Caden Piening’s rise has become one of the clearest developments in UCF’s offense, and Week 6 only pushed the redshirt freshman’s stock higher.
Against No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Knights’ loss last Saturday, Piening put together his best outing of the season. He finished with seven catches for 60 yards and a touchdown, continuing a stretch that has made him more than just a fill-in.
That performance also earned outside recognition. Pro Football Network ranked Piening as the fifth-highest-graded tight end from Week 6 with an 89.8 grade. Only four tight ends graded higher, and he finished just ahead of Pittsburgh’s Carson Kent, who posted an 89.5.
Piening has quickly moved into the center of UCF’s tight end picture. The 6-foot-5 target has 16 receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns so far, while Dylan Wade has eight catches for 53 yards. Wade, who helped set program marks last season, has been slowed by injuries and missed Weeks 3, 5 and 6.
That absence has opened the door for Piening, and he has taken it. Over the last two weeks alone, he has hauled in 12 passes and emerged as the Knights’ top option at tight end in both the passing game and as a blocker.
His chemistry with quarterback Keyone Jenkins has been a big part of that growth. Piening has become one of Jenkins’ preferred red-zone targets, with both of his touchdowns coming inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
The production is starting to build a case not just for the next few years at UCF, but beyond that as well. Piening is showing NFL scouts a tight end who can hold his own at a high level.
After the game, he said he watched film on former Knights tight end Jordan Akins, who was coached by Scott Frost during his first stint at UCF.
Frost was equally complimentary, calling Piening a player with a "really high ceiling" and saying spectators are seeing what he can do. Akins gives that comparison some weight: he starred at UCF, helped fuel the 2017 team’s undefeated run, and finished with 32 catches for 515 yards and four touchdowns, earning First Team All-ACC honors.
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The bigger challenge now is living in the era he has been talking about, where player movement, roster retention and the NIL landscape can reshape everything from one season to the next. Dawkins has been open about the need to keep developing players while navigating those realities, and the extension only raises the stakes for what comes next. UCF is no longer just trying to prove it belongs in the Big 12, but to show it can sustain that level under a coach whose job security and expectations have both climbed with the program. [Read more 🡒]
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Hornes has been on the radar for a while, long before Saturdays breakthrough. He arrived with the kind of recruiting profile that suggested he could eventually become a difference-maker, and his early production is at least a reminder of why UCF invested in him. For a team looking to stabilize the offense, the bigger question now is whether this was a one-game spark or the start of something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]