The NCAA has passed a rule that allows college football players to play up to four games without burning their redshirt.
Big news folks: The redshirt rule finally passed. College football players can now play up to four games without burning their redshirt. https://t.co/mamrN2h5pm— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) June 13, 2018
From council chair and University of Miami Athletic Director Blake James:
"This change promotes not only fairness for college athletes, but also their health and well-being. Redshirt football student-athletes are more likely to remain engaged with the team, and starters will be less likely to feel pressure to play through injuries," James said. "Coaches will appreciate the additional flexibility and ability to give younger players an opportunity to participate in limited competition."
This is an interesting, and I think mostly good, change.
Update: Also of note, the rule change will be in effect for the 2018-2019 season.
Comments
Soooo let QP play 4 games and see how it goes? Cool
Sure as a junior I am totally thinking "oh damn my ankle hurts, I'll sit this one out and let this backup freshman play in my place."
I think it's more to remove pressure the starters may get from coaches to play through injuries. It increases the likelihood that a coach may give a starter an extra week to heal, if a quality backup is available for a game or two.
I can see that side of it... good point
Excited to have our Freshman get run in the bowl games now.
Excited to have our Freshmen get run *when we are beating UVA by 50 and* in the bowl games now
To me that's the big part of this rule change, especially if more draft-eligible kids are going to skip bowl games.
What are the odds we see QP get reps in the W&M, ECU, ODU stretch?
Interesting to see how Fuente will use this.
I think that really depends on how the Josh Jackson situation plays out, he might save him for later in the season in case willis/hooker goes down. IE dont burn his redshirt early in the season just in case hooker blows out his knee or something later in the season. That way QP can keep his redshirt and still backup for the tail end of the season or something. This helps big time with corner depth and stuff like that though, fixing up depth along positions wont take quite as long anymore
via GIPHY
This is amazing. It gives Fuente an opportunity to test out how a kid performs in a live situation a few times without having to worry about losing eligibility. Big time win-win.
4 games and not burn a redshirt! Alrights!
Do any schools benefit more or less from this? I.e. Powerhouses can stock talent longer, or G5 teams can get their players more reps and build them up?
Yes
too late for Ensign Ricky
Really liking this rule and glad more true freshmen may get to play.
So if we are able to land the top 4 quarterbacks in one year, we could play 3 of them in the regular season, and 1 in the post season, and still have all 4 have all their eligibility remain?
Yes Alabama will be able to.
I wasn't going to name names, but yeah, that's who I was thinking.
Wait, Bama getting top QBs?
More like Georgia nowadays.
You must've forgotten...
Tua
Also dont forget Taulia
which correct me if I am wrong translates to "Little Tua"
No pressure, kid.
Thats one guy though. The historical stereotype is that Bama is less concerned about QB recruits than DL and skill players.
So, a coach redshirts a dude his freshman year and he plays in four games. Then, during the 4th game of his r-Fr year he's injured and shelved for the rest of the year. Can he still get a medical redshirt, or will those 4 games his first year count against him in applying for the medical?
I assume this will apply to all classes, as in not just freshman year, correct?
If so, Bama plays 2 QBs for 4 games each, decides on who to go with for the rest of the season, does the same thing the next year, but goes with the other guy, then gets 3 years with both of them fighting for the spot
good point, this will probably result in the stockpiling of more 5 stars so that they can be managed better by the school and the kids don't resort to transferring as much
Yes, but I'm sure those two QBs would love to be in that scenario. My bet is the one that only played four the first year would transfer.
Then in the beginning of year 3, QB 1 "suffers a season ending injury" right before fall camp starts, and gets a medical redshirt, then the same thing happens the next year to QB2.
Then in year 5, you'd have 2 r-So QBs, each with over 20 games experience.
They'd both be earning Ph.Ds in footballology by the time they left after year 7.
Personally, I think this rule should only apply in non-playoff bowl games. I think this hurts us in recruiting - our 'immediate play time' pitch is less valuable.
So is everyone else's. The pitch shifts to immediate meaningful playing time.
The immediate playing time pitch is temporary, or at least should be. Such a pitch is in place because we are lacking depth at certain positions. Provided we are able to recruit at a high level, we should be filling those voids. Obviously, there are always losses, some foreseen, some not. So, there will constantly be areas of need. But, those areas should be moving around and not consistent.
It isn't though. If you are pitching immediate playing time opportunity, it is because that player is good enough to be on the field over someone else, not that we will let you play some mop up duty...
Assuming JJ is gone, we have 4 games to decide between Hooker, Willis, and QP. Honestly, this ruling couldn't have come at a more strategically vital time for our program. Maybe last year when we would have been able to get Hooker in there a few games while JJ was hurt to see what he had.
On a somewhat related note:
Edit: Article linked below...
Transfer Rule Changes
i like this one, too. will be interesting to see if the conferences lighten up on within-conf transfers
I could envision that being a mess.
All for it. If coaches can jump ship at their own whim for a "better opportunity" then players should be afforded the opportunity to make the best decision possible for themselves as well.
I would be happier if that read graduate student athletes, but I am still happy for progress.
ditto.
*October
The last lines of that linked article talk about grad transfers.
takes pressure off coaches/trainers to try to justify a medical redshirt making compliance much easier, and offers players opportunity for valuable experience
i see no downside
Like the rule.
You get into emergency situations where you have to play a young kid and there is a lot of reluctance because you don't want to burn a redshirt. Giving kids some experience in a few games does not hurt either.
The rule change is a good one. If it hurts anyone, it probably hurts those 3rd/4th string guys who only see the field during a blow out. Coaches now have the opportunity to put the redshirt kid in then, instead of those guys.
A lot of 3rd 4th string guys are guys who dress but are redshirting.
Dwayne Lawson approves.
It will be interesting to see how coaches use this rule during bowl games. Unless you are in the CFP or NY6 bowls I say play the red shirts to get them meaningful snaps and a chance to evaluate them in a game situations.
I think teams will still try and win their bowl games. Still nationally televised.
But I can see more substitutions happening late in the season and in bowl games.