With Spring Practice right around the corner, here’s a quick portal/roster update.

Transfer Portal

Jordan Allen – Our second returning graduate player, 1st team All-Patriot League safety Jordan Allen follows the path of Cam Byrd and returns to Richmond for his final season.

“I’ve always told the grad kids if they’re not happy with what’s out there, I would invite them back,” said Huesman.

That’s from John O’Connor’s article in late January, as this is the first season we’ve seen a significant impact from retaining players who already have their UR degree. As I’ve outlined before, experience is at a premium in the FCS and Allen coming back to captain our secondary can’t be overstated. The Spiders’ defense will have at least eight starters with significant game experience in 2026 and I’m thrilled that Allen will be part of that group.

Andrew King – King is now at William & Mary……

Class of 2026

Ronald Johnson – Out of Lackey High School in Maryland, Johnson committed to the Spiders in late January. A running back at 5′ 11″ 195 lbs., Johnson ran for over 1,700 yards and 22 TDs his senior year. Johnson is the only running back in this freshman class.

Warren Hernandez – Hernandez announced his commitment on February 1st, adding to our spring freshman class and likely rounding out our WR additions. He played at the Hun School, a New Jersey high school program that we’ve targeted more since joining the Patriot League.

Boyd Rhodes – From Memphis, Tennessee, Rhodes is the fourth offensive lineman in this class and the second to sign this spring.

Anton Carter Jr. – Carter was a W&M commit back in August but has officially flipped to the Spiders, giving us a needed addition to the linebacker room. Carter Jr. is the 9th member of this year’s freshman class to come from the state of Virginia.

Matthew Jones – Jones was a JMU commit before their coaching change and will join the Spiders as another lengthy DB. Similar to Devin (c/o 2025) & Caleb (c/o 2026) Geronomi, Matthew’s younger brother Marcus could be a target in next year’s recruiting class.

For the second straight year we crushed it with spring signings. In total we signed seven, flipping a couple from rival schools and boosting our local presence with more guys from RVA. I imagine a couple guys will be in contention to make the opening 2-deep.

Roster Update

Our freshman class is above 20 once again, bringing the unofficial roster count to 87. During spring practice I’ll try and get an official roster total, as I am having to guess on a few players either returning or leaving. Once I have that, I’ll give the more detailed breakdown by position group.

Really nice balance from the Spiders across the four “traditional” classes [true freshman – 2 years of eligibility]. It’s strange to see graduate players make up such a small part of the roster however with more true freshmen playing and less 5th year guys staying at the FCS level, it’s going to become the norm. If we want to judge the balance of our roster, using the four traditional classes makes more sense.

This doesn’t discount the bonus that graduate players bring to our roster – if anything it amplifies it. You’ll see all five of those Spiders play crucial roles in 2026, however their numbers aren’t a good indicator of roster balance. Excluding them, all four classes account for between 20-30% of the roster, showing our high school recruiting remains active and consistent.

Targets

Overall there hasn’t been much activity to track online. The Krystian Williams signing came out of nowhere (for people on the outside) so for all I know we’ve got something brewing. Still plenty of kids in the portal so we may re-assess towards the end of spring. I still think long snapper is a spot we should add a freshman, as the coaching staff follows a few uncommitted 2026 prospects. Aside from that we’re still one or two offensive linemen short from Coach Huesman’s goal. With four in this year’s class, this may be a position we dip into the portal.

Spring Practice schedule

The spring practice schedule is online, with four practices before UR’s spring break and 11 after. A few Fridays and Saturdays on there so some good afternoon viewing chances for those already missing football season.

Next Post

Before the first practice, I’ll quickly highlight a few areas on offense, defense, and special teams that will be important to track.

2026 Spring Preview – Monday, February 23rd