Richt normally leans to the side of red-shirting as many guys as possible. Just a hunch here, but I think some of the urgency around playing the freshmen boils down to this...
If one of those guys can push us over the edge in even a single game, that might be the difference between Orlando and Miami in January.
This is the year to play 'em all.
PWD
9 comments:
This is definitely an important development, since it's so clearly a step away from Richt's normal procedure. The normally conservative coach seems to be ready to reach for the brass ring this season, #77 or not. I find this new sense of urgency a definite positive trend. These freshmen will all get good playing time, and be experienced next season (in time for round two in the hunt for a MNC), whether or not we win one this year. And hey, if we're lucky, this will be the class that wins 4 consecutive SEC titles. Who needs to redshirt when you can do that?
The cocky side of me believes this comes from our recruiting success. When you have multiple blue chippers at every skill position coming in every year, you don't have to worry about saving a guy for four years down the line. It still blows my mind every time I see a post about the top national QBs in next year's class, and how two of the top 5-10 are going to be here. Along with 1-3 *other* super-highly-touted recruits at that position who will be sticking around.
I also think back to last year. What if Knowshon had gotten hurt against UF and we had to bring in Caleb King? Since he would have burned the year anyway, it would have been nice to have had his services in some of the earlier games too. Thank goodness that didn't happen, and let's hope that kind of thing never does, but if it did, I'm sure Richt doesn't want to play what if games after the fact when you have the potential of this team.
I think much of it might stem from seeing what Knowshon did last year, and knowing, in the back of his mind, that he should have played Knowshown in 2006.
Also, with that high quality of recruit, how likely is it that guys of that caliber will stick around for five years? Four years is a stretch; five is just out for some of these guys. He runs the risk after this year of only having had Knowshon for two years. That's the downside, of course, of getting those great recruits; you can lose them more easily than you might the average guy.
I think he'll continue to redshirt linemen, because a high-school weight program simply cannot compare to what they get in Athens. As for skill-position players, I think he'll get 'em out there when they're ready. More and more, they're gonna be ready their first year.
I think this move has far more to do with the strong possibility that Georgia's starting RB and QB won't be returning next year. We don't want to pull an Oklahoma and not put younger players on the field knowing full well their respective starters may not be back.
Its Coach talk. CMR isn't going to start naming playing that will redshirt in August. He wants these guys to stay competitive and work for that playing time.
I HOPE to God it's something special rather than richt thinking 1. of 2 things.
That either A: "We're going ot be having depth issues
or B: "These boys better step it up, this brother n lawin' at practice ain't gonna cut it...."
I don't think he's one for head games so my mind says it's probably a preemptive strike at A while my gut hopes and prays that it's just "soemthing special"
We don't have depth problems. The point is that these guys can be special teams stars. FSU never redshirted in the 90's. We are trying to win a championship. No holds barred. And I think the Caleb & Joe Cox situation scares him to death in relation to those late season games. "What if" we had let Cox compete for that #2 job in 2005 and he played in Jax.
The bottom line is you don't want to have to consider those things when you're thinking about a bigger prize than someone's redshirt.
Those kids playing now isn't just about this year. It's about next year too.
Well, as the saying goes, the best player plays...this ain't JoePa's team, it's CMR's team...and plenty of young guys played early at FSU and, if I remember correctly, FSU met with some limited success during CMR's tenure down there...
I have faith in our coaching staff's accumen for putting the right players on the field and I think we'll be just fine...
I just hope our OL gets out of the Southern and CenMich games unscathed...and I hear AJ is da'man, so I think we should all be excited to watch him. I think it's the Year of the Dawgs!
Post a Comment