ORLANDO — UCF’s wide receivers largely failed to strike fear in the hearts of Big 12 defensive coordinators last year.
The group hauled in just 12 contested catches on 40 opportunities, and four touchdowns across the Knights’ 12 games — two apiece for DJ Black and Chris Domercant, neither of whom are still with the team.
The solution for improvement in 2026 might come from the Football Championship Subdivision.
Enter Josh “Scary” Derry, an FCS All-American who joined the Knights in January from Monmouth. Through three weeks, he’s been one of the most talked about players in spring camp for his ability to make plays at all levels of the passing game.
“To me, he has it all. He has it,” UCF wide receivers coach Sean Beckton said. “It’s hard to explain. He understands, every single play, how he needs to work to get open. Those are things we try to train those guys on, but he has that innate ability to understand how he needs to work a defensive back, who he needs to maneuver off of, and that gets back to him studying.”
Why UCF Knights believe Josh Derry can help in 2026
Derry personifies the “proven production” UCF general manager Trent Mossbrucker desired from this year’s transfer class. The 5-foot-9, 182-pound Baltimore native turned 76 receptions into 1,123 yards and 13 touchdowns, helping Monmouth achieve a 9-3 record with a ranked win over Villanova.
In open portions of practice, Derry has run with the first unit in three-wide sets alongside returners Duane Thomas Jr. and Waden Charles. The unit should be significantly deeper, too, with the additions of Louisiana-Monroe transfer Jonathan Bibbs and Under Armour All-American Tyren Hornes, as well as the return of redshirt sophomore DayDay Farmer from an ACL tear suffered last spring.
“Y’all have probably already seen the plays he’s been making,” Charles said. “I don’t even know if I can say too much about him; I don’t know who’s watching. JD is a great guy. He came in with his head down, ready to work. He stays in late, he comes in early. We come in and watch film at 6 in the morning. … He just carries himself like a pro.”
In his junior year at Monmouth, Derry operated out of the slot on just over two-thirds of his snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. He forced 18 missed tackles and gained 539 yards after the catch with an average depth of target of 8.8 yards downfield.
Beckton has come away impressed, though, with Derry’s ability to separate vertically and provide explosive plays on the outside.
“I’m just using my God-given abilities to be able to run fast, whether I’m in the slot or on the outside,” Derry said. “Not to just win over the top, but all over the field — in the short game, in the intermediate game. Being able to win every rep, that’s my goal.”
Where did Josh Derry’s nickname come from?
So how did Derry become “Scary”?
He says the origin came from his freshman year at Monmouth when he made a big play and it reminded a teammate of Washington Commanders wideout Terry McLaurin, nicknamed “Scary Terry.” As an unrelated aside, Derry is the fictional town in Maine that serves as the setting for Stephen King’s novel “It.”
The nickname didn’t stick at first, but with time, it’s become an identity Derry has embraced.
“It’s a scary sight for a defense to see me running past them on a deep route or catching the ball and going for 70 yards,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: How UCF football’s Josh Derry will scare Big 12 defenses
Reporting by Chris Boyle, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
