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Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner could receive a medical redshirt from the NCAA, but Brady Hoke says he won't find out until years from now.
When Devin Gardner got some limited playing time in the non-conference part of the season, I joked with friends that Michigan will have to come up with an injury so he can apply for a medical redshirt. At the time, Gardner was really only playing because Tate Forcier was in the doghouse. As Forcier showed against Bowling Green and Iowa, he is the clear No. 2 quarterback, so looking back it was kind of pointless to waste a year of eligibility for Gardner -- that is, unless he can get that year back.
Although earlier in the season I was only joking about Gardner suddenly suffering an injury that necessitates a medical redshirt, it looks like that is what may have actually ended up happening. Rich Rodriguez said earlier this week that Gardner has been dealing with a back injury, and a medical redshirt is not out of the question.
"It comes and goes," said Rodriguez. "It was bothering him a couple of weeks ago, but he’s working pretty hard. I think he sees, too, that we have two guys that have a year ahead of him in the system who have been playing pretty good football.
"He’s going to continue to get better. He’s got a great future, Devin does. As much as we can do, more than anything else with guys in that position, it’s just learning what we’re doing. There’s so much to learn in any offense, especially ours with what we put on the quarterback’s plate. Hopefully every week he’s picking up a little bit more."
Rodriguez said on Wednesday that Gardner is going to make the trip to the Penn State game as the "emergency" quarterback.
I'm not going to speculate about whether this injury is legitimate or not, but I think all football fans can agree that the smart thing to do from the get-go was to redshirt Gardner so he has an extra year of separation from Denard Robinson and Tate Forcier. Since he played this season, the only way to do that is by getting a medical redshirt, so I can't say I have a problem with this one bit, even if the injury is less serious than Rodriguez is making it sound.
Decision On Devin Gardner's Medical Redshirt Years Away
Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner got limited playing time during the first one-third of last season, serving as the backup to Denard Robinson. In the UConn and Notre Dame games, for example, Gardner had to come in for a play or two after Robinson went out with a minor injury. Then, in the Bowling Green game, Gardner received more playing time when Robinson had to leave for most of the game. Eventually Tate Forcier replaced Gardner and took over the backup job.
Once Forcier was back on the second slot of the depth chart at quarterback, Gardner was not used again the rest of the season. That was part of the plan, though. Rich Rodriguez said that Gardner had a back injury, and the hope was to get him a medical redshirt, extending his eligibility by a season. Michigan applied to get Gardner a medical redshirt earlier in the offseason, but new head coach Brady Hoke says that a decision isn't expected until a few years from now.
Unless Michigan gets an indication of what decision might be made, this could put them in a tough spot a few years from now. Denard Robinson is set to be the starter for two more years, and then Gardner would be expected to take over the starting job at quarterback in 2013. That would be his senior season, but if he receives a medical redshirt he would be able to return in 2014. If Michigan doesn't find out Gardner's status until the end of the 2013 season, it would have to plan for two scenarios: Gardner receiving a medical redshirt and returning for another year or Gardner not receiving a medical redshirt and graduating after the 2013 season.
Obviously Michigan wants to have Gardner around to be the starter for two years, but based on what Hoke said it doesn't appear that the Wolverines will find out if that's possible until quite a ways down the road.
Mar 23 7:57a by Sean Yuille