NCAA Rule Change Allows Football Players To Play Four Games Without Burning Redshirt

In a move that was a long time coming, the NCAA officially announced earlier today that football players (AKA, mostly freshmen) will be allowed to play four games without burning their redshirt.

All in all, this is a really great idea for the game, and will allow more freshmen to see time during their first season. Guys like Jayson Oweh or Judge Culpepper who are most likely headed for a redshirt, will be able to at least see a couple snaps in blowout games against lowly teams on the schedule — teams like Idaho, Kent State, Pitt, etc.

I do think it’ll be interesting to see how Franklin uses it, specifically for kids that are in the yellow light area. For example, a player like Will Fries was a yellow light heading into the 2016 season. Do you throw him in late during those first four games to get work, incase he needs to play a larger role earlier in the season? Or do you hold him out, so if he has to play because of injury, he’ll be able to preserve his redshirt?

It might take a bit to figure out the best use of the rule — I like the idea of saving one of the games for the bowl games, too — but this is an overwhelming good idea. Congrats to the NCAA on doing something cool.