As the start of the season approaches, Middle Tennessee continued to bring in some players to this year's team, including two notable transfers in edge rusher Alex Williams and kicker Zach Benedict.

Williams helps bolster the amount of experience in the edge rusher position room, spending five seasons in the power conference ranks at Ohio State and Vanderbilt. He spent two years with the Buckeyes, redshirting as a freshman, and then appeared in five games the following year for a team that made the College Football Playoff. Following the conclusion of that season, he would transfer to Vanderbilt ahead of the 2020 season to play for head coach Derek Mason. He would spend three years in Nashville, appearing in eight games in the 2022 season for the Commodores.

He was out of football last year, but the NCAA has granted him a seventh year of eligibility, considering his first season at Vanderbilt would qualify as an extra COVID year. He brings great size at 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds to use off the edge and be another voice on this defense for what Derek Mason is trying to get done.

With the other addition from the transfer portal, Zach Benedict quietly has the chance to be a very important pickup for this program as he uses the remaining three years of eligibility.

Last season, as a redshirt freshman at New Mexico, he appeared in one game, handling the kickoff duties in the Lobos game against Fresno State. He was responsible for six kickoffs, averaging 56 yards per kick.

He comes in as a taller kicker and uses that big leg to his advantage when striking from deep. This should be advantageous right away for this team as veteran kicker Zeke Rankin has never handled kickoff duties in his Blue Raider career. The veteran is also approaching the end of his time in Murfreesboro, so Benedict will give special teams coordinator Luke Paschall a veteran with college experience to work with in the future.