The new redshirt rule has been widely praised by college football fans.

The NCAA passed a new rule that will allow players to appear in up to 4 games without losing their redshirt year. They still have 4 seasons of eligibility to complete in 5 years, but the new legislation will benefit true freshmen who can get snaps in Year 1 without losing one of those years.

SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum joined ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” and weighed in on the upside and dark side of that decision from the NCAA’s Division I Council.

“I like the redshirt rule because I think it gives players freedom, but it also creates another side of this,” Finebaum said. “First of all, Bob (Ley), I like the fact that the NCAA is being less restrictive…it’s about time because they have really run this organization with no concern or care for the student-athlete. The first part of this, we’ll never hear the phrase “burning a redshirt” again, but it does open up what coaches will probably do.

“Now that they have 4 games to play with, will they now test a young player and see if he’s up to snuff and find out he’s now and maybe dispose of him. That’s the dark side of this.”

It’s an interesting point. Perhaps coaches will try and make decisions on freshmen based on if they struggle in that small sample size.

Here was the clip of what Finebaum said on Outside The Lines: