My first year as coach. My team has 7 seniors...and 4 of them are SF. I was thinking of redshirting one for sure....maybe 2. What would the downside be?? Their ratings are between 518 and 606...and their work ethics between 51 to 74.

Any insight appreciated!!

It can be done but it is tough to get them to take it. I would try it on the one who would be 4th on the depth chart. If his WE drops (which it most likely will) you will have to decide if you can live with it or not. Since it will be a senior he probably has maxed out on his cores so it probably won't hurt you too much. If you don't like what you see you can always pull the R/S and try again.

Also, you can redshirt only 1 player per season

I had a senior accept a red shirt once in D3 but not until after they suffered an injury in preseason.

Given that by the time most players are seniors their opportunity for improvement is pretty much nil, does it even matter if their WE craters upon being redshirted?

Even if the guy leaves, it would have been no different than him playing out the season as 4th on the depth chart, so I say definitely redshirt and get 1 more year. It also doesn't hurt your rep since you didn't recruit him.

Thanks everyone for the input!!