[BostonCard]

CT, you know as well as I do that Luck COULD have played as a True Frosh because he was way better than Pritchard.  It's not like Stanford would have lost him any earlier if he did  They could have got four years of him starting instead of three.  But it's not like Stanford was competing for the Pac-12 then, so the decision to redshirt him made some sense.

As for Williams, let's look at the 2016 DL situation:

Sr. Watkins, Lohn, Kaumatule
Jr. Phillips (Soph in eligibility)
So. Thomas
RS Fr. Annan, Jackson
Fr.  Williams, Peek, Swann

None of the Seniors are anything to write home about.  Phillips will be coming off an ACL injury.  Annan only started playing football in high school.  Solomon Thomas will be the only proven and reliable DL on the roster.  If  two of Williams, Swann, and Peek can't crack the playing time rotation as True Frosh, it's hard to imagine Stanford being very good on defense in 2016 or 2017.

If we didn't burn anyone's redshirt this year, what makes you think we will do so next year.  Defensive Line is difficult to play as a freshman; the general consensus is that the closer you are to the snapping of the football, the easier it is to learn and rely on instinct and athleticism, so you wind up seeing a fair number of DB's and wide receivers playing as freshmen, and many fewer linemen and QB's.  It doesn't mean you can't (Phillips played, and played reasonably well, as a true frosh); it just means it is hard, and you see those players blossoming later in their careers.

BC

[BostonCard]

CT, you know as well as I do that Luck COULD have played as a True Frosh because he was way better than Pritchard.  It's not like Stanford would have lost him any earlier if he did  They could have got four years of him starting instead of three.  But it's not like Stanford was competing for the Pac-12 then, so the decision to redshirt him made some sense.

As for Williams, let's look at the 2016 DL situation:

Sr. Watkins, Lohn, Kaumatule
Jr. Phillips (Soph in eligibility)
So. Thomas
RS Fr. Annan, Jackson
Fr.  Williams, Peek, Swann

None of the Seniors are anything to write home about.  Phillips will be coming off an ACL injury.  Annan only started playing football in high school.  Solomon Thomas will be the only proven and reliable DL on the roster.  If  two of Williams, Swann, and Peek can't crack the playing time rotation as True Frosh, it's hard to imagine Stanford being very good on defense in 2016 or 2017.

If we didn't burn anyone's redshirt this year, what makes you think we will do so next year.  Defensive Line is difficult to play as a freshman; the general consensus is that the closer you are to the snapping of the football, the easier it is to learn and rely on instinct and athleticism, so you wind up seeing a fair number of DB's and wide receivers playing as freshmen, and many fewer linemen and QB's.  It doesn't mean you can't (Phillips played, and played reasonably well, as a true frosh); it just means it is hard, and you see those players blossoming later in their careers.

BC