NFL approves new quarterback rule thanks to 49ers' historic playoff loss
The San Francisco 49ers -and all of the franchise's fans- will never forget last season's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game. Both Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson were hurt during the game and their injuries left the 49ers with no one to turn to. In the form of an actual quarterback, […]
The San Francisco 49ers -and all of the franchise's fans- will never forget last season's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game.
Both Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson were hurt during the game and their injuries left the 49ers with no one to turn to. In the form of an actual quarterback, at least.
So, Christian McCaffrey took over and of course, San Fran was cooked at that point.
Fortunately, the NFL just passed a rule where the 49ers, and the rest of the league, now have a system in place that can help teams avoid that nightmare scenario.
Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the NFL passed a rule where teams are allowed to carry a third "emergency" quarterback on game day and it won't count against the game day roster.
There are a few important parameters, here, however:
- The quarterback must be on the 53-man roster. They can't be a practice squad call-up.
- The QB will be on the inactive list, but can be "activated" during the game.
- The only time the emergency quarterback can enter the game is if the top-2 QBs are injured to the point where they can't immediately return to the game or are disqualified. If one of the top-2 QBs are cleared to return to action, then the emergency QB must return to the sideline.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke on this idea back in March.
"Hopefully they'll get a rule where they allow a third quarterback just so you're not in that situation that happened to us," Shanahan told reporters. "But it doesn't happen much. When it does happen, it's a tough situation. But just because it happened one time in my 20 years of coaching – and I go to Bobby Turner after the game who's coached 45 years it's never happened to him. So just because it happened in that one game doesn't mean you have to adjust everything after that, but hopefully that won't happen to us again or any other team.
"But if we have three quarterbacks who are capable of playing in this league and helping us win, you don't just get rid of one of those guys you adjust with them on your roster."
It'll be interesting to see if this rule actually comes into play anytime soon. But, the one thing that's unquestioned is the needy team will be very happy they have this option. If they choose to utilize it, of course.
