I just wanted to get everyone's thoughts on why Jamarcus Russell didn't get any action Saturday night in the blowout win against Arizona. Wouldn't this have been the perfect time to play him against a division 1-A opponent?
I still ask the question does he lose a year if he plays. Saban said after the ULM game. "I am not going to waste one of their years just to hand the ball off" If he plays, does he lose his redshirt ???
He can still play a percentage of the season and still redshirt. I think the fans want to see him in there at some time this season. Maybe Saban dont want to expose something to early.
I think the rule is that freshman can play in 2 out of the first 3 games and retain their redshirt option.
Actually, no, the minute you step on that field for one play, you lose your redshirt. The ONLY way to keep it is if he were to become injured for the season--THEN, he'd be able to get it back IF he didn't exceed a certain % of playing time. The "granting of a redshirt season loop-hole" was created so that an athlete would be penalized for having his season cut short in the unfortunate event of injury. Once that athlete has reached a certain % of playing time, the NCAA feels he/she has shown enough--or had enough opportunity to prove themselves to scouts, etc. on the next level. So, no, playing Russell in "mop up" duty is NOT something we want to do.
Let him get adjusted right now. There is no reason for him or Flynn to play right now. The QB's we have are playing great right now.
I think BostonBengal is right. The way Saban was talking (And he should know) was that if he plays we waste a year. You guys remember when he was asked after the ULM game about the 2 QB's He said no matter what I do I wont win with you guys, If I dont play them I get the why dont you get them some experience, but if I do you will give me troubles for wasting one of their years. I am not going to waste a year for them so they can hand the ball off. Maybe not those exact words but something like that.
Saban talked about this today at his press conference today. The transcripts aren't up yet but when they are I'll post his answer. Basically he said he didn't play them because it doesn't do a QB any good to come in with a 35 point lead and hand off the ball every play.
What Saban said was that once he played one of the two freshmen quarterbacks he was obligated to stick with that decison for the rest of the year. Meaning the one who is leading today may not be the one leading later in the season. So, if he made the selection in one of the earlier games, then later in the season one of the veteran quarterbacks were to be injured, even though the freshman that played earlier had been passed by the other freshman in performance, he was stuck with his earlier decision. It is his opinion to wait and let both develop until one is needed. Then he will have the option of selecting the one most developed and not waste the others redshirt. Why waste a redshirt, after the game has been decided, by letting a freshman come in and hand off until the clock runs out.
