Ricky Barber

Former defensive tackle at UCF. 2024: 2.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 34 tackles.

DT · UCF · Sr. · #5

6′3″ · 295 lb · Louisville, KY

CFB Index 83 · #25 of 285 interior linemenLow confidenceUCF 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

SDE recruit

No. 2117 nationally · Signed with Western Kentucky

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive tackle at UCF. 2024: 2.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 34 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Western Kentucky in 2019.
Transferred from Western Kentucky to UCF in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Six seasons at UCF, 174 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20193 games

Signed with Western Kentucky3-star out of Doss Magnet Career Academy

202011 games

The role got bigger.

All-Conference USAhonorable_mention

20218 games

Entered the portal

202212 games

All-AACfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#2117 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2019–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2024

2 coaches

2019–2020

Josh Heupel

UCF

2021–2024

Gus Malzahn

UCF

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Josh Heupel → Gus Malzahn. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Western Kentucky9-4HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced

2020Western Kentucky5-7HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced

2021UCF9-4HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-leaning

2022UCF9-5HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2023UCF6-7HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-leaning

2024UCF4-8HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

83All-Conference level #25 of 285?

Low confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (98th percentile). Strength: sacks (84th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#42 / 2892 · 98th pct

Sacks#412 / 2892 · 84th pct

2.5

Tackles for loss#571 / 2892 · 78th pct

5.0

Tackles#1170 / 2892 · 59th pct

Solo tackles#1346 / 2892 · 52nd pct

Passes defended#1817 / 2892 · 19th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.1	0.6	0.4	0.0
Road5g	3.8	0.1	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.8	0.1	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	3.8	0.8	0.4	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Scott Frost

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

83 · #25 of 285 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #25 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	UCF	34	16	5.0	2.5	--	--	--
2023	UCF	11	6	0.5	0.5	--	--	--
2022	UCF	42	17	7.5	3.0	4	--	--
2021	UCF	29	14	5.5	3.0	1	--	--
2020	Western Kentucky	51	25	6.0	4.0	--	--	--
2019	Western Kentucky	7	3	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
Career		174	81	25.5	14.0	5	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2024

W 35–34

at TCU

1 TOT · 1 SOLO

Edged out TCU on the road in a shootout.

With K. Jefferson — 230 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 87.6 · 46 rush yds (9 car) · R. Harvey — 180 rush yds (29 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 57-3vs New Hampshire	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 2	W 45-14vs Sam Houston	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 3	W 35-34@ TCU	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	L 21-48vs Colorado	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 13-24@ Florida	4	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 13-19vs Cincinnati	2	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 35-38@ Iowa State	4	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 24-37vs BYU	4	3	1.5	1.0	—
Wk 10	W 56-12vs Arizona	4	2	2.5	1.5	—	2.5 TFL
Wk 11	L 31-35@ Arizona State	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 13	L 21-31@ West Virginia	4	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 14-28vs Utah	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Total		34	16	5.0	2.5	—

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology