it would not affect those players as they have exhausted all eligibility, and I am pretty sure that the 5th year rule is post covid students.
This rule is been debated for a while and with the court loss about Juco seasons not counting and why Kitselman and Pavia are able to come back for another season to their respective teams they pretty much are conceding that redshirt status will be the next domino to fall as it limits a students ability to cash in.
This rule is basically deleting redshirts, instead of 5 years for 4, you can now go 5 for 5.