Third-string quarterbacks throughout the league will be happy about the NFL’s recent adoption of a third-quarterback rule. And for good reason.
Since teams can now dress a third quarterback as an extra man on the roster only if he’s on the 53-man roster, the rule will prompt more teams to make their third quarterback not a member of the practice squad but a full-fledged member of the main team.
“I mean, I love it,” Grier recently said, via Nick Harris of the team’s official website. “I think it’s smart. Quarterback is a different position. A guy can’t just jump in and play quarterback. In this league, I think you need three guys that can play.”
Now, teams will have the ability to have three guys ready to play on game day, due to the fact that the 49ers lost both quarterbacks in the NFC Championship.
“I think the rule is smart and everybody agrees after what we saw last year that you need that,” Grier said. “Whether that guy is on the practice squad or on the roster with this rule enacted, that guy has to be ready to play.”
It’s another example of the NFL’s bad habit of making rules on a reactive not proactive basis. Everyone knew that any team with two game-day quarterbacks was two injuries away from a postseason shitshow. But it had to actually happen before the NFL said, “Gee, maybe we should do something about that.”
And now they have, which will enhance Grier’s chance of making -- and staying on -- the 53-man roster.
