The only thing I’ll note is that our depth is abysmal right now. Bench TDP and he may pack his bags. I think O sees what we see but has to balance the roster needs with the depth chart. Maybe I’m off, but I see this at a number of positions (RG comes to mind). We have lost too many upperclassmen for lack of playing time and I think O is trying to protect from that as these much higher caliber young guys start to flood the roster.
You may be right and losing him would be bad in the short term, but I don't think letting the inmates run the asylum like this is good in the long run. Oeaux has responsibilities to every player on the team, to his staff, to the school, to the ticket buyers, and to the boosters, not just TDP. Can you imagine a certain gnome to the east telling a player,"Please don't transfer; I promise not to bench you, no matter how crappy you play."?
I wouldn't bench TDP or any other RB we are too thin there and besides TDP is a good blocker and if our line ever starts opening holes off gaurd and tackle TDP will run over people and make yardage. However Kiner should play more than TDP.
Agreed, and "benched" doesn't have to mean "doesn't play." But at this point, I think TDP needs a wake up call, and being on the field for that first snap is important to a lot of players. I think he needs the motivational kick in the butt of watching a true freshman take the snaps on the opening series and a reduced number of touches, at least for a week.
I say let TDP start, whom I was high on early on but has since failed to overcome our line deficiency. After one series of him not making any progress, put Kiner back in till he proves he cant. Starting and getting lionshare of reps are not mutually inclusive.
Having Kiner will help us run more of the plays we ran in 2019. CEH was dynamite on those swing passes and as a safety valve. CEH was one of the more important offensive players in 2019 along with Burrow, Chase and Jefferson. Still would like to see what Goodwin can add to our offense once he's healthy. Then there's Emery.