But I promise its going to be easier to look at it as minutes played. Schutt and Johnson are going to play relatively the same amount of minutes. Schutt and Johnson were 2nd and 3rd respectively in minutes played last season and they were separated by less than 1 mpg. Schutt does things Johnson can't. Johnson does things Schutt can't. Neither does things as a complete player on the level of Avdalas, but they both can complement him well. A lineup without Johnson puts your best defender on the bench. Since most teams best players are wings, that hurts a good amount if Johnson isn't on the floor guarding them (and playing better help defense away from the ball). A lineup without Schutt isn't exactly going to put fear in the hearts of opponents from distance. That hurts someone like Avdalas whose biggest strength is slashing, finding angles and ultimately using his size and skill combination to be better than the person who is guarding him. Pacha and Avdalas (and to a lesser extent Lawal and Hansberry) are capable shooters, but I would be more inclined to defend each of them as a driver first. That clogs lanes away from the ball and puts a lot more pressure on the open looks you do get to go down. If not, its going to be a very frustrating night. So what does VT need on a given night? If the shots are going down from those 4, then you probably need Johnson more to also stifle them defensively. If the shots aren't going down, you need Schutt (or even just the threat of Schutt) to hit shots and open up more lanes. As much as Avdalas would eat into Schutt and Johnson's minutes, those two would actually benefit the most from an efficiency standpoint (if they buy into the role). Schutt and Johnson are both very talented players, but neither of them should have been playing 26 min per game. The longer you play without superior skill or experience than your opponent the more you are susceptible to your efficiency being very volatile. A decrease in minutes played and/or a narrowing of the scope of what is asked of you can do wonders to your effectiveness. Then that can lead to increases in your role as you master what is given to you. VT had no choice but to increase their role before they were ready. The players who were supposed to be in those roles were either gambling or had their NIL deal slashed when football needed a 13th WR. Schutt went from play 7 min per game, to playing 0 min when hurt in year 2 to playing 26 min at VT. He showed flashes of what he can be but floundered down the stretch and I'm pretty certain his conditioning level had a lot to do with it. The difference between who he was in Nov/Dec and who he was late is the opposite of what you'd want in someone's development. This year he needs a steady positive trajectory and that starts with mastering a smaller role. Johnson fortunately was used to playing a ton of minutes, albeit at the high school level, but his issues were learning too much on the fly. He could also take a big jump this year if he buys into the role. All that to say Schutt will play 30 min some games and 10 min other games. Johnson will do the same. But if at the end of the end of the year they both average ~18 min per game, that doesn't mean theyve regressed or even that they haven't improved immensely. It doesn't matter who starts. It matters how the minutes are allocated. And that matters more for the core starters than those whose minutes are more matchup/game flow dependent like Schutt and Johnson