MOBILE, Ala. – Almost 12 years after the rule was lifted, momentum for a change swirled during Sunday afternoon’s NFC Championship game.
Should the NFL require teams to have a third available quarterback on their game day list? Or maybe at least for playoff games?
Cowboys team owner and general manager Jerry Jones says he supports the policy.
“I’m really in favor of having a third quarterback in the game,” Jones told Yahoo Sports Wednesday of practice at the Senior Bowl. “I would be a pro. I’ve always been for quarterback and raising the number. I would be for it.”
To be clear, as Jones mentioned, NFL teams can now bring in a third quarterback for games. However, the obligation to do so was revoked prior to the 2011 season.
From 1991 through 2010, the NFL had required teams to designate an emergency third quarterback on their gameday roster, which would render the team’s first two quarterbacks ineligible for the remainder of the game if they stepped in before the fourth quarter . The league later abolished this rule and instead expanded the matchday lineup from 45 to 46 players. Teams were no longer required to offer tertiary depth at quarterback, but were free to choose whether to continue carrying three quarterbacks or dedicate that space to another, perhaps injury-prone, position, such as midfield. B. the lineman to deepen.
The result: NFL teams rarely carry a third active quarterback in games.
That proved costly in the San Francisco 49ers’ NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The rule would have been of limited help to San Francisco. The 49ers started with their third quarterback of the season after Trey Lance broke his ankle and Jimmy Garoppolo his foot. In the conference championship game, seventh-round rookie Brock Purdy tore a ligament (the UCL) in his throwing arm and then veteran journeyman Josh Johnson was shut out with a concussion.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) was one of two 49ers QBs injured in Sunday’s NFC Championship game, leaving the team in a desperate situation. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The 49ers had to choose between jack-of-all-trades Christian McCaffrey, who switched to Wildcat quarterback, or Purdy, who played under center without being able to throw with any strength or depth. All-Pro tight end George Kittle admitted the team’s playbook had essentially dwindled to 15 games.
The story goes on
The restrictions doomed San Francisco to a 31-7 loss in a game that Philadelphia had entered as a 2.5-point favorite.
Jones said he expects league management to review the rule this offseason. One possible change could be adding a quarterback spot to the current roster number on game day, at least for the playoffs.
The league changed overtime rules to allow both teams at least one possession during the playoffs after the Kansas City Chiefs rallied to beat the Buffalo Bills in overtime last postseason in which the Bills offense never caught the ball would have. Could a similar pattern follow?
“That’s the best way to initiate and the best way to make decisions is when you have examples in what I would say very delicate times,” Jones said of changing rules affecting playoff results to have. “And boy, we don’t want teams with no quarterbacks in these games that 50 million people are watching.”
The league introduced more flexibility in roster restrictions in 2020 as COVID-19 sidelined players throughout the year. Training teams have been expanded, the rules for experienced training teams have been relaxed, and teams have been given the opportunity to promote players from the training team to the active roster at the end of the week.
A similar structure for a quarterback rule could cushion teams against quarterback emergencies while preventing teams from cramming an inappropriate pool of talent into a single position in a league where supply arguably already falls short.
If players stayed in practice groups throughout the week only to be promoted as emergency quarterbacks at the end of the week, opponents willing to commit to their 53-man roster could still poach them.
“You can add, as we have seen during COVID [players]’ Jones said. “Union want a lot more players to be in the squads. So from the club’s point of view, you should be really efficient with the number of players you have in your team. This would expand that. You say, OK, what you’ve got is another squad quarterback, maybe put one on the practice squad.
“But I agree that when we have a team that’s been short at quarterback, we can’t ignore that.”