Toledo Next!

My thinking always was if you think a kid is worth a scholarship you get them into some games. Neu's reluctance to play people is something I can't understand. It's probably even worse today for us than in the past because of players easy ability to transfer. We should have played back ups certainly against both Murray & Tennessee. It's just wrong to not get kids in the games for two to three years if you gave them a scholarship. This team is not winning a championship play some other people the last two weeks they might even return next year.

But with all the kids who do not play, why did we recruit them in the first place if it turns out either A: they just won't develop into good starters (in which case you failed to project their future well) or B: the staff is not good at developing talent, in which case it doesn't matter how good the recruit is if the coaches can't help them develop to the level of being "playable."    In the NFL you hire backups to be backups. Players who are career backups have demonstrated that's what they are.  When a college coach recruits a kid he doesn't think "this guy will be a solid backup in case the guy in front gets injured."  Sure, college coaches recruit for depth, but they aren't selling kids on "someday you'll make a good backup for us. You might never play, but by golly we'll feel good about having your ass on the bench with us."   No, they recruit the kelly's and Barfield's and Pembertons, and any number of WR that came in with good credentials out of HS but never saw the field and left with the idea that they'll transition to be starters at some point, or at least be rotational. I get that QB's are not rotational or you've got a problem, but when you can't recruit a kid to supplant a 5th year guy who couldn't supplant Plitt, even last year, then what are we doing and why?   
Last year CMU had Lew Nicholls as a super stud RB. (he's been hurt this year)  So yeah, he got to carry the mail A LOT.  But they also had effective backs they put in to give him a breather or throw a different look/style at the defense.  Us, we give Pemberton or Jones a couple carries and ask them to run the same off tackle plays as Steele. There is no change of pace back and there's no back they are willing to give 10 carries to just to make sure Steele is as fresh as possible in the 4th.     I see the same thing with the WR's.  Yo has not been effective this year. But do we play his back up much and try to get the ball to that back up?  Nope.  Do we try to integrate any of our rotational backups on offense into the game plans so they can show their stuff or provide something of substance? Nope. They go out and run some dummy routes and then come off the field. How do they learn anything that way? We've had a number of guys on offense leave the program the last couple of years because there's just no opportunity.  At least one WR has already left this year, plus Brentson and McGougy last spring.  Our RB and WR rooms look a bit barren when you take all the walkons out of consideration.  Again, what are we doing?  The defense plays alot of guys and they get the chance to make plays, learn things, and develop.  (could still be better at spots) The offense seems like a place where talent gets lost/buried.