought in Dante Carr.
Carr isn’t a recruit on the same level as Marriott, ranked as the 38th quarterback recruit in his cycle by Rivals. He’s no slouch. So, Scott Frost knows he needs to balance reps for his quarterbacks.
“Yeah, this time of year, getting freshman reps is not an issue, except maybe at quarterback where only one guy can be playing. Really, when we get closer to the first game and we’re kind of done running three reps and more focused on preparing for a game, that’s where the reps will go away,” Frost said.
“So they need to take advantage of the reps they have right now. And if any of them are in a position to be in the two-deep or close enough to it that they can stay up with the ones when we’re doing scout teams and stuff, then we’ll make a decision to go with them. But some guys will be ready for that and some won’t. And they’ll get another chance next spring and in the fall, depending on what happens the rest of the year.”
There can only be one quarterback on the field. That makes playing time an issue, but injuries do happen and players do underperform. So, depth is always going to matter. UCF has that for now with young, talented quarterbacks.
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