Spiders report in exactly one week and it finally starts to feel like football is back. The bar is set high and fans have every reason to be excited about what should be a fun 2023 campaign.

Schedule

Not much has changed since I previewed the schedule back in the winter.

It should be a September that sets up well for a new QB, as Stony Brook & Hampton are projected to be the worst two teams in the CAA. I think Rhode Island is undervalued right now and that trip to Kingston will be incredibly difficult, with only W&M as a more difficult opponent on the schedule. If the Spiders can go to Williamsburg and beat the Tribe it’s nearly impossible to miss the playoffs – but a loss at W&M means there isn’t much room for error. I do think at Rhody could be a signature win for the committee but it’s a bleak slate of opponents otherwise. Taking care of business early on will be key for this year’s Spiders.

Expectations

One of the few years where you’ll hear a strong majority come up with one outcome: 8-3. I’ve probably gotten that from 70+% of people I’ve talked to and it makes sense. Lots of returners, a few key question marks, and a schedule where we shouldn’t be losing more than two CAA games. I think it’s easy to settle on this mark based on how things have been going the past few years, as the Spiders return 13 (arguably 15) starters and have some promising young talent filling in the gaps. There’s likely some hesitancy from some to say 9-2 with a new QB/OC but I won’t shy away from that – 9-2 should absolutely be the bar for this experienced squad. 8-3 gets you in the playoffs and is by no means bad, but following up 2022 with an even stronger statement in 2023 would be huge.

I also get the feeling this team still feels like they have something to prove. With so much focus on Billy Cosh & Reece Udinski revitalizing the UR offense last season it was easy to overlook how far along other position groups had come. Football is ultimately about wins & losses but I think so much of my optimism about 2023 is based on how this team has developed over the past few years. Sure, the success of 2022 was easy to pin on the new faces, however the core established in years prior was the foundation for it all. You can give Billy Cosh and Reece Udinski all the praise you want for what they did last year, but neglecting how far this team has come as a whole would be ignoring so much of what we’ll get to see this year. Top to bottom this roster is in a great position to regain that consistency atop the CAA in both the short and long-term.

I’ve highlighted two things on offense, two on defense, and two additional areas of interest. Won’t dive into the players and individual expectations too much here as each position group has a full post coming during August, where I’ll outline projected starters, expectations, and goals for each position.

Offense

1. Co-OCs
2. Recruited talent

Co-Offensive Coordinators

Weird position to be in entering the fall, as there’s practically no tape to watch on either October’s or Ross’ play-calling tendencies. October called plays in the CFL, but besides that there isn’t much to go on. We can sit here and speculate but all we know for sure is this offense will try and mirror that which Billy Cosh brought last year.

Two things I’m watching for:

• Tempo – Managing the play-clock didn’t go great during the spring game, so I’m sure after about the first week the staff will be sure to work on that during the team periods. I’m also curious to see how fast the Spiders try and go in games as that was a huge weapon throughout 2022. Even if we didn’t snap it quickly, getting to line and adjusting based on the defensive look was extremely helpful and would be a great tool to have with a new QB under center.
• Run/Pass balance – The only thing we know for sure about 2023 is we’re running it A LOT more. Cosh ended up with fairly good balance by the end of the year but I doubt we’ll see this group throw it 8+ consecutive times in the normal course of a game. Senior running backs Savon Smith, Milan Howard, and Dante Black give the Spiders all the depth you need in the backfield and Wickersham will be a force with his legs. I don’t think there’s an O-line coach in the world that doesn’t love running the ball so having Ross as a co-OC is well timed for the personnel we have. UR ended 2022 with a 53%/47% pass-run split so I think we’ll see that shift to slightly favor the run in 2023 [UNH was 49%/51% in ’22, I think we end up similar to that.]

Recruited talent

More specifically, high school guys recruited by Huesman and his staff. Entering 2023 here are the primary QBs to start at UR since 2017:

• 2017 | Kyle Lauletta (recruited by Danny Rocco)
• 2018 – 2021 | Joe Mancuso (recruited by Danny Rocco)
• 2022 | Reece Udinski (one year grad transfer)

All three QBs were great for Richmond (I maintain Joe Mancuso is one of the most underrated Spiders the past 15 years) however it’s strange it took until Year 7 to see a Russ Huesman recruited QB. Despite the wait I don’t think the staff could be more excited for where this room currently stands. Anxious to see what Kyle (& Camden) will do in 2023.

We’ll also get to see more non-transfer receivers this season, as Ja’Vion Griffin, Jerry Garcia Jr., and Quanye Veney are set to get many more snaps after the departures of Herres & Henley. Throw in the increased use of tight-ends and a lot more of the snaps taken offensively will be from non-transfer players. This isn’t a positive or negative either way, just interesting to see an increase in younger guys directly recruited by this staff out of high school in action this fall.

Defense

1. Scheme
2. How high should we set the bar?

Scheme

I won’t copy and paste my previous post on “Is the 4-2-5 back?” however with so many starters returning, and few position battles going on, most of what I’m going to watch for in August will be the splits between 4-3 vs. 4-2-5 vs. Nickel. Early on we likely won’t see much as they have to go through basic install and get the true freshmen some reps, but as we enter Week 3 of camp I’m hoping I’ll get an idea of what our plans are for using different packages and the personnel used in each group.

How high should we set the bar?

Richmond enters 2023 with six defensive linemen who have made starts the past two seasons (seven with “starter level” snap counts), Tristan Wheeler at linebacker, four established options at safety, and two corners with 10+ FCS starts. That, coupled with the ridiculous numbers below, have me wondering just how good this group can be while at the same time trying to be realistic.

It might seem too optimistic but shooting for around 21 PPG again isn’t that farfetched. Staying top-3 in the CAA in all of the other areas should be the target as well, and I’m really hoping UR finishes no worse than 2nd in sacks forced. 5th feels too low for this group and I think teams will continue to struggle with Louis/Grant/Barnett on the edges. You need some great performances in the non-conference portion of the schedule to do it, but staying below the 21 PPG mark and recording at least 35 sacks are difficult but fair goals for this unit in 2023.

Other areas

1. Injury updates
2. Freshmen participation

Injury updates

Richmond is relying heavily on three players this fall that didn’t participate in the spring. I’m less concerned about Savon Smith’s status, as he played the full season and had some offseason clean-up surgery. He gave an update on his progression with Bob Black so #2 should be good to go. Gavin Lamp & Aidan Murray are different stories, as both went down during the summer/fall of 2022 and will be nearing (or at) 100% just this August. I won’t speculate as to where they stand, as discussing someone else’s injury without any knowledge isn’t too bright, but so many of the goals for this year center around them both being fully back. Murray plugs right back into his old role and fills the void left by Ray Eldridge – without him the Spiders only have two proven options at DT. Lamp (presumably) moves to RT and fills the void left by Joe More – without him the Spiders would turn to Trey Gray (I think), who they are very high on but is a R-Fr. with only a few games played. The expectations of two 5th year players are extremely high, so it’s hard to disregard how things would change if either isn’t ready to go. Again, I have no reason to believe otherwise, however if either of them have slower starts to 2023 or need more time to work back in it will be interesting to see how the staff adapts.

Freshmen participation

It’s a big freshmen class so there’s plenty to keep an eye on the first few weeks of camp, however we also have a few positions that will have a heavy true freshmen presence. We know we’ll see Cam Coleman at QB at some point, and I’d guess Weston Sharpe will play in at least a few games (no matter how the LS/SS duties are divided). Offensive line is the big area for me – assuming the first three games of the year go as expected we’ll have plenty of opportunities to get guys college snaps early on. Numbers alone tell us we’ll see three or four true freshmen in the non-conference slate, with two true freshmen likely to have a spot on the two-deep throughout the season. Aside from that I don’t think there are any positions that would have a true freshman in the battle – running back is deep, as is D-line and safety. You don’t necessarily want too many true freshmen involved early on however getting to see game snaps from this large and highly respected O-line class will be fun to watch in September.

Next Post

Spiders hit the field in a week and I’m hoping to make some of the early practices, so I’ll provide an update around August 7th with what I’ve seen so far. If anyone would like me to focus on anything in particular let me know and I’ll be sure to keep my eye out for it.