4 Game Redshirt Rule - A Microcosm of a Problem?

[Scarlet]

I've been waiting for the last few games to see if the young blood has any more fire and talent than that of the Riley guys.   And yet, the Frost recruits are getting enough snaps to take advantage of the new rule. 

 

I'm baffled by the thought process of wanting to preserve a player's redshirt, which is understandable, but when they play they get one or two snaps per game (i.e. Rahmir Johnson), etc.   If you're going to play a guy that is eligible for a redshirt in four games, then play him.  Now that the season is winding down and Rahmir has played something like three games he will either have to be played sparingly or burn the redshirt.   Wouldn't it have been better to not play him at all until we've reached the point that bowl eligibility was shot?  Johnson is only one example.  Luke McCaffrey is another.  Remember the one snap he took in a game?  Keem Green the same. 

 

It seems to be an indication of a flawed decision making process.  Am I the only one alarmed by this?  Frost is a smart guy, so I'm going to have to give him the benefit of the doubt and see if he has another plan to play these guys as the season circles the vortex of the toilet.  But we've all worked with, or know, smart guys that can't see the forest for the trees.

 

If I'm Frost I'm going with the young blood from here on out and empty the bench up to the point of preserving their redshirts.  We're going to need these guys as the future.  How frustrating it must be for a 4-star to bust his butt then waste the four year redshirt rule on the bench, in a season when the old blood shows no fight.   If we see some of these guys hitting the transfer portal we'll know why. 

 

It'll be interesting to see who plays the remainder of the season.   Does Frost empty the bench and take advantage of the rule?  If Frost stays the course with the current upper class, we're truly screwed.

 

 

 

[Nebfanatic]

My only thought is they don't fully trust them out there but honestly it is baffling how we have used the redshirt rule.

[Stone Cold]

I just wonder if he feels this season is lost and hes just going to try and grind it out with the guys he has.  

[Scarlet]

9 minutes ago, Stone Cold said:

I just wonder if he feels this season is lost and hes just going to try and grind it out with the guys he has.  

 

But if he feels the season is lost then only an idiot wouldn't take advantage of the four game redshirt rule.  If the season is lost you play your young talent as much as possible up to the point of four games.  

[Scarlet]

14 minutes ago, Nebfanatic said:

My only thought is they don't fully trust them out there but honestly it is baffling how we have used the redshirt rule.

I could see that up to this point in the season.  We need to get to bowl eligibility.   But once that is out the window, it's then time to play the youth movement.   Can it be any worse?

[Nebfanatic]

1 minute ago, Scarlet said:

I could see that up to this point in the season.  We need to get to bowl eligibility.   But once that is out the window, it's then time to play the youth movement.   Can it be any worse?

Well that would start next week. We had a shot at bowl elgibility with a win Saturday. Hate how they used Rahmir and Hickman though, might as well have not played them at all

[milehighbob]

16 minutes ago, Stone Cold said:

I just wonder if he feels this season is lost and hes just going to try and grind it out with the guys he has.  

Other way around. If we were winning by two or three touchdowns, the underclassmen would play.

 My theory is:

Frost is stubborn. He won’t pull kids or fire coaches because he doesn’t want to admit he made a mistake.

[Scarlet]

4 minutes ago, Nebfanatic said:

Well that would start next week. We had a shot at bowl elgibility with a win Saturday. Hate how they used Rahmir and Hickman though, might as well have not played them at all

Agreed.  Then again how many freshmen around the country are making an impact?  Either our schemes must require the intellect of a rocket scientist or we are recruiting some real dullards.  

[Nebfanatic]

Just now, Scarlet said:

Agreed.  Then again how many freshmen around the country are making an impact?  Either our schemes must require the intellect of a rocket scientist or we are recruiting some real dullards.  

I don't think its that as much. Think Garrett Nelson against Indiana. He plays hard, love the kids energy, but he lost contain on the QB twice for touchdowns. Those mistakes cost us and that is probably a bit of the reason we don't play freshman more though I am confused as to our strategy for using them

[Scarlet]

9 minutes ago, Nebfanatic said:

I don't think its that as much. Think Garrett Nelson against Indiana. He plays hard, love the kids energy, but he lost contain on the QB twice for touchdowns. Those mistakes cost us and that is probably a bit of the reason we don't play freshman more though I am confused as to our strategy for using them

True.  I'm with you on the management of the redshirt rule. 

 

I'm sure in Frost's wildest dreams he never saw us being at this point.  We'll see how this plays out in a few games.

 

So if we beat Maryland he's still in the same position of not being able to play his untested youth against Iowa.  What a conundrum...

[Stone Cold]

35 minutes ago, milehighbob said:

Other way around. If we were winning by two or three touchdowns, the underclassmen would play.

 My theory is:

Frost is stubborn. He won’t pull kids or fire coaches because he doesn’t want to admit he made a mistake.

I would argue that, not with the players i think your spot on with that but as far as coaches i think hes not willing to give up on them.  One thing that has been difficult for me to defend here is the need for keeping these guys here.  No one wants to go to a school where they keep dumping coaches and i think he knows that.  So hes going to hold on to those guys as long as he feels necessary.  But the players more importantly Martinez i dont know how you cant see the product on the field, much less because hes a former qb you would think he would know that if his qb isnt in his right head he doesnt need to be out there.

[Husker03]

The microcosm I am most worried about as it pertains to this is... Is Scott trying to be in charge of too much mid game and therefor missing on too many things? I would never expect him to give up on play calling duties as he is the offensive guy, but I wonder if you can't be in charge of overseeing all decisions in game while being so focused on calling plays. I see these freshmen getting one or two snaps and I wonder if the pre game plan was to get them involved more, but midgame for whatever reason, different personel packages were put in at each juncture and all of the sudden the final whistle blows and you look back and realize certain guys were actually only on the field for 3 snaps and then he has an "oh s#!t" moment but its too late. I think it is something that he will need to look at and delegate monitoring that to somebody else, but ya, it is a huge thing to have botched imo.  Learning curves for him, I hope.. And I hope he's a quick learner.

[Red Five]

We seem to be terrible at optimizing the 4 game rule so far.  But I wonder how other coaches/programs are handling it?  Are we an outlier, or do other teams do screw it up too?

 

[Nebfanatic]

4 minutes ago, Red Five said:

We seem to be terrible at optimizing the 4 game rule so far.  But I wonder how other coaches/programs are handling it?  Are we an outlier, or do other teams do a better job?

 

Great question 

[GBRFAN]

This thread should be named " Fans 2nd String QB Syndrome"  ... or RB .... or any other position