Recruiting/redshirting

BigRedBuster

BigRedBuster

International Man of Mystery
I have always been a huge proponent of redshirting Freshmen when they come into the program unless they are studs and there is a need on the team.

I'm starting to rethink that so let me ask this. With the 85 scholarship limit, does redshirting a lot of players actually hurt you?

Meaning, let's take both options to the extreme. For reasons of discussion, let's assume there isn't any attrition from the program. If you take 25 players every year and redshirt all of them, you hit the 85 scholarship limit very early on and you limit the number of players you can bring through your program. In essence, each player is taking his spot on that 85 limit for 5 years instead of 4 years and you can't refill that slot as quickly.

NOW, let's assume you don't redshirt anyone. That that slot is only taken up for 4 years and you can replenish that spot faster and you end up going through more athletes.

It is common thought that in any recruiting class, only about 33% will contribute heavily on the field. With that knowledge, you have to bring high numbers of kids through the program to get a higher number of impact players.

What I can't get around is how you play so many Freshmen if you have good contributing upper classmen with experience and knowledge of the program.

Let's look at our RB situation next year. We will have Ameer, Heard and Cross with good experience and proven to the coaches that they can get the job done. We have coming in Taylor and Newby. Both of them are said to be absolute studs.

So, how do you manage all of that without redshirting the Freshmen?

I constantly hear fans complain about a "wasted redshirt" if a player gets limited touches his freshman year. I'm beginning to think that isn't the case at all. It's how the game is played now with the scholarship limits and the demands to get high numbers of players through the system.

 
The main questions asked are the following......

- is the player physically ready to play?

- is the player ready mentally to be trusted out on the field (aka knowing the playbook/assignments)?

- is the player at a level that is just as good or better than others already on the roster at the same position?

- do you need the player to get experience due to lack of depth moving forward?

In an ideal situation, you want enough quality depth at QB where a new starter is a redshirt sophomore and a DT that is a redshirt sophomore. Those are the two hardest positions to play and play well. It takes time for most DTs to be ready to handle the grind on the defensive line and the QB needs time to adjust to the next level.....some highly taughted high school QBs never live up to their hype because they were not able to keep develoing to handle the speed and more complexity. The redshirt freshman QBs at Oregon, Texas A&M, Stanford are the rare redshirt freshman QBs that end up starters.

 
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You put the players on the field that give you the best chance of winning games. If they're seniors, great. If they're true freshmen, great. Whatever helps us win the most games.

I don't think you can ever address it with a vague statement like "freshmen should always redshirt." If a player is ready to play and contribute like Imani Cross, Charles Jackson, Ameer Abdullah, Rex Burkhead, and Jamal Turner all were during their true freshman year, then you put them on the field. It's that simple.

 
I fully understand the "you put the best players on the field to win games". But, that is just as vague of statement as anything else. Nebraskafaninwi put out the questions that should be asked.

BUT....in my mind, most of the time, that is going to mean a freshman redshirts. More than likely, linemen need time in the system for their bodies to grow and develop. Olinemen need time in the system to develop into the lineup and know the blocking schemes. QBs need time to learn the system and (even more importantly) develop as a leader within the team. WRs need to learn routes..etc. I have always thought the easiest position on the field to just step into as a true freshman is RB. Learn what hole to hit and how to pick up blitzes and you've taken a huge step.

BUT, it has been pointed out that Stoops has said that he only wants to recruit players that are ready to play as a Freshman. I always thought that was him puffing out his chest. BUT, the more I think about it, if you are able to do that, it allows you to free up more and more scholaships down the road.

 
In this age of world class physical training, dieting, etc. I doubt we will see nearly as many players redshirting due to physical limitations. These kids are coming from high school as big, fast, and strong as juniors in college were 20 years ago.

That being said, there is a learning curve for each position. Some are higher (offensive line) than others (running backs). Coaches need to weigh the possibility of sheer talent contributing immediately with lapses in player knowledge, intuition, etc.

I feel like backs, receivers, and various defensive positions will experience less and less redshirting in the coming years.

 
Redshirting is also based a lot on roster balance isnt it? I mean, we want a talent like Tommy Armstrong to have as many years as possible if he winds up being the man, hence, we redshirted him in 2012, instead of getting him those "meaningful snaps".

 
It depends on the depth chart, it also depends on the position and on the individual players. Looking at running backs this year, we are loaded, with Heard/Ameer penciled in as starters and Cross the short yardage specialist. Does that mean we automatically red-shirt both Taylor and Newby? Maybe, Newby could be in a position to contribute in different ways though, he may be able to start on special teams. Wide receiver position, again we seem to be loaded with Enunwa, Bell, and Turner; Allen (assuming he is healthy, and not moved to DB) and Weller-whatever-the-hell-his-name-is if we go 4-5 wide. Again though, if Walker, Gladney can contribute to special teams or in specific roles it may be a good idea to get them experience. Then you look at TE, we have a bunch of walk-ons and I think one or two scholarship players there could be room for a true freshman to start. Greg Hart is a big wide receiver moving to TE, he has decent hands and speed so maybe get him some reps as a true freshmen, in certain formations and roles to get him game experience.

I think that Bo is learning that he needs to get some of the younger guys more game experience. And he might have to scale back some of the things they are responsible for. Being a TE and WR means you have to know routes, but maybe they can be involved in specific packages that would limit what they need to know so they can contribute right away.

 
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Perhaps redshirting all these alleged studs on defense was a mistake. If they do turn out to be an instant upgrade over the guys we had this year, then they should have been on the field helping us seize a golden opportunity this year, and preparing to make a MNC run next year. Also, we would be able to reject outright any notion that Bo really plays the best players.

If they're not any better, and actually did belong on the bench, well then we're likely screwed for the foreseeable future.

One instance were redshirting should be a no-brainer is when you have a legit 3-deep at running back, and you have two great prospects coming in. You have to redshirt those guys right? If you give them a token amount of carries and burn their shirts, that only increases the possibility of one of them transferring.

 
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If the player is going to be a very big contributor to your team (Rex in 09 before the injury, Tyler Moore last season) you play him. If he comes a semester early, I say you play him unless he is a QB. I am always in favor of redshirting QBs and OL. Every single time you should redshirt these two positions. There is a huge difference between an 18/19 year old boy on the OL and a 21 year old man that has been in a college weight program for 3 years. Huge difference in strength and overall maturation.

 
EZ-E said:
If the player is going to be a very big contributor to your team (Rex in 09 before the injury, Tyler Moore last season) you play him. If he comes a semester early, I say you play him unless he is a QB. I am always in favor of redshirting QBs and OL. Every single time you should redshirt these two positions. There is a huge difference between an 18/19 year old boy on the OL and a 21 year old man that has been in a college weight program for 3 years. Huge difference in strength and overall maturation.
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I totally agree with all of this. Plus one.

 
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The Dude said:
EZ-E said:
If the player is going to be a very big contributor to your team (Rex in 09 before the injury, Tyler Moore last season) you play him. If he comes a semester early, I say you play him unless he is a QB. I am always in favor of redshirting QBs and OL. Every single time you should redshirt these two positions. There is a huge difference between an 18/19 year old boy on the OL and a 21 year old man that has been in a college weight program for 3 years. Huge difference in strength and overall maturation.
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I totally agree with all of this. Plus one.
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It is moreso an indication of your depth along the OL or your piss poor job of recruiting at either position if you are playing Freshman at either position.

 
The problem we had was when you get a new coach that redshirts his first class when the former coach rarely did, you form a gap and will basically be holding on to scholarships for 5 years. So after 4 years when that class are juniors, you will have a small number of scholarships available, like last year. After that first class leaves, you are back to more even classes because you no longer have that gap between classes.

 
jsneb83 said:
The problem we had was when you get a new coach that redshirts his first class when the former coach rarely did, you form a gap and will basically be holding on to scholarships for 5 years. So after 4 years when that class are juniors, you will have a small number of scholarships available, like last year. After that first class leaves, you are back to more even classes because you no longer have that gap between classes.
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Thus, Osborne's comment before the Big Ten Championship about him not feeling until his 8th year coaching that he had all of the guys he wanted to run what he wanted on offense.

 
Sorry to bump a dead thread but I didn't want to start a new one.

Interesting fact via Husker Online: The only two freshmen RBs to redshirt at NU since 2002 are Collins Okafor and Lester Ward. Would not have guessed that.

 
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