Robert Morris Colonials 2026 Season Preview

Clark's Rebuild Continues

Bernard Clark Jr. closed 2025 at 3-9 and 2-5 in the NEC, and the No. 105 power rating tied to that stretch shows a program still searching for a foothold on the field. Nothing here traces to any front-office pressure, just a results problem: too many league losses and not enough separation from the bottom of the conference. Turning 2-5 into a winning league mark is the plain, on-field bar for 2026.

Tanner's Offense Still Stuck

Zach Tanner comes back after throwing for 1,069 yards with 11 touchdowns against just 2 interceptions, and that ratio is the one real building block for an offense that finished 120th in scoring and 115th on third downs. The problem was never protecting him or turning it over, it was moving the chains and hitting explosive plays, and until the run game climbs out of 108th nationally, Tanner's efficiency alone won't fix a unit averaging 15.2 points. Robert Morris has its quarterback answer for 2026, it still needs a supporting cast that can finish drives.

Zach Tanner's 11 touchdowns against just 2 interceptions were the rare bright spot on an offense that ranked 118th in total yards and converted third downs at a 29.3% clip, and he heads into 2026 as the clear returning starter rather than part of some rebuild-from-scratch story. The issue was never Tanner's ball security, it was everything around him, an offense stuck at 4.84 yards per play and a 35.3% success rate that left him without much margin. Abilene Christian transfer Carson Haggard adds competition-level depth, but this is Tanner's offense to carry, and Robert Morris' ceiling in 2026 tracks directly with how much better the supporting cast plays around him.

Donta Whack heads the returning group after gaining 262 rushing yards and scoring twice, but Robert Morris now has to replace Ethan Shine's 767 yards and 5 touchdowns without a single back who topped his production. Owen McGraw and Xavier Goulbourne managed only 113 and 51 yards respectively, and an offense that ranked 108th in rushing yards per game and 111th in success rate never found a push up front. Whack's workload has to jump significantly for this rushing attack to look any different in 2026.

Jaqai Carter's 32 catches for 389 yards were the only real production in a passing game that ranked 109th nationally, and now he loses his top complementary target as Thomas Lee (25 catches, 364 yards, 3 TD) departs. Everyone else back in the room, Tyler Evans, Galen Combs, Noah Schaerli, Ashton Hampton, combined for fewer catches last season than Lee had by himself, which means Carter is the passing game almost by default in an offense that finished 111th in success rate. Robert Morris does not need more bodies at receiver so much as a second option to emerge from that returning group, because right now Carter is the whole story.

Richard Ransom's 19 catches for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns give Robert Morris a proven target back at tight end, but Chaz Middleton's 22 grabs, 370 yards and 5 scores are the bigger hole in an offense that already ranked 120th in scoring and 111th in success rate. Max Lopacienski returns with modest numbers of his own, while Ololade Adeduro, Mac Bresnahan and Salvador Morales come back without a catch on record, meaning Ransom has to expand his role just to keep this passing game (109th nationally) from losing ground. Bernard Clark Jr. needs Ransom to become a legitimate every-down weapon, because nothing in this group suggests Middleton's production gets replaced by committee.

Bernard Clark Jr. inherits an offense that managed just 113 rushing yards per game and 4.84 yards per play a season ago, numbers that trace straight back to a line now stripped of five identifiable starters in Malcolm Bennett, Darrell Branch, Cornel Brown III, Yann Lekomo and Aidan Stair, part of seven departures up front overall. That kind of turnover on a front that already struggled to move anyone, converting only 29.3% of third downs, means whatever combination Clark Jr. settles on will be judged almost entirely on whether it can simply create push nobody in the league saw from this group last year. The passing game managing 1.26 explosiveness on successful plays suggests some big-play juice exists when protection holds, so the rebuilt line's first job is buying enough time for that to matter again.

The 2025 line held up against the pass, part of a defense that finished 9th in passing yards allowed per game, but the run fits cracked badly at 115th in rushing yards allowed, and that's the problem Bernard Clark Jr. actually has to fix up front. Nathan Carabatsakis, Trey Woods and Benjie Guar are all gone from that front, taking what little proven production existed at end and tackle with them. Dayton transfer Brandon Martin arrives at edge without a stat line to lean on, so the run-stopping fix for 2026 rests on an experienced group up front finally holding the point of attack rather than any single newcomer erasing last year's rushing numbers.

Robert Morris ran a defense last year that stiffened against the pass (170 yards allowed, 9th nationally) but got gashed on the ground for 207 yards a game, 115th in the country, and the linebacker corps that let that happen is being cleared out almost entirely. Patrick McDonnell, Jakari Patterson and Mitchell Robinson Jr., the tackle and disruption production at the position, are all gone, leaving Chattanooga transfer Amanuel Dickson to help rebuild the group's identity against the run. Fixing that rushing number, not the respectable overall points-allowed mark of 24.9 a game, is what determines whether this defense takes a step forward in 2026.

Noel Roach and Kenyan Brown, the tackle leaders among returning safeties with 5 and 4 stops, anchor a back end that actually held up against the pass, finishing 9th nationally in passing yards allowed per game at 170. The run defense is the real problem, ranking 115th in rushing yards allowed, and losing Philjae Bien-Aime's 5 tackles and Robert Dickerson at corner strips away experience without adding a pass rush behind Roach and Tahseen Howard. Carson James and depth pieces Blake Allen and Marcus Badgett return, but until Bernard Clark Jr. finds pressure up front, this secondary keeps bailing out a defense that gave up 207 yards a game on the ground.

Jayson Jenkins' departure erases the only proven leg Robert Morris had, a kicker who hit 10 of 15 field goals with a 46-yard long and 50 points last season. Nate Ost returns at punter but arrives without prior stats on file, so Bernard Clark Jr. is piecing together placekicking and long-snapping duties from scratch after also losing Mack Flynn and Zach Weber. There is no in-house scoring track record to lean on, which makes close games a real gamble for a team that finished 2-5 in conference last year.

Zach Tanner's Growth

Zach Tanner threw for 1,069 yards and 11 touchdowns against just 2 interceptions as a first option last year, and with Ethan Shine's 767 rushing yards gone, Robert Morris is going to lean on his arm even more in 2026. Jaqai Carter's 32 catches give him a proven target, but Donta Whack's 262 rushing yards is not enough of a ground threat to take pressure off Tanner, so how far his passing game stretches is what separates this team from repeating a 2-5 conference finish or climbing out of it.

Backed and burned

Robert Morris bettors kept getting fooled, and the numbers say stop trusting this team with points. Bernard Clark Jr.'s club covered just 27% of the time overall, and the two spots that should be safest, home favorites (0-2) and road underdog spots (1-5, 17%), were the worst of all. The market consistently overrated a team that went 3-9, and until that home-favorite number moves, fading Robert Morris is the play.