ORLANDO – Athlon Sports released its American Athletic Conference preseason honors this week for the 2020 football season and UCF received 17 nods, the most of any team in The American.
Four Knights earned first-team accolades from the outlet. Cole Schneider was selected as an offensive lineman, Kenny Turnier as a defensive lineman, Richie Grant as a safety and Otis Anderson as a punt returner.
Schneider is a two-time all-conference honoree, earning a first-team nod in 2018 and second-team honors last year as a sophomore. He has been a staple on the UCF line the last two seasons, helping the Knights offense to rank among the nation's leaders.
Turnier came into his own as a junior in 2019, leading the Knights with 13.5 tackles for loss, while recording 3.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries. He earned honorable mention all-conference honors a season ago after leading the defense to a nation's best 9.0 tackles for loss per game.
Grant, a first-team all-conference safety the last two years, has compiled seven interceptions and 11 pass break-ups to go with 187 total tackles over the last two seasons. He was also recently named to the preseason watch list for the Lott Impact Tophy.
Anderson, who also finds his name on Athlon's preseason all-conference team as an all-purpose back, is honored on the first team for his work as a return man. He had 21 punt returns for 277 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown last season and was named first-team all-conference as a punt returner by Pro Football Focus.
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel joined a trio of defenders on Athlon's second-team preseason all-conference. Linebacker Eric Mitchell, cornerback Aaron Robinson and safety Antwan Collier also received the recognition.
The Knights had four offensive players garner third-team accolades in running back Greg McCrae, Anderson, wide receiver Tre Nixon and offensive lineman Samuel Jackson. Defensive lineman Randy Charlton was also selected on the third team.
Finally, there were four more UCF players on the fourth team. Offensive lineman Parker Boudreaux, defensive lineman Kalia Davis, cornerback Tay Gowan and punter Andrew Osteen were all honored by Athlon.
