Should Stanford Begin Playing The Underclassmen?
Stanford's football program is very senior heavy across the board. We have seen a few Freshman begin to get a good amount of reps on the defensive side of the ball, and those freshman have played really well. The main question I will present and answer is should Stanford begin playing the underclassmen more?
Underclassmen Playing
A few underclassmen have been playing, some out of necessity due to injury and some have worked their way into the rotation. The more notable players that have impressed and earned their time are Defensive ends David Bailey and Ernest Cooper IV as well as Defensive Tackle Jaxson Moi. The underclassmen such as the Sophomores and Freshmen should be getting playing time. They have been some of the better players on Stanford's team.
Keeping The Redshirt Eligibility
You may be wondering, well what about these players keeping their redshirt eligibility. College football has the rule of players being able to play up to four games and remain eligible for their redshirt year. The Cardinal only have four games remaining, which would allow all the Freshman remain eligible for a redshirt year.
Why Playing The Underclassmen Makes Sense
Playing freshman usually isn't seen in college football when your team is good, well they at least don't start. However, the key part of that is "when your team is good", Stanford does not fit that criteria right now. They are not a good football team and that is totally okay. They have a coach that is on the hot seat, so they should play the freshman and sophomores because if and when David Shaw is fired the new staff will have tape of the younger players or the younger players can have tape to enter the transfer portal. Stanford has plenty of recruits in key positions that could help the team. Yes, you want to stay loyal to the seniors on the team, especially the guys that are headed to the NFL. That doesn't mean you can't play younger players, you can play both and still accomplish the development of young players and showcasing the players trying to make the NFL.
Key positions that Stanford has struggled at they have recruits that can play. The defense has been bad all season. They are playing 3 Freshman and 3 sophomores in the rotation. The defense has been so bad that they should be looking to build the program with the younger players. The offense is struggling at running back at injuries and instead of getting a good 4 star running back carries, he entered the transfer portal. The offense has many injuries at wide receiver, get the young sophomore and freshmen some reps.
Why it does not make sense to play underclassmen
The team is 3-5 with 4 games left, if they some how win out or even win 3 of the remaining 4 they become bowl eligible. They also have a coach on the hot seat who may be coaching for his job. If the seniors win him enough games he may be safe. He also may know his job is at risk and would rather go out with the players he's been with for the last 4-5 years. A coach may feel the heat, but would rather do right by his guys and allow them to try and finish out the year rather than throwing in the towel and developing the younger players. However, the players who love the program should want the program to be developed and go back to winning ways.
