In case you missed it over the offseason, the NCAA changed their redshirt rules to allow football players to participate in up to four games without burning their ability to redshirt for a season. Players still have five years to play four, but now student athletes can also play in a third of a regular season and still qualify for a redshirt.
There are a number of ways that Ohio State’s coaching staff can strategically use this rule change to both benefit individual players and their development as well as the team as whole. Some ways a team might use the rule change include:
- Motivate redshirting players
- Manage injuries
- Allow slower-developing freshmen to play later in the season
- Allow redshirting players actual game experience against easier opponents
The Buckeye coaches have said that they have had a lot of internal discussion about how to approach the rule change, and that they will use the new flexibility on a case-by-case basis.