Four True Freshmen Played Saturday vs. South Carolina

8,673 Views | 19 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by crestcharger02
James Henderson
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Per the participation report...
OL Josh Fedd-Jackson
WR Emeka Emezie
LB Raven Saunders
CB Chris Ingram

For clarification, Emezie was the only non-special teamer to receive a line of scrimmage snap.
metrocard1006
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more wasted redshirts(except for emezie). DD loves wasting him some player eligibility
PackDaddy
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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.
EthanBarry
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Agree with PackDaddy, and honestly after watching that special teams performance, don't you want to play whoever deserves to be out there on special teams, even if it is "wasting" a redshirt year because they aren't playing offense or defense?
Jacksonvillewolf
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Special teams are never a waste of a red shirt. Many games are won and lost with special teams play .....point. USC
crestcharger02
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These guys are going to get live reps in next few weeks so that will matter a ton down the road.
COrockclimber
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Jacksonvillewolf said:

Special teams are never a waste of a red shirt. Many games are won and lost with special teams play .....point. USC
Seriously. Giovani Bernard's punt return in 2012 - ending our era of dominance - comes immediately to mind.
BlackHole91
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Also, if you look at the trends, DD has played less true freshmen every year. Have you researched how many true freshmen play at other schools? I think sometimes people are just looking for negative things to say about him to help their agenda of getting rid of him.
toddl
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Jacksonvillewolf said:

Special teams are never a waste of a red shirt. Many games are won and lost with special teams play .....point. USC
Then why not play your experienced players on ST instead of your true freshmen? Sounds more like an argument to not waste a redshirt on special teams.
BackPack
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BlackHole91 said:

Also, if you look at the trends, DD has played less true freshmen every year. Have you researched how many true freshmen play at other schools? I think sometimes people are just looking for negative things to say about him to help their agenda of getting rid of him.
Spot on, I believe we were 1st or 2nd last year in the ACC of players redshirted...
toddl
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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.
Wolfp@ck88
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I agree with Toddl that Emezie looked the part for sure. I truly believe that Doeren may have to pull the trigger on some of these guys to kind of give a spurt or challenge to the starters. I also believe that this is how great players are found--sometimes you may take a flyer on putting them in early if you have a hunch. I don't believe you put them on the field just for shear numbers.....

What I question is that we have been able to red shirt guys and should be building quality depth? Right? The front 4/5 interior d is dominant and surely deep beyond them, but after that--there is a monumental drop off from 1st team to the 2nd team guys...etc.

Ironically, South Carolina was supposed to be the team that was (is) very thin...but we just couldn't capitalize on their weakness because of turnovers leaving them on a short field for an easy series.
James Henderson
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toddl said:

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.
If Freddie had redshirted he'd lose this year of eligibility, correct? Due to the injury?

That's one reason you play a guy you want to get some reps. If he ever does suffer a serious injury (like Ramos or Phillips) he can still redshirt and not lose the year like Nate did IIRC.
Bellhenmar
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There is no need for any of the mods to qualify why DD plays the players he plays . No matter how much sense it makes there is going to be a portion of our fan base that will complain no matter what he does.
toddl
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James Henderson said:

toddl said:

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.
If Freddie had redshirted he'd lose this year of eligibility, correct? Due to the injury?

That's one reason you play a guy you want to get some reps. If he ever does suffer a serious injury (like Ramos or Phillips) he can still redshirt and not lose the year like Nate did IIRC.
Yea, this year would be a lost year of eligibility.

Current situation: 2015 play as true freshman, 2016 play as true sophomore, 2017 medical hardship waiver redshirt, 2018 play as redshirt junior
Alternate universe: 2015 redshirt as true freshman, 2016 play as redshirt freshman, 2017 injury as redshirt sophomore, 2018 play as redshirt junior

But I contend that his 2015 season was worthless. Using a year of eligibility to play 4 snaps is not much different than just redshirting the year.

Playing someone as a true freshman to keep the redshirt in your pocket "just in case" they get injured is a bad play on the statistics. Of the 55 true freshman who played between 2004-2013, only 11 of them used their redshirt later on because of injury. There's no perfect solution; sometimes you'll redshirt a kid but then he'll get injured later or leave early for the NFL; sometimes you'll play a kid 10 snaps and then wish you had that year back 4 years down the line.
James Henderson
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I don't think that's the only reason they play a guy.

I think they play true freshmen who have proved they deserve to be in the rotation at their position this year, and they'd like to get them action on special teams so they'd have game action prior to next year when they'd likely really be counted in.

For instance, Josh Fedd-Jackson is the likely replacement for Tony Adams next year at RG. I think State wants to get him game action as much as possible, even if it's on special teams, so he'll have game action under his belt.

Also, if a major injury happens, as the season goes on, you're not making a "redshirt" decision. He's already playing. Then you have the potential year to redshirt down the road as well.

I agree there isn't a perfect solution and I'm glad the number is at least minimal.
WarPack
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James, won't Sculthorpe be Adams replacement next season?
toddl
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James Henderson said:

I think they play true freshmen who have proved they deserve to be in the rotation at their position this year, and they'd like to get them action on special teams so they'd have game action prior to next year when they'd likely really be counted in.
In Freddie Phillips's case, this is still a lousy excuse. 4 snaps plus special teams as a true freshman. 0 (zero) snaps plus special teams as a true sophomore.

Hopefully (!!!!) you won't really be counting on too many RS-FR no matter what. Redshirt the first year, play sparingly and on special teams the next year, and then finally get real playing time and really be counted on during their rs-soph or rs-junior year.
James Henderson
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WarPack said:

James, won't Sculthorpe be Adams replacement next season?
Potentially him or Fedd-Jackson. I think it's going to be Fedd-Jackson.
Colonel Armstrong
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Showing that you're willing to play true freshmen also helps in recruiting.
crestcharger02
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I always wonder about the difference in experience for guys traveling and practicing with first teams versus spending their time on Scout Team.
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