There wasn’t a more productive pair of linebackers last season in the Colonial Athletic Association than the one Richmond had.

And the duo of senior Tyler Dressler and sophomore Tristan Wheeler are returning for this coming fall to again anchor the Spiders’ defense, which should mature into one of the better units in the league.

“Both are excellent players,” Richmond coach Russ Huesman said.

Dressler and Wheeler tallied 104 tackles apiece during the 2019 season, with Dressler doing it over 11 games to lead the conference with 9.5 tackles per contest. Wheeler, the CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year last fall, was the first true freshman in league history to reach the 100-tackle mark in a single season.

Those two along with hybrid defensive back/linebacker Nile Harris as well as senior defensive tackle Colby Ritten and junior defensive lineman Kobie Turner give Richmond seasoned athletes near the line of scrimmage. Turner racked up 71 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks last year.

“And Colby Ritten is a guy people really don’t talk about because his numbers aren’t off the charts,” Huesman said, “but he’s a fantastic player.”

Richmond wound up with a 5-7 overall mark and a 4-4 league record, but had a stretch in the middle of the campaign when it won four of five to reinvigorate playoff hopes – victories came against Albany, which inevitably reached the FCS postseason, and Maine, Delaware and Stony Book, three programs which all were in the Top 25 when Richmond beat them.

But late-year losses to Villanova, James Madison and William & Mary derailed those ideas. JMU, which has won four in a row over the Spiders, is scheduled to go to Richmond on Nov. 14 this year.

Huesman said the formula for the mid-season success wasn’t complex.

“We were playing good defense for one,” the fourth-year coach said, “and we had gotten real good quarterback play. A matter of fact, we got excellent quarterback play and if we can continue to progress at quarterback with Joe Mancuso and play good defense, we’ve got a chance. I think he’s got enough around him that we can move the ball on offense and then we can be good on defense. Those were the things, because when you’re playing really good defense and you’re hanging onto the football while getting real good quarterback play then you’ve got a chance.”

Dressler had 20 tackles in the Spiders’ win at Maine and those were the most any FCS player recorded in a single game all year.

As for Mancuso, the senior signal-caller led Richmond in passing (2,128 yards) and rushing (647 yards) a year ago and Huesman said he likes the quarterback’s chances to improve upon the fortune he had last season. The coach said Mancuso fits well in Richmond’s style of offense – one that requires the quarterback to carry the ball more frequently than others. Mancuso’s 136 rushing attempts were the second most among all starting CAA quarterbacks.

“This is the way we’ve been for a long time,” Huesman, the former Chattanooga coach for eight years before landing the Richmond gig, said, “and even going back to our days at Chattanooga we’ve had quarterbacks that could move and were mobile. Obviously our first year with Kyle [Lauletta], it was just throwing it and we did do a nice job of throwing it, but when you’ve got a guy like Joe who can run and who has pretty good speed and good size, I don’t want to run him 30 times a game, but I think 12 to 15 is probably good.”

Huesman said he’d prefer a running back to lead the team in rushing, and that could happen this year considering sophomores Milan Howard, Aaron Dykes and Savon Smith are all back at the position on the heels of contributing on offense as freshmen.

Additionally, Richmond returns it’s entire starting offensive line from 2019 and the coach said he has never felt better about the five up front in his time leading the Spiders. He said him and staff have consciously recruited to bolster the depth of the offensive line.

“We’ve got numbers. We’ve got experience,” he said. “Our whole offensive line is back. I remember two years ago we made a couple of trips with six [offensive linemen] and at one point against Albany two years ago we had to put a tight end into an offensive lineman jersey and play him at tackle. So this is the first year we’ve been here where we’ve got depth. We’ve got seven or eight that are going to compete and fight for playing time, so really I feel good about that.”

To give Mancuso an extra target Richmond added Cornell transfer tight end John Fitzgerald and Huesman said the Spiders will target a wide receiver or two in the portal after losing former receivers Charlie Fesser and Keyston Fuller to graduation.

“But we feel good about where we are up front on both sides of the ball,” Huesman said. “And I think if you’re not good up front on either side, you’re going to have issues. I think our quarterback play will continue to get better. So when you’ve got a quarterback and some people up front on both sides of the ball you do have a chance.”

Richmond is slated to open its season on Sept. 5 against St. Francis.