Trenton Simpson is most certainly a compelling figure by nature of his being an elite talent, but as Paul noted last week it's hard not to consider him a long shot for significant playing time in 2020.

A lot is made of the difficulty of making an impact as a first-year freshman at other positions, most notably quarterback and offensive line.

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But linebacker -- and more specifically, linebacker under Brent Venables -- is a bit of a bear.

In Venables' eight seasons, only four non-grayshirt linebackers have avoided redshirts: Ben Boulware in 2013, Tre Lamar and James Skalski in 2016, and Kane Patterson last season.