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Edge Rusher Ken Talley Believes He Can Get Better at UCF
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- Edge Rusher Ken Talley Believes He Can Get Better at UCF
(Nick King/Lansing State Journal)
Ken Talley chose the UCF Knights as his final collegiate destination, believing he could produce at a high level and develop into an NFL-caliber player.
Malachi Lawrence and Nyjalik Kelly were the most recent dynamic edge-rushing tandem mentored by EDGE coach Mike Dawson, who went on to the next level. The duo totaled 74 tackles (50 solo) and seven sacks last season.
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They joined the short list of active Knights in the NFL this past offseason. Lawrence made program history as the highest-selected defensive player by the Dallas Cowboys (23rd overall) and Kelly signed a contract worth over $250,000 with the Green Bay Packers .
Talley saw an opportunity to compete for a starting role and succeed with them gone. He attributed part of his commitment to his relationship with Dawson, meeting back in his high school days.
"I'm a football junkie," Talley told local reporters on Tuesday . "So seeing what UCF did last year with their two defensive ends, how they produced a lot, and then knowing that production was leaving, I just felt like this is a place I come get better and actually produce."
Talley spent his junior season at Arkansas , but injuries limited his action to three games. He tallied three tackles -- one in the season-opener against Alabama A&M (Aug. 30) and two against Arkansas State (Sept. 6).
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The senior EDGE said he is now healthy, ready to dominate and show the world what he's got.
He's competing against Sincere Edwards, Isaiah Nixon and Bruno Dall. The EDGE position battle is one of the more intriguing storylines for UCF in fall camp.
Coach Scott Frost wants that group to step up . Frost does not want a drop-off in production when rotating rushers or if one goes down with injury. Edwards missed the majority of the year with a Lisfranc injury.
Talley said he has spent time studying NFL pass rushers to take pieces of their game and add them to his skill set.
"I watch a little TJ Watt , Von Miller ," Talley said. "You got to get Max Crosby in there. You know, he's hunting."
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He said he's trying to get faster and more explosive because that's what the position requires. Improving in that area could increase his chances of beating an offensive lineman off the snap, and at the professional level, every second counts.
UCF ranked eighth in the Big 12 with 26 sacks. Talley has 1.5 career sacks; that's an area the program will need help with since Lawrence and Kelly accounted for over a quarter of the team's sacks.
Over two weeks remain until the Knights' season opener against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.
Talley is eager to succeed in Lawrence and Kelly's place, hoping to play a role in the program's first winning conference record since joining in 2023.
