Bob....son faced same decision....redshirt D1 first year in a neighboring state, or play D2, or D3 for four years in various states...none as close as this D1. There were other considerations first though.....with all the schools....academics, financial, social, team, coach......
....he picked a school across the country....for all good reasons, including a better chance of playing ball for 4 years, and then broke his wrist......he has missed his first year of freshman ball....so.....this brings me to the most important question....learned from posters before me.....to be asked in deciding on a school.....would you be happy there if you had an injury and could not play ball.....because there are no gaurantees.
.......and other posters will be able to explain redshirting better than me......good luck.