Well rumor, conjecture, inside info or total BS will be revealed soon enough....maybe. Blaze gets 5 dates and he can still RS so seeing him early is not definitive proof.
However, Nagao's shirt is gone so he is burning a year even with a past medical. Davis, and I suspect Ono don't have that same true freshman 5 dates protection, so if we see either of them early on they are committed to the year, and burning their shirts.
Nov 14th, whomever goes at 133 and 141 could/should tell us 1/2 the picture (141).
I REALLY hope we get to see Ono early on in some open tourneys unattached. The anticipation is palpable.
Strategy and the unknown of Ono getting a second year aside, I really think it comes down to the coaches assessing whether or not he has the top and bottom game to go with Jesse Mendez. If Nick Lee can ride him like a pony, and get out at will, the case for a RS is very strong. We will see, but we have the perfect talent in the room to know pretty much exactly where Ono's transition to folk stands.
I would like to see Blaze RS and then run the table Zain like albeit for 4 years, but if you take a step back, 133 Blaze, 141 Nagao makes a lot of sense if Nagao can still manage 141.
I would not be surprised if the gap between Davis and Nagao, if any, is very slight, so why burn a shirt there?