[Goose]

...I think that very rarely has our top WR recruit not played under Shaw.
<snip>
Of course Shaw could change his mind about how to manage the WR roster.

I mostly agree with your analysis of the previous management of freshman wide receivers. I don't think Shaw's philosophy is changing, but I do think that the situation next year could be unique. There is no point in redshirting a receiver if there is no reason to expect that he may be significantly more productive in the future than he is at present. In the case of a player changing positions, there was that expectation. In the previous Shaw years examined, we had at least a serviceable passing attack. It can be argued that last year, somewhat unexpectedly, we didn't. Stanford also has a very good class of 2017 arriving on campus. If it looks like we will not be doing too well in the air in 2017, I can see an argument that not playing St. Brown would make sense, expecting that the supporting cast will be better in 2018 and that he can't really help in 2017. In 2016 it seemed that the problems in the passing game were a shock to the staff. (Maybe not, but it sure seemed that way to me). In 2017, they are better equipped to recognize the problem (if it exists) and act accordingly. I think that in the past the coaching staff had little reason to expect an advantage from holding the "best" freshman out. That may not be true this year, either because 1)we are very good throwing the ball or 2)we are not good at all throwing the ball. 

[Goose]

...I think that very rarely has our top WR recruit not played under Shaw.
<snip>
Of course Shaw could change his mind about how to manage the WR roster.

I mostly agree with your analysis of the previous management of freshman wide receivers. I don't think Shaw's philosophy is changing, but I do think that the situation next year could be unique. There is no point in redshirting a receiver if there is no reason to expect that he may be significantly more productive in the future than he is at present. In the case of a player changing positions, there was that expectation. In the previous Shaw years examined, we had at least a serviceable passing attack. It can be argued that last year, somewhat unexpectedly, we didn't. Stanford also has a very good class of 2017 arriving on campus. If it looks like we will not be doing too well in the air in 2017, I can see an argument that not playing St. Brown would make sense, expecting that the supporting cast will be better in 2018 and that he can't really help in 2017. In 2016 it seemed that the problems in the passing game were a shock to the staff. (Maybe not, but it sure seemed that way to me). In 2017, they are better equipped to recognize the problem (if it exists) and act accordingly. I think that in the past the coaching staff had little reason to expect an advantage from holding the "best" freshman out. That may not be true this year, either because 1)we are very good throwing the ball or 2)we are not good at all throwing the ball.