malachi coleman

I like Washington a lot.  But this team got lucky to have Coleman on the team sitting on the bench.  If you look at his play count through 5 games, it is very telling that the Coaching staff wanted to give him 4 games to participate in, and preserve his redshirt year (for some reason I do not know why).

at Minnesota - coaches decision - DNP

at Colorado - 7 snaps 

Nor iLLinois - 5 snaps

La. Tech - 5 snaps

Michigan - coaches decision - concussion - DNP

at iLLinois - 57 snaps

If Washington does not go down with an injury, the trend indicates that Coleman might have gotten 5 to 7 snaps in the game.  And then shut him down for the year.  Or possibly not play, and give him 5 to 7 snaps against Northwestern, then shut him down for the year.  This is all very plausible.  

Fortunately for the team and for Husker fans, and against the coaches wishes, Malachai had to play against iLLinois and will likely have to play the rest of the year.  

Crossing my fingers that Coleman can take advantage of these unfortunate injuries that have kept him cold on the bench, and make some plays here and there.... and gain the confidence that will excite him and give him extra energy when Spring ball/Summer/Fall Camp happens.  That way it's not like he will be raw and green next year and starting from scratch.  And that is how you build your team towards the future.  Just like Van Poppel, Lenhardt and Umanmiellen getting meaningful snaps on defense (Noonan would have too if not for the injury) and Alvano with kicking duties.  Will be good to see Malachi Coleman join the fun and see meaningful reps the rest of the way, like those guys have been getting.  :)

 
Rhule doesn’t give a crap about redshirts.  If you can help he’s going to play you.  And if you’re not a contributor after a couple years you will be gone, so it doesn’t matter if you have a 5th year left.

In the transfer portal era, redshirting means less.

 
Mitch Sherman was on 1620 the zone this afternoon, and was asked about the young WR’s needing to step up. Sherman mentioned that in high school, Coleman would get frustrated when faced with press coverage and teams playing physically on him. Coleman would then check out mentally for long periods of the game.

That type of play isn’t going to get a guy immediate snaps in high level college football, especially if he shows that frustration in practices. 18-19 year old freshmen aren’t always ready to compete with 21-22 year old college guys playing across from them.

Sherman goes onto say that Coleman is showing growth and great signs of becoming the WR we want him to be. However, Coleman was far from a guy who could come in and be a plug and play WR the first week of the season. 

 
admo said:
Michigan week practices.  Post game Rhule was asked why MC did not play and he said he had concussion.  
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Physical practices are on Monday Tuesday. I’m assuming then that’s when it happened. 
 

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ssi/concussion/2020_Concussion_Safety_Protocol_Checklist.pdf

page 9 has the protocol schedule. If it happened on Monday or Tuesday, he could be practicing on Sunday. 
 

No reason to start thinking there’s some big coaching conspiracy here. 

 
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ColoradoHusk said:
Mitch Sherman was on 1620 the zone this afternoon, and was asked about the young WR’s needing to step up. Sherman mentioned that in high school, Coleman would get frustrated when faced with press coverage and teams playing physically on him. Coleman would then check out mentally for long periods of the game.

That type of play isn’t going to get a guy immediate snaps in high level college football, especially if he shows that frustration in practices. 18-19 year old freshmen aren’t always ready to compete with 21-22 year old college guys playing across from them.

Sherman goes onto say that Coleman is showing growth and great signs of becoming the WR we want him to be. However, Coleman was far from a guy who could come in and be a plug and play WR the first week of the season. 
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@ColoradoHusk thank you, and I appreciate you and your knowledge a lot, and respect your thoughts and opinions more than you know.  

What Mitch Sherman says has no influence on me, however, of course some of that can make sense to anyone.  

And this isn't directed at you.  This will be my final gripe.  

What did he actually say, because all I read was someone speaking out of both sides of his mouth.  Insert the negativity from the left side, Insert the upside on the right side.  Conclusion:  Nothing but shades of gray and fuzziness and keeping everything in the middle.  No value, No substance.

I'd rather have a stance and be wrong, tip my cap and say "my bad, I was wrong" then to be wishy-washy and keep everything going straight down the middle with confusion.  That's what a lot of people do when they talk.  "On one hand I can see <insert negativity: shots fired> but on the other hand I see <insert positive thoughts>" and the summation and conclusion is always landing somewhere in the middle.   

Like a 6-6 record or worse.  You gain nothing from that.  

I appreciate you saying what Sherman said.  Unless he quoted Coleman or is going off body language, it really doesn't move the needle.  Especially because he comes around to say something positive after the fact that Coleman got into the game.  I want to hear his thoughts before that.  Otherwise, he is throwing s#!t up in the air for it to land on both sides of a line.  

If Coleman becomes a bust down the road, fine.  But if we are thinking about year 3, I would rather have my FR & RFR and Soph getting meaningful snaps today and this year and next year before we start from scratch once again. 

 
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I'm Team Admo on this.

For starters, Rhule doesn't have much choice. You can play to win and throw youngsters into the fire at the same time. We know it's a weird season with low expectations and crippling injuries.  Next season will only get better if the young players get reps. If Coleman is healthy and trusted enough to go in for a few snaps, he can go in for a few more. Same goes for the other young receivers and running backs. Every year on pretty much every team a kid busts out of the depth chart, and they can only do that when they are given the chance.

Does the fact that Coleman was highly recruited by more talent-laden programs make a difference?  Of course it does. If he does indeed have an attitude problem -- and it shows up in his on-field performance -- you can start cutting your losses now. Otherwise run wild, run free, Nebraska. Let's see what everyone's got. 

 
admo said:
@ColoradoHusk thank you, and I appreciate you and your knowledge a lot, and respect your thoughts and opinions more than you know.  

What Mitch Sherman says has no influence on me, however, of course some of that can make sense to anyone.  

And this isn't directed at you.  This will be my final gripe.  

What did he actually say, because all I read was someone speaking out of both sides of his mouth.  Insert the negativity from the left side, Insert the upside on the right side.  Conclusion:  Nothing but shades of gray and fuzziness and keeping everything in the middle.  No value, No substance.

I'd rather have a stance and be wrong, tip my cap and say "my bad, I was wrong" then to be wishy-washy and keep everything going straight down the middle with confusion.  That's what a lot of people do when they talk.  "On one hand I can see <insert negativity: shots fired> but on the other hand I see <insert positive thoughts>" and the summation and conclusion is always landing somewhere in the middle.   

Like a 6-6 record or worse.  You gain nothing from that.  

I appreciate you saying what Sherman said.  Unless he quoted Coleman or is going off body language, it really doesn't move the needle.  Especially because he comes around to say something positive after the fact that Coleman got into the game.  I want to hear his thoughts before that.  Otherwise, he is throwing s#!t up in the air for it to land on both sides of a line.  

If Coleman becomes a bust down the road, fine.  But if we are thinking about year 3, I would rather have my FR & RFR and Soph getting meaningful snaps today and this year and next year before we start from scratch once again. 
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You seem like a good guy, but you’re exhausting. 

 
I think it's a pretty big disservice to other players who have earned snaps (and might actually be better right now... WHAT DID HE REALLY JUST SAY THAT!?!?) to play the younger guy just because of his recruiting hype and the hypothetical future benefits of getting him more snaps now.

Like, screw those other players, right gang?

I tend to think most players earn the snaps they're getting and that the coaches are playing the guys they feel are best for their team and the team's goals. Rhule's trying to make a pretty garbo program believe in itself and develop a winning culture. This isn't like the NFL where you can tank a season and get top draft picks. They have to play the players they think are going to help them win, all while raising the talent floor of the program. I think it's pretty unfair to suggest that's not happening right now, or that Rhule is somehow hurting this program's development and Coleman's development by not giving him more snaps.

 
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BigRedBuster said:
People act like they know these young players have been doing awesome in practice and Rhule just doesn’t want to play them.  
 

Nobody here knows exactly why Colman hasn’t been playing more. But, people act like no matter what, Rhule has screwed up till now.  
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Eh, not screwing up. Maybe just being too cautious. It's not like the product on the field has clearly distinguished itself, especially at WR and RB. Our best chance to win might emerge from utter newbies. Happens all the time. 

Agree there's a lot of doghouse stuff that plays out at practice that we never see, and it's not a Rhule thing at all. Just saying this weird transition season presents a perfect opportunity to take the risk with unproven players who were recruited for good reason.

We also have a history of great practice players disappearing on game day, and that long predates Rhule. 

 
its very possible he's just not good or not ready to play at this level. he averaged 58 yards per game against lincoln high school cornerbacks 1 year ago...

just being tall and fast doesn't mean you can run routes, separate from D1 corners, or have good hands. 

 
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Recruiting starts are based upon potential.  There is a heck of a lot of difference between high school football in Lincoln versus the Big Ten. 
 

You don’t just throw a guy in because a bunch of other schools wanted him for his potential. He has to beat out other guys who weren’t playing against high school kids in Lincoln last year. 
 

If you didn’t know MC was raw coming in and expected a polished product ready to play right away, you weren’t paying attention. You sound like MC’s dad calling the AD complaining about playing time when you have no idea what goes on in practice every day. 
 

Also, if you throw a guy to the wolves before he is ready, it can be VERY detrimental to their development. Sometimes they never recover. 
 

This isn’t a video game where you can just play whoever you want, every situation is different and works itself out in practice. You know who is in practice every day to see this unfold…Matt Rhule and the coaches. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Eh, not screwing up. Maybe just being too cautious. It's not like the product on the field has clearly distinguished itself, especially at WR and RB. Our best chance to win might emerge from utter newbies. Happens all the time. 

Agree there's a lot of doghouse stuff that plays out at practice that we never see, and it's not a Rhule thing at all. Just saying this weird transition season presents a perfect opportunity to take the risk with unproven players who were recruited for good reason.

We also have a history of great practice players disappearing on game day, and that long predates Rhule. 
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People have no idea why a certain player isn’t seeing the field.  Rhule clearly has no problem playing young players his first year. He did it at Temple, Baylor and is doing here on defense. 
 

It sure seems like people are upset with Rhule for not playing Colman more before now. 

 
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