at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 26, 2015 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Among the biggest fears in college football during the bowl season is answering the question of how many star players will choose to opt out of their school’s bowl game in order to prepare for the NFL Draft. Last bowl season, LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey were the textbook examples of star players skipping out on lower-tier bowl games as they moved on to the NFL. With that in mind, the American Football Coaches Association could have a possible solution to keep bowl games more intriguing that would allow redshirt players to play in a bowl game.

The proposal from the AFCA isn’t specifically designed to help out the bowl structure, but would certainly be best used in the bowl season by coaches if the proposal gains traction. The proposal from the AFCA is to allow players on a redshirt to be eligible to play in up to four games of a season without the risk of burning a redshirt year of eligibility. To put it simply, a recruit coming into a program this year could be redshirted and still play in up to four games between the regular season and postseason and still have four years of eligibility remaining to use.

“I think that would be pretty intriguing to some of the fan bases, which might legitimize some of those bowl games and make them more interesting,” said AFCA executive director Todd Berry, according to Stewart Mandel of FOX Sports. “One could argue that [playing redshirts] is not what the bowl games are for. Well, it is now. We lost this idea that every bowl game mattered a long time ago.”

Berry has some good points. Bowl games no longer carry the same importance to some players as they may have in the past. Fournette and McCaffrey were not the first players to sit out of the bowl season, but they became two of the highest-profile players to prove you can sit out a bowl game and still be drafted highly. Both players were picked in the top eight of the 2017 NFL Draft.

What often gets overlooked in the discussion though is the fact both players battled injuries throughout the 2016 season. These were not running backs at 100% health sitting out of a bowl game. Both players had injury concerns that played a factor in the decision-making. It remains to be seen how many healthy players will sit out of a bowl game moving forward, but the proposal to allow redshirt players participate in a bowl game is a bold move to provide some juice to the bowl season where needed. But this would be a provision that is only a band-aid for a small number of bowl games at most.

There are some good benefits. Players that have spent the majority of their season adapting their bodies from high school to college would have the opportunity to get some game experience before spring football practices. An older player that spent time on a redshirt for an injury reason could get a chance to return to the team for a bowl game rather than have to wait until next fall. This could actually be more important for an older player that could be heading off to the NFL, as it gives them a chance to show what they can do coming off an injury before heading through the NFL Draft prep circuit. From the coaching standpoint, it gives coaches a chance to see what some of their younger players can do on the field before heading to the spring.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of a college football program, but some prospects require more time to develop to be ready to play at the FBS level. This is why redshirting a player is a great option to have. It also helps a coach manage his roster to keep it as stocked as possible over a longer period of time, with every player still having four years of eligibility remaining after sitting out a season as a redshirt player.

The problem is the redshirt rules are very black and white when it comes to determining when your eligibility is used up. The exact moment you step foot on a football field is the moment you have officially burned your redshirt for that season, if applicable. Even you get injured and miss the remainder of the season just two or three plays into your season, there is no getting that redshirt back (medical exemptions for a sixth year are at the discretion of the NCAA, which are a completely different situation).

The redshirt rules have long been in play without any further conversations to determine if any changes could be implemented. It’s always just been there to use without much questioning or innovation. As West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen suggests, it may be time for a review of the redshirt rules.

“We really haven’t addressed the redshirt rule in quite some time,” Holgorsen said, per Mandel. “We’re playing way more games than we used to — there used to be a 10-game season. They’re looking at it, and I would support it.”

Even if the rule was modified, it would still be at the coach’s discretion whether or not to use the flxibility allowed. How many coaches would want to play a whole season with a roster and then throw in some variables to the roster for one final game? That’s a tough call to make for some, but if you have a stud running back prospect and need some help in the running game, this provision could have a positive impact.

[FOX Sports]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.