The Michigan Wolverines' football team redshirted all but three of its freshmen a season ago, with wide receiver Ronnie Bell, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and kicker Jake Moody making up the trio of exceptions.
The number of freshmen who now redshirt in college football has increased, thanks in large part to the NCAA rule enacted prior to last season that allows athletes to play in as many as four games and still hold onto their redshirts.
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While U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh took full advantage of the rule in its debut season last year, that doesn't look like it will be the case again this time around.
Eight of Michigan's 25 freshmen have already appeared in all three of the club's games, and can only afford to play in one of the final nine contests if they hope to hold onto their redshirts.
Several of the eight have taken on significant roles as well, most notably running back Zach Charbonnet, who has taken over the starting role and leads the team in carries (43), yards (196) and rushing touchdowns (three).
Wideout Giles Jackson has also served as the team's primary kick returner, averaging 24.3 yards on his six attempts.
Fellow receivers Mike Sainristil and Cornelius Johnson have also seen spot duty in each game on offense, along with tight end Erick All.
Defensive tackle Chris Hinton, meanwhile, made appearances in the first two games against Middle Tennessee State and Army but did not play last week at Wisconsin, despite the defensive line allowing 359 rushing yards and 6.3 yards per carry to the Badgers.
Two freshmen each participated in the season-opener — left tackle Karsen Barnhart and linebacker Charles Thomas — but have not been seen since, making it safe to assume they'll likely redshirt.
Fourteen of the 25, rookies, meanwhile, have yet to see any game action at all, which points heavily toward redshirts for all of them (barring mass injuries).
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