I was under the impression that Tanner Mangum had burned his red shirt year before the mission and that he was wasting his Sophomore year watching Hill stink up the airways. Turns out I am wrong and that he “gray shirted” his pre mission year.
Per Wikipedia:
"Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete’s participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility. Typically, a student’s athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, a number derived from the four years of academic classes that are normally required to obtain a bachelor’s degree at an American college or university. However, in a redshirt year, student athletes may attend classes at the college or university, practice with an athletic team, and dress for play but may not compete in games. Using this mechanism, a student athlete has up to five academic years to use the four years of eligibility, thus becoming a fifth-year senior.
The origin of the term redshirt was likely from Warren Alfson of the University of Nebraska who, in 1937, asked to practice but not play and wore a Nebraska redshirt without a number. The term is used as a verb, noun, and adjective. For example, a coach may choose to redshirt a player who is then referred to as a redshirt, and a redshirt freshman refers to an athlete in the first year of eligibility.
Athletes may also use a “grayshirt” year in which they attend school, but cannot enroll as a full-time student, and do not receive a scholarship for that year. This means that they are an unofficial member of the team and do not participate in practices, games, or receive financial assistance from their athletic department. Typically, grayshirts are players who are injured right before college and require an entire year to recuperate. Rather than waste the redshirt, the player can attend school as a part-time regular student and join the team later. This is also used by players with religious or military obligations that keep them out of school for a full academic year."
Would he have made a difference in the losses this year?
Mangum’s QBR 70, for his first and only year.
Hill’s 2016, QBR 61, for a 5th year senior.
Hill’s 2015, QBR 70
2014, QBR 86.5
2013, QBR 70
2012, QBR 76.4
To be fair to Hill, he has faced 4 very tough P5 teams and has yet to play any cup cakes. Tanner did not fair well against the likes of Michigan (the game they allowed their d backs to arm bar our receivers), Utah, 3 interceptions in 5 minutes, Missouri, ouch but saved the day in the Nebraska and BSU games. I personally think Tanner would be sitting 4-0 but I think that Sitake and Detmer felt they were obligated to go with Hill and why not, he was an amazing athlete, a winner and you always need two good QBs, best scenario before the season started. Now we are calling for Hill to be benched, he has lost a step, his “touch” is non existent and we are not a treat on mid or long passes. So why have we not seen Mangum? This season is shot, we are longer in any conversation nationally, and the Big 12 seems like a distant dream.
All I can come up with is that they are red shirting Mangum and want him for 3 good years. If Tanner is a NFL talent, and I think he is, his window is shrinking. His draft stock plummets with every year he gets older. To be a co mvp along with Winston as the best QB in the nation and not play for 3 years is a joke to me and mismanagement of Mangum’s future.
With as good as our defense has been playing, BYU could have been in plenty of conversations and here we sit.
What say you?
