With the additions of multiple experienced safeties via the portal this spring, along with the departures of Phil O’Connor and Xavier Marshall at linebacker, Richmond looks on track to play the 4-2-5 more in 2023. What does that mean for personnel and what seasons can we look at to get an idea of what the Spider defense will look like?

4-3 vs 4-2-5

First off, the 4-2-5 can’t really be “back” because it was never actually gone in the first place. We’ve seen the Spiders use this grouping in every year Russ has been here, however what started as our base defense quickly turned into a secondary option. In all the game notes I found for the 2017 season (Year 1 for Russ) Richmond showed a base 4-2-5 [4 linemen, 2 linebackers, 5 DBs]. The Spiders refer to that fifth DB as the “dime,” a position that isn’t easy to find a good fit for and can really make or break how the group functions.

Why do I think it’s back?

Spring ball this year was supposed to be centered around the new QBs, getting a few injury updates, and seeing which of the younger guys might contribute this season. What I wasn’t expecting was the consistent use of the 4-2-5 throughout each practice, something we hadn’t seen to that level in five years. That, along with the expected (and now official) transfer additions at the safety spot, have me believing we’ll see the Spiders turn to this personnel package much more often in 2023.

What we’ve seen from the 4-2-5

Richmond fans first saw the 4-2-5 in the marquee game of 2017, as the Spiders opened up against Sam Houston St (played @ Baylor, due to Hurricane Harvey). Baylor’s campus & stadium were amazing to see… the 4-2-5 was not. 48 points allowed and without a mini-comeback towards the end it was an overall lopsided game and a precursor for how the season would go. The Spiders did have some strong defensive showings in November that season, but having finished 2017 with the worst run defense in the CAA it was no shock when we started to shift back to a more traditional 4-3 in 2018.

Looking back at it, using anything from the 2017 to grade the 4-2-5 is pretty unfair. Richmond played a 3-4 under Rocco for years before that, along with a scheme that didn’t involve much man-to-man coverage. Between different fronts, assignments, and coverage schemes it was a steep learning curve against a rather strong schedule. Russ flipped to the 4-3 as the base defense in 2018 and continually worked in the 4-2-5, along with some nickel packages. The results? Steady defensive progress that ultimately have the Spiders back at the top of the CAA. If you have a bad taste with the 4-2-5 that’s understandable, but know that 2017 is a poor barometer to judge its effectiveness.

There’s a reason I posted my thoughts on the trends we’ve seen the past five years in early June because the next few posts will expand on how those positive shifts will continue to reveal themselves. 2021 and 2022 were products how far this group has come since 2017 – you don’t have the offensive and defensive trends I showed earlier without consistent, gradual progress each year. The Spiders have now established such a good core defensively that playing a wider variety of defenses is something we should expect in 2023.

How it looks

Strange to not use Richmond film on a Richmond based blog but with the UR/Sam Houston St. 2017 game not available online I used the 2016 Chattanooga playoff matchup against the Bearkats (Russ’ last game at Chatty).

As you can see the typical 4-2-5 alignment has similar bones to how our 4-3 has looked the past few years – press boundary corner, with the Will linebacker (or Dime) playing in the field and adjusting their width based on the number of receivers. From this the Spiders can run all the same things they’ve run out of the 4-3 in recent years. You’ll see Cover 1 (first image above), which we saw a lot of in 2017, as well as zone concepts. My favorite part of what we can do in both is play coverages that have man principles on one side of the formation and zone on the other. In the second image above, the press boundary corner plays man, as well as the linebacker lined up on the hash (#2) assigned to the back. The defenders to the field side of the formation play zone with the boundary safety coming over in support. It’s that variety, in both scheme and personnel, that has allowed the Spiders to make huge strides each season and has them set up for success again in 2023.

I also think teams that can play solid man defense always have a leg up, especially in FCS. Stefan Black mentioned getting to play more man as a key reason why he transferred from UNI to UR, and as we continue to develop our personnel that fits those strengths this side of the ball will only get better.

Personnel

No matter how much you want to play a certain defense you’ve got to have the guys to do it. Here are the key factors that show the Spiders should be able to play the 4-2-5 as much as they want in 2023:

• Defensive line – This group will likely go seven or eight deep, with multiple All-CAA selections, so a top notch D-line will always make you feel a little better about adding a 5th DB to the equation.
• Less linebacker experience – I won’t go so far as to say inexperience, but aside from Tristan Wheeler (37 career starts) the only linebacker projected on the two-deep with a career start is Wayne Galloway (2 total). With Tyler Dressler & Phil O’Connor alongside Wheeler the past few seasons it’s big shoes to fill for this younger group, and although I remain very high on the LB room it does open the door to give the 4-2-5 some more snaps.
• Bryson Parker – #4 feels pretty close to exactly what you’d want when looking for a Dime defender in the 4-2-5. Started out as a corner, has experience last season at safety, and willing to play in the box and tackle. He was in this role during the spring and I wouldn’t expect that to change.
• Mikey Jarmolowich & Quantraill Morris-Walker – Early indications are that Jarmo would play the boundary safety, and I really think Morris-Walker could play any position we’d need him to. I’ve yet to see them in a practice for the Spiders so for now I’m purely speculating about their roles. I’m not, however, speculating about their talent as both can make immediate impacts in the CAA. Will be fun to see how our four safeties (Banks, Parker, Jarmo, MW) battle throughout camp and really develop this UR secondary.

Next Post

Hard to believe but we’re just about three weeks away from day 1 of camp. If you know anyone that wants to receive these posts let them know now because from the end of July until Week 1 I’ve got roughly 15 posts coming. The season preview will come out at the end of July, a few camp updates in early August, and then a dive into each position group leading up to the Morgan St. preview on September 1st.

NIL

If you haven’t heard the team has set up an NIL community that fans can contribute to for a monthly, recurring amount. Want to encourage everyone to support the team through this avenue as although Queally gave a ton of coverage to basketball he seemed to disregard some other major Spiders sports. I’ve attached the link below and can do my best to answer any questions people may have. With the changing college landscape having an established NIL fund, even if it isn’t a huge amount, could go a long way for an FCS program looking to stay atop the CAA.

https://nilclub.com/richmond/football