I heard Bill talking about whether you play a Nate Johnson package in this game

[rbmw263]

ultimately I think you leave the choice up to him, but I would rather keep his RS in tact. If we lose this game, I assume Cam has no interest in playing in a meaningless Holiday or Alamo bowl, and Nate gets the start. I’d take that over playing him 2 snaps in this game.

If we win, give Nate a couple of reps in the Rose Bowl. 

Like I said, his opinion is the only one that should matter.

[belli1976]

Is it 3 or 4 games and still get a red shirt? He has only played in two games so far

[ALUF]

4 unless something changed

[rbmw263]

He has played in 3

[belli1976]

My bad. He didn’t have stats in the Oregon game.

[RedUte14]

He played in 3. He came in as a decoy one play against oregon.

[Trailgoat]

If Utah ends up in the Holiday bowl, no way IMO KW rolls NJ out as the starting QB against, say Texas or other ranked team. BB will get the start if CR does not play. I am guessing NJ gets his last game reps Friday to give Rising a break and mix things up. Utes need to roll out all stops to win in the CCG, regroup with a month off for recovery before the Rose Bowl. Agree on preserving NJ’s red shirt. This sounds crazy, IMO, need to be careful and not show-off too much of Nate’s talent to the money bag wolves. NIL and Transfer Portal are already starting to heat up before the December player swap meet.

[Utesbyfive]

My guess is that they’ll give Nate every chance to start next year. That’s one huge reason for him not to bail on us.

[Isaac]

You have a conference championship on the line. You don’t care about red-shirts. If you think Nate playing gives you a better chance to win, you do it

[Tednab]

In todays game .. whens the last time a team has got the most out of their player .. if they’re any good they’re gone in two years .. redshirt is over rated .. play for today might not have a tomorrow

[chinngiskhaan]

My thoughts exactly. If he’s any good, his RS year isn’t going to mean anything. Just play the best players.

[SalUteopia]

^^ This

[URow]

Utah needs to preserve his redshirt no matter what. Also, I have no issue with JJ taking wildcat snaps. He has confidence in himself and his ability that was lacking earlier in the season.  He’s not as fast as Johnson, but he is a lot bigger and can probably provide a 15-20 yard pass or run as QB if needed. 

[gandalf]

I’ll never understand why he played against Stanford.

[DataUte]

I think to get something on tape for Oregon to have to worry about

[Utah]

Don’t worry about the redshirt. Do what you need to do to win. 

If he’s good enough to start next fall, he’s not here four more years. If he’s not good enough to start next fall, he’s not here for four more years. 

You play him and his RS is not a decider at all. 

[Charlie]

I agree. Most likely our QB will not start here for more than 2 years, a third year is coverage for injury and such. A third year may also happen if missing some games pushes a QB out to an undrafted FA but another year is likely to change draft status. Nate will be good and 3 more years will be adequate. Possibly, there may be thinking that NJ is key to helping Barns if something happened to Rising and trying to minimize that to one game. Bowl prep does allow for time to put together more of a package for NJ.