I could be wrong but this strikes me as a mistake of colossal proportions:
Five games into the 2009 season, Renner, a 6-3, 195-pound freshman from West Springfield, Va., hasn’t taken a snap. The plan had been to redshirt Renner but asked if Renner wouldn’t play this season, Davis responded:
“Right now, I couldn’t answer that. We don’t have plans to, at this particular time.”
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With a lower Division I opponent this week, followed by a bye and 12 total days between games, if Renner is going to burn his redshirt, now would be the time.
If that’s the case, Davis isn’t saying.
“I hadn’t thought about it,” Davis said.
And the reason I believe it would be a huge mistake lies with the porous nature of the offensive line. It would be one thing if T.J. Yates, Mike Paulus and Braden Hanson were just bad in that “game management, throw the ball over the receivers head five times” sort of way. At this point I am not sure that is the case. UNC’s offensive impotence begins and ends with the offensive line and is exasperated by the lack of a running game, wide receivers not running routes, Yates being somewhat inaccurate and poor playing calling by John Shoop. Simply changing one factor in that equation(Yates) is not going get you much and burning a redshirt to do it strikes me as monumentally stupid.
Also, with due respect to Joe Giglio, I am not necessarily reading Butch Davis’ statement that way. This is classic non-committal coachspeak from Davis who often gives these “all options are on the table” answers all the time. Heck, he gave on last night on his radio show concerning whether Ryan Houston would get more carries or not. I am just not convinced Davis is prepared to throw Renner to the wolves while losing a year of eligibility in the process to fix just one of among a myriad of issues with the offense. Of course Renner’s Scout.com profile indicates he has a smart player, great passer and is mobile which would be helpful given the state of the OL. Then again that would be asking way too much of a true freshman in my opinion. At this point the best option is to keep him shelved and then give him a legitimate shot to take the job next spring.
