I was waiting to post an update until more portal news happened, so with our second commitment it feels like a good time. Three weeks into the new year and we finally have a few new roster changes. The early high school class is complete, along with some transfer updates and our 2024 schedule.

High School signees

Big class for the Spiders this year – 16 freshman in total with the position breakdown below:

Great balance overall. With six O-line additions last year that means the Spiders have added nine total the past two seasons, clearly a point of emphasis from the staff. We’ve also added four running backs the last two years, so it’s a much younger RB room that we’ve had in a while. 

The secondary additions look to be very high level players, and getting a highly touted local product in Kyree Richardson (Manchester) is a big win. The guy I’m most excited about right now is Daniel Sellers, who looks to be a true pass rusher at DE. Pittsburgh guys have done well for us.

With transfers (hopefully) filling most needs I don’t expect any to play too often as true freshman, however fall camp can always change that. Excited to see this group come August.

Transfer Portal additions/targets

Too quiet from the Spiders. Two additions so far, however we missed out on a key potential safety addition and haven’t addressed anything in the secondary.

Zach Palmer-Smith – Welcome to our new Spider, who comes from Wagner. Strong inside runner who will fit the Spiders’ scheme really well. 2-years of eligibility left and no doubt he’ll be in line for some touches in 2024.

Matt Robbert – Our other new Spider is Matt Robbert. Very highly recruited, holding offers from about half of the CAA and a few FBS schools. 6’4″, 240 lbs. and ranked the #3 portal TE in this class. Should be a real weapon for our offense this season as he’s an excellent route runner and receiver. 1-year of eligibility left.

Wande Owens – The star Yale safety chose New Hampshire over Richmond, which really hurts. I’d imagine we’re still looking for at least one secondary addition before Spring practice starts.

Carter Glassmyer – Freshman All-American linebacker from St. Francis remains uncommitted – feels like a key UR target right now.

Mason Gilbert – The Lafayette tight end is the #6 portal TE, and holds an offer from UR, however I doubt he’s coming after the Robbert commitment. Our tight end usage will increase in 2024, but not that much.

Transfer Portal departures

Fonnae Webb – Webb got his degree and entered the portal, which either was helped by the addition of Palmer-Smith or was the reason we were targeting a running back. I liked his running style, so this one is definitely a loss. Palmer-Smith is a very similar back so hoping he fills this void.

Milan Howard – This one was expected, as Howard entered the portal last season before ultimately returning. He was fantastic in kickoff returns and the RB2 role so hoping he finds a good landing spot for a 6th and final season.

Jasiah Williams – This one stings. The local star from Thomas Dale was impactful from his first season, but after the injury shortened 2023 is wasn’t super surprising he is going somewhere else. We saw a lot of Garcia Jr. and Veney in the slot, and since he will be a UR graduate it makes a lot of sense. He will no doubt be missed, both as a player and as a leader.

2024 Schedule

No New Hampshire and no Villanova yet again. We do get Delaware in their final year as a CAA/FCS member, however for the second straight year we have a schedule where we should be making the playoffs 100% of the time.

I’ll dive more into the schedule over the summer but this is a great setup. Bye week right in the middle of a 12-game slate, and only one “flight game.” Coming off two consecutive playoff appearances the bar is now at a level where nine wins should be the minimum.

Next Post

The next update will be once we have more transfer news. Huesman said he was expecting roughly four additions so there’s hopefully more reinforcements coming. Right now I’m projecting 16 O-lineman for the Spiders in 2024 so I’m leaning less towards us adding somewhere there, but I would be shocked if we didn’t find some secondary help. Glassmyer at LB would be a huge get but there’s no bigger need than a coverage guy to add some depth after the departures of Rankin Jr. and Black II.

Once more guys are added I will do a full roster update. Hoping that is early/mid-February, with late February or early March being the Spring previews.