NC State head coach Dave Doeren told the media after practice yesterday that Freshman running back Johnny Frasier will “probably redshirt.”
“He’ll (Frasier) probably redshirt. We still aren’t to game week yet, but unfortunately he has the flu today, so he’s not practicing, and he had it yesterday as well. If that’s what we end up doing, we will only do it because we believe that’s the best thing for him,” said Doeren. “He’s going to be a really good back, he really is. It’s hard when he’s sick, and we’re in the middle of getting ready to play a game, and he’s not out here. We’re excited about his future.”
Frasier was the #53 player in the 2015 football recruiting class according to Rivals. He’s obviously a big part of the future of the NC State backfield, but it looks like that impact might come in 2016, and not 2015. I don’t believe that Doeren’s decision to possibly redshirt Frasier is extremely correlated with his current sickness. Frasier was practicing in a scout jersey during Tuesday’s practice.
The announcement of Senior Shadrach’s 2-game suspension doesn’t seem to play a factor in this possible decision either, because Doeren announced the likelihood of Frasier redshirting minutes before announcing Thornton’s suspension. The Wolfpack still has plenty of depth at running back with Junior Matt Dayes, Sophomore Dawka Nichols and Freshman Reggie Gallaspy, even without Thornton.
Gallaspy is also a 4-star recruit, that had the advantage of enrolling early, which gave him the Spring and Summer to become familiar with the offense.
“For the last three years we’ve had over 20 early enrollees. Those guys just have a better opportunity to showcase their skill set in Fall camp because they aren’t thinking like the other guys. They’ve already learned through Spring ball, and in Summer before the other guys get here, the ins-and-outs of their position,” said Doeren. “They are really able to showcase their ability level. It’s not that they have more ability, but they look like they do because they are playing faster because they aren’t thinking as much. Reggie Gallaspy had that advantage. He’s playing like it and doing a good job.”
Keep in mind, Doeren didn’t officially announce that Frasier is redshirting. He said the word “probably.” While I think that this will likely be the result, don’t expect Frasier to sit back and accept it in stride. If he can get healthy, I bet he will do everything in his power to show that he is ready next week leading up to the season opener against Troy on September 5th.
