Redshirt Watch. Here's some notations on possible redshirts and burns. As a reminder, you can play in four games and still be eligible to redshirt.
- Freshman DE Andres Fox. With his appearance in Big Game, Fox's shirt was officially burned. He becomes the fourth and final freshman to have his shirt burned, joining DE Thomas Booker, CB Kendall Williamson, and WR Michael Wilson.
- Sophomore OT/OG Foster Sarell played in Big Game. He has now played in three games. Even if he plays in the Sun Bowl, he is eligible to redshirt this season. It is entirely possible that they waited until the Kal game to bring Sarell back in order to regain his redshirt. That of course depends on if they think he'll stick around for a fifth year.
- Sophomore WR Connor Wedington played in Big Game. He has now played in four games this season. If he plays in the Sun Bowl, he is no longer eligible to redshirt. However, Coach Shaw has said that the intention is to redshirt Wedington this season, so indications are that he will sit for the bowl game. Given that we are looking pretty good at WR, I wonder if they are considering playing Wedington at RB in future years, thus enriching that pipeline.
- Junior OLB Curtis Robinson did not play in Big Game. He has played in two games this season. Even if he plays in the Sun Bowl, he is eligible to redshirt this year. He could have played against Kal and also in the bowl game and still regained his redshirt, so I wonder if he is perhaps injured.
- Junior WR Donald Stewart did not play in Big Game. He has played in three games this season. Even if he plays in the Sun Bowl, he is eligible to redshirt this year. The utility of regaining his redshirt, of course, would depend on if he would be invited back for a fifth year when the time comes. His absence this year is a bit of an enigma.
- Senior S Ben Edwards is injured and did not play in Big Game. He has played in three games this season. Even if he plays in the Sun Bowl, he is eligible to redshirt this season. He may have been held out against Kal so as to be able to play in the bowl game and still regain the shirt, but I do not know. He has been hurt for a while.
- No other freshman will have his redshirt burned. The closest to having that happen are CB Ethan Bonner, WR Simi Fehoko, and ILB Ricky Miezan, with three appearances apiece. Even if all three appear in the bowl game, they would still be able to retain their redshirts.
- So, we end up burning four freshman shirts this year, which has been the standard for the past few years.
- Up to five players whose shirts were previously burnt would be eligible to regain their redshirt.
- I have updated the eligibility placings for these players (except for Wedington) and the scholarship counts for each class at the top of this thread. The regained redshirts definitely help the pipeline in certain areas.