Pete needs to get back to playing rookies early & more often

[Smellyman]

Always compete!

and when you're older I may play you.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Seeing TT and Hill in at safety over Blair was frustrating. Blair brings a level of speed and intensity and a bit of recklessness those two don't.

And Amadi being sidelined for Taylor for a bit of the season was aggravating.
Jaron Brown over Ursua was infuriating.

These arent red shirt freshmen Pete!

Those are pretty much the worst examples of the OP's principle. Blair was terrible schematically when he played, constantly out of position. Taylor was bad; so was Amadi. And Jaron Brown isn't necessarily the reason Ursua didn't see the field. It might have just been because Ursua is entirely remarkable and not a good candidate for ST given his size.

I want the best players out there. The desire to play rookies is easily mistaken for simple "someone else HAS to be better" syndrome.

Amadi and Blair would've provided some much needed speed to the defensive side of the ball.
And they won't improve their positioning on the bench. They were drafted for a reason. Get those guys on the field and watch them grow.
2011 season was a prime example of growing pains. Sherman got his opportunity, KJ Wright got better each game, Kam and Earl got better. The defense consistently took strides forward the more they played together.

The defense last year was awful. It held the team back. To say that those players are a bad example is mind blowing.

You need more than speed. You also need to have guys in the right position. The Packers game should have provided ample reason of why speed isn't enough, even though both Amadi and Blair showed promise.

 

[Mad Dog]

Are we still throwing out the tired tropes of thinking we know more than the coaches about a rookies readiness to play?

Pete played Metcalf from day one because he knew he was ready. Pete played Will Dissly from day one because he knew he was ready. When a rookie is clearly ready, Pete plays them. When they aren't ready he holds them back until they are ready. 90% of that determination comes from practice which none of you are privy to.

The concept that we have gems just ready to break out as rookies is misguided. Only a rare rookie is ready to handle the NFL. College is a vastly different game and experience and not everyone makes an easy transition.

Sherm, ET, Wilson, Wagner all played in their rookie season as starters because they were damn good players. We got lucky in a few drafts. Most SB teams are based on a couple outlier drafts. Most will then autocorrect like the stock market. If you think you can draft better than the experts then you likely think you can time the stock market. Both are foolish notions.

 

[Appyhawk]

You're singing the right song mad dog.
Nearly every game we played this year we were fighting for our life the entire game. Most of those games came down to the final possession. Our rookies this year, with exception of DK, were not of the caliber to be considered dependable or trustworthy in critical situations. Had Pete insisted on playing the rooks we probably/certainly miss our trip to the playoffs. That's a steep price to pay for getting playing time for subs.

 

[Tusc2000]

The reason young guys don't play much under Pete? Look no farther than Malik Turner's drop against the Packers which effectively ended our season. The only reason he was even on the field at that moment is because we didn't have anyone else. Giving rookies who are not ready to be in the game more playing time does not mean they'll develop quicker. It just means we'll lose more games.