I recently redshirted a freshman. He is clearly the lowest rated player on the team except for a walkon, so was surprised that he was unhappy with being redshirted. Regardless, my question is this - he went from 72 WE to 59 WE. Is that the only consequence of him being unhappy or will it show up in other ways as well (like continued WE decline, or slower growth, or the possibility of transferring at the end of the year)? If the WE drop is the only downside to the redshirt decision, I can live with that. Just don't want to be surprised by something else.

He will have slower growth than if he had a 72 WE but that is the only consequence. And the 13 point drop is very minor, I'd leave it on

Agreed. 59 WE is still good.

59 WE will still result in max growth over time, especially with the RS yr.  and you can 'get it back up' so to speak in coming seasons.

There is no downside other than the WE hit you can already see, which looks like no big deal because as was pointed out a 59 work ethic is still very good. Freshmen won't quit the team unless you break a promise to them.

Ok. Thanks everyone. That's what I needed to know.