PackDaddy said:
Was our four d-linemen eligibility wasted when the played as freshman, or Jalen Samuels? Should Josh Jones have wasted his freshmen eligibility since he only got to see the field three years anyway? Is Freedie Phillips glad that he wasted his for he can now redshirt this year or would he have rather wasted his and got a sixth year medical hardship? I'm all for red shirting and developing players but if they have earned that spot on the field then give it to them. There's no perfect situation, if there was every class would graduate together as redshirt seniors. Just don't say it's a year of wasted eligibility after one game and not knowing how their college careers are going to play out.
Our D-Linemen: Some of them were wasted as true freshmen. Bradley Chubb played 17 snaps and recorded 4 tackles. That's an utterly wasted year. It'd be nice if he had another year left for us after 2017 (likely NFL departure notwithstanding). Justin Jones played 132 snaps and recorded 9 tackles. Not an utter waste, but not very impressive. Street and Hill played plenty and recorded plenty of stats. If you're gonna burn a redshirt, at least
do something with it.
Jaylen Samuels: Hey, at least he got the opportunity to contribute. He didn't play all that much (just 126 snaps), but the coaches put him in a situation to succeed, and he did. Good job by the coaches of finding someone who could make an actual contribution and then letting him do it.
Josh Jones: Yup, sometimes they leave after their junior season and you're left wishing you had played it differently. That happens sometimes. Score 1 for the "should have played him as a true freshman" crowd.
Freddie Phillips: played 4 snaps and recorded 5 tackles (including special teams tackles) as a true freshman. If he had redshirted that year and then had to waste a season of eligibility in 2017, I don't think it would have made a bit of difference. (his case has nothing to do with a 6th year waiver. He's not eligible for one no matter when he took his redshirt year)
I'm not completely against playing true freshmen. I'm generally in favor of redshirting, and I think Doeren is generally in favor of it too. I get to use my magic 20/20 hindsight powers to determine when he made mistakes over the last few years, but he had to do this stuff in real-time. He played Bo Hines, Jaylen Samuels, Tony Adams, BJ Hill, and Nyheim Hines (among others) as true freshmen and it was the right decision. He played Bra'Lon Cherry, Dravious Wright, Bradley Chubb, Justin Jones, Mike Stevens, and Shawn Boone (among others) as true freshmen and it was the wrong decision.
Putting on my magic 2017-season glasses, it looks like Emezie might be a very good player for us this year. If that's the case, great, play him. Give him snaps and give him an opportunity to succeed. But I have a sneaking suspicion that by the end of the season, Saunders, Ingram, and Fedd-Jackson are going to have played only a handful of snaps and made no significant contribution. Maybe Saunders will be forced into action if Pratt has to play some nickel and Nicholson is banged up, and that's the way it works sometime. But we don't substitute at CB, and Ingram is 4th or 5th on the list there. And we don't sub at OL either, and Fedd-Jackson won't see any time. In 3 years we'll be wishing we hadn't wasted his first year for 10 snaps of mop-up duty and a few field goals.