The Spiders have (un)officially turned things over to the expected QB of the future, as R-So. Kyle Wickersham is set to make his first collegiate start when UR takes on Morgan St. to kickoff the 2023 season. In a year where expectations remain high due to 13+ starters returning and a favorable schedule, the true ceiling of this team will be dictated by how the newest Spider to start at QB can command the offense and take care of the football.

Player profiles

Kyle Wickersham – https://richmondspiders.com/sports/football/roster/kyle-wickersham/5765

Camden Coleman – https://richmondspiders.com/sports/football/roster/camden-coleman/5773

Jackson Hardy – https://richmondspiders.com/sports/football/roster/jackson-hardy/5730

Ashten Snelsire – https://richmondspiders.com/sports/football/roster/ashten-snelsire/5754

Overall QB depth

Go back two years and the QB situation at Richmond looks vastly different. Entering 2021 Jackson Walker had just moved to wide receiver, Jackson Hardy hadn’t played in a game, Kyle Wickersham had just arrived on campus, and Beau English was not the long-term answer. Joe Mancuso was thankfully back for a final year however (as we proved after his injury at Tech) this program wasn’t on track with developing the most important position on the field. The Billy Cosh/Reece Udinski revival of 2022 helped bridge the gap to 2023, where the combination of Wickersham & Camden Coleman have flipped the perception of this group upside down. Throw in the progress shown by both Jackson Hardy and Ashten Snelsire and the concerns have died down greatly. It’s August, so everything from now until Morgan St. is pure talk, but having seen both bright and bleak QB rooms at UR the past 10 years it’s safe to say things are trending upward.

Camden Coleman

I’ve been specifically not referencing true freshmen in these previews, but it’s hard to do the QB overview and not mention #14. As the true freshman who had the most eye-opening spring (sure, he was the only true freshman taking part in spring practices so he wins that title by default) he quickly jumped off the page and helped raise the expectations of the QB two-deep for 2023. I don’t know if he’ll end up on there for game 1, but I have to imagine the staff wants to get him so game experience in the non-conference portion. Coleman won’t offer the same power running ability that Wickersham does, however his ball placement, especially while on the move, seems to be a real strength along with his quick release.

One big plus Coleman has going for him is playing against collegiate level competition during his post-grad year at Myrtle Beach Collegiate. Once he finished up high school, Coleman played a prep season at Myrtle Beach Collegiate and then enrolled at UR in January 2023. Not only did that allow him an extra spring practice season compared to traditional true freshmen, but his final year before college was at a higher level and quicker speed than you’d typically see. He’s slightly ahead of schedule for a typical true freshman and boasts a lot of positives that transfer well to the college game.

Kyle Wickersham

Having only played in a handful of games for the Spiders we’ve heard more about Kyle’s family from the media than #16 himself. Yes, his dad starred at quarterback at LSU, and the Wickersham family is essentially a small factory for D-1 athletes across a variety of sports – but aside from that very little has been mentioned about how the Spiders got one of their most touted QB prospects in recent memory.

It’s not everyday that an FCS program gets a 3-star, #2 ranked high school QB (per 247sports), and it’s especially unique to get that kind of talent outside our typical recruiting zones. After an undefeated state championship season at Archbishop Rummel in 2019, Wickersham would go on to secure offers from Nicholls St, SELA, Air Force, and numerous Ivy League schools. For UR to go down and get a top ranked QB in the heart of Southland Conference territory, when both Nicholls St and SELA wanted him, is one of the bigger recruiting wins we’ve had the past decade.

There’s few things better than surrounding a young QB with talent and Wickersham walks into a near dream situation for a first year starting QB – experienced offensive line, a featured running back, and a plethora of options at receiver. Despite his lack of experience I don’t foresee the staff putting too many limits on what they’ll ask him to do. He’s had two years on campus and one year in this offense, so although the Spiders will run the ball more in 2023 there will be plenty of opportunities to see his abilities as a passer. His arm strength is widely regarded as one of his biggest strengths so don’t be shocked to see UR continue to excel in the downfield passing game. Any offense that can boast a strong ground game alongside a downfield passing attack is rare and difficult to defend at the FCS level. In his senior season at Rummel Wickersham averaged >13 yards per completion and had a 3:1 TD-INT ratio, so stretching the field and creating chunk plays shouldn’t be an issue.

For as good as his arm is, you can’t mention what he’ll bring to this offense without talking about his running ability. Everyone you talk to describes Kyle as a “gamer,” something that really stands out when he’s running. We’ll hear the Jacob Huesman comparison a lot but Huesman nearly ran it as often as he threw it his senior year (278 passing attempts, 220 rushing attempts). I maintain that 2012 John Laub is a better comp for Wickersham, as both were quarterbacks who welcomed contact while rushing while still operating in more traditional schemes. Running through defenders, not around them, will be a recurring theme this year however Huesman has already said we’ll see him average around 8-10 attempts. I’m already on record saying that number is too low, but I do think a majority of his attempts come on 3rd down & redzone situations. Short yardage 3rd downs and redzone TD % weren’t the Spiders’ strong suit in 2022 so it’s safe to assume the staff will lean on Wickersham in those areas in search of improvement.

Wickersham’s unique ability to throw the full route tree with FBS level arm talent, all while being a constant threat in the ground game, will offer the Spiders plenty of directions to take this offense. It’s a very different skillset from that of Reece Udinski, which is why any comparisons between the two won’t hold much weight, especially when you consider the differences in game experience.

How he compares to Reece Udinski

It’s easy to do – pull up the 2022 statistics, compare them to 2023, and see what changed. The Udinski/Wickersham comparison will be referenced more than any other throughout the season, so let’s get this out of the way now.

Kyle Wickersham is not Reece Udinski – he isn’t the same style quarterback as Reece Udinski, he wasn’t recruited to be Reece Udinski, we won’t ask him to be Reece Udinski, and we most certainly shouldn’t expect him to play like Reece Udinski. This is an easy trap to fall into all season but we simply can’t do this as fans. We’re going from a polished QB with record-setting accuracy that arrived at UR with 39 career games played (27 starts) to a guy making his first collegiate start in a few weeks.

Reece Udinski was a near finished product before he even walked into Scott Stadium to make his Spider debut – Wickersham steps into Robins Stadium having only just begun his college career as a starter. To hold them to the same standard isn’t fair to anyone involved.

What a good season looks like

Now don’t get me wrong, the expectations at UR for December football remain. This is a program that should be stringing FCS playoff appearances together, and there’s a reason we didn’t look at add another QB this summer. We’ve got the guy we wanted and while the ultimate goals don’t change, how we define success at quarterback will look different in 2023. Wickersham is guaranteed to “fail” if you only use Udinski as his comp, so I’ve outlined below some numbers we should keep in mind.

Completion percentage target – 63% | Should Richmond fans be ok if our team completion percentage drops roughly 10% this season? Udinski’s 73% last season was 2nd in the nation, however 63% would keep us in the top-35 of FCS teams last season. The “drop” seems substantial but would actually be quite strong for a first-year starting QB. Wickersham will also be able to do more on the ground, so some of the easy competitions designed for Udinski will be runs for Wickersham and thus not show up in his completion percentage.

Interceptions target – less than 9 | Eight or fewer INTs would be up from 2022 (Udinski had 5) but again is realistic. That would put us in the top third of FCS teams, which is solid for a first-year starting QB.

You might think those numbers seem a little too conservative or that I’m selling Wickersham short, so I’ve put them up against other CAA quarterbacks and past Spider starters that many will remember.

How this compares to the CAA

Here’s a list of the other CAA playoff teams (& QBs) from 2022 and where their season totals ended up in these two areas.

All the sudden a 63% completion rate doesn’t seem that crazy, does it? No other playoff CAA QB was above 65%, yet every single one of those teams won 8+ games and had strong offenses throughout the season. Whether it was a focus on the running game (W&M & Elon), a balanced attack (UNH), or a heavy passing attack (Delaware) there are plenty of ways to score points and win games with a completion percentage in the low-ish 60s.

How this compares to younger Spider QBs

We also can’t forget that Wickersham is entering his redshirt sophomore season and has played against essentially no FCS competition. He played in four games in 2022, but the reserves for Lehigh, Stony Brook, Hampton, and Davidson hardly scream “true FCS competition.” I don’t care how talented he is – not having faced real FCS game competition is a big deal and a steep learning curve. With that, comparing him to anyone who has multiple college seasons under their belt doesn’t make much sense either, so let’s look at how other younger Spider QBs performed early on. Below are four guys Spiders fans will recognize, as these four are the last Richmond QBs to start multiple seasons under center for the full season.

Now we’re really starting to get a good picture of what 2023 should look like. 63% would put Wickersham right in line with other successful UR quarterbacks early in their careers, as would roughly 9 INTs. Lauletta being under 62% with 12 INTs (albeit in 14 games, not 11) was the most shocking, but this really shows how important it is to use fair comparisons when evaluating a young starting QB.

What all this means

Let Kyle Wickersham go out and be his own QB. He doesn’t need to mirror what Reece Udinski did, or even any of the other guys I mentioned. He will lead this team to victories in his own way, so while comparing and analyzing numbers is fun let’s not forget that success comes in many forms.

And no matter how well he plays, we still need patience. It’s easy to analyze QB play at the end of the year and draw positive conclusions, however that perspective is easily lost in the midst of the season. We remember 2015 Kyle Lauletta for defeating W&M twice in three weeks, along with a 369 yard performance to take down #2 Illinois St on the road in the FCS quarterfinals. What you’ve likely forgotten is Lauletta’s 4 INT game @ UNH that same year that cost UR a chance at a top-4 national seed. All QBs make mistakes – the good ones don’t let those mistakes define them.

There’s a reason this staff took a one-year transfer last year and didn’t look to add any other QBs. Wickersham was the plan all along and now it’s finally his shot. This offense will be able to operate at any tempo and you’ll see his ability to make all the necessary throws required in the CAA – just don’t expect him to be a Reece Udinski clone. He’ll bring his own skillset to this offense yet can absolutely continue the level of success regained during 2022.

Obscure stat

This post isn’t without its share of random statistics, so I’ll share a funny pattern I stumbled across. Since 2007, we’ve had three redshirt sophomores start the opening game of the season at QB, with Wickersham being the third. Here’s how those seasons have gone:

The “CAA champs/semifinal appearance eight-year cycle” has once again come full circle in 2023, with Wickersham hoping to replicate what Ward & Lauletta did in ’07 & ’15, respectively.

Is that a lofty goal? Sure, but it would’ve been a lofty goal in both 2007 and 2015 as well. Too early to tell if we’ll put ourselves in a position to keep this pattern alive, but I’ll never argue with any players finding themselves alongside Ward & Lauletta when it comes to winning.

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2023 Fall camp – 3rd update (8/21)