The loss of Zach Palmer-Smith opens up plenty of carries for a trio of returning UR running backs. No ball carrier is older than a R-So., meaning everyone has a chance to cement their role for the foreseeable future.

Roster

Additions

Michael Creamer – Out of Stafford, VA, Creamer landed at Richmond over Lehigh, Elon, and Towson. Playing defense as well during high school, Creamer isn’t afraid of contact and blends both power and speed.

Warrick Stephenson – Another late addition to the 2025 class, “Butter” joins the Spiders from local Douglas Freeman High School, where he was All-Metro. At 5’7″, Stephenson isn’t easy to corral. We likely won’t see him this season but I love that we found another local running back to add to our roster.

Trio of options

This season’s top three running backs all played last year and will be battling for the RB1 spot throughout camp.

Andrew King – King settled in as RB2 behind ZPS, playing in 11 games and totaling 267 yards on 46 touches (5.8 YPC). He took advantage of his chances early in the season, recording 100 yards against NC A&T and two TDs before the bye week. More of a speed back, King is a great compliment to any of our bigger backs and will surely have a role in Huesman’s new offense.

Aziz Foster-Powell – The local Highland Springs product saw early action last year, getting 26 carries in our first two games. A suspension after the Wofford game derailed his 2024, grabbing only 30 carries after that. People tend to view Foster-Powell as a goal line back based on his size alone however Aziz said in a post practice interview that he’s playing at a much lighter weight in 2025 (down from about 230 lbs.). At 212 lbs. he’s still a big back that’s difficult to bring down, but his vision and footwork show he’s much more than just a short-yardage option.

Jamaal Brown – Brown was a guy I thought could be our lead back last season but injuries took him out of the running in September. I think he’s the hardest runner when healthy, and since he only had 23 carries I’ll be watching him the most this camp. Players from the Pittsburgh area have been good to us recently so I’m hoping Brown shows that same level of toughness.

What I’m watching for

Feature back, duo, or trio? – I didn’t enter 2024 thinking it would end in one RB getting nearly 70% of the carries. Brown’s injury and Foster-Powell’s suspension really cleared the way for ZPS, who then never let it go after three straight 100+ yard games. I feel the same way entering 2025 – based on how evenly reps are distributed in practice we aren’t trending towards any one back getting 60%+ of the touches.

I’m most confident we’ll see Andrew King continually in the rotation. He showed a knack for hitting chunk plays, plus I doubt we burned his redshirt for him to not be a major contributor moving forward. Still, this feels very similar to cornerback – three guys more than capable with starting roles not officially determined until late September. RB snap counts from Game 1 compared to Game 13 were drastically different, so no matter what we see during practices/scrimmages we probably won’t have a definitive answer until we exit non-conference play.

Passing game – Two areas this group needs to step up in, with the combination a huge factor in raising our offense’s ceiling.

1) Receiving

The Aaron Dykes/Savon Smith combo dominated the backfield from 2019-2023. They ate up most of the carries and were also heavily involved in the passing game. After Savon’s graduation, things took a dive in 2024.

A massive drop-off for running backs in our passing game, averaging just 10 yards/game with one TD all year. A reliable option that saw 5+ targets each week was nowhere to be found last season.

I think this trend reverses in 2025. Andrew King showed he can make big things happen in space and Aziz Foster-Powell has some of the best hands on the team. Teams are going to blitz the Spiders this season and I’d love to reignite our screen game to counter that. We’re also going to get Wickersham on the move, meaning easy completions working sideline to sideline will be there. Plenty of focus will, and should be, on who steps up in the WR room, however getting our RBs more involved in the passing game remains crucial.

2) Pass protection

This could be the most difficult area for the 2025 Spiders to replace. I won’t act like this overshadows ZPS rushing for 1,300 yards, but the hole he leaves behind in pass protection is massive. Last year’s RB preview focused on Palmer-Smith’s ability to pick up blitzes and keep QBs on their feet, and he did just that in his one year at Richmond. His 77.1 PFF grade was the highest for a UR running back during Huesman’s time, a key factor in the offense only allowing 16 sacks all season.

Aside from ZPS, King & Foster-Powell received much lower grades. Keep in mind that’s an extremely small sample size but I don’t think we can brush that to the side. It’s a skill we typically don’t notice until you suddenly don’t have it anymore – then it’s a glaring problem. I’ll say it again – opponents aren’t going to shy away from blitzing the seemingly run heavy Spiders. Whichever running back steps up in pass pro will solidify their place in the rotation.

Next Post

2025 Fall Camp – Update #2 – Monday, August 18th