(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The San Francisco 49ers had to deal with a gnarly rash of injuries at the quarterback position last season.
Trey Lance, who was tabbed as their starter during the preseason, suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2, causing veteran Jimmy Garoppolo to return to his old spot at QB1.
But he himself suffered a season-ending injury during Week 13’s contest versus the Miami Dolphins, and therefore, rookie Brock Purdy got the call to fill in under center.
Purdy did an admirable job there — until he sustained a torn UCL in his throwing elbow early in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
His replacement, Josh Johnson, suffered a concussion, forcing Purdy to return despite being virtually unable to throw the football.
It has all resulted in the NFL considering allowing teams to carry a third QB on their roster.
Rich McKay, chair of the NFL Competition Committee, said there was support in discussion for bringing back some variation of the emergency third QB rule.
It was not voted on at this meeting. They are working through specifics. It still could happen with a vote in May.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) March 28, 2023
Despite all that bad fortune, the Niners still finished the regular season with a 10-game winning streak, and their offense was very strong, finishing sixth in points and fifth in total yards despite looking anemic early in the year.
But they weren’t the only team that had to use more than two quarterbacks in 2022 — in fact, there were a handful of teams that found themselves in that position, as the league, in general, saw many signal-callers miss time due to injury.
With the additional concern over brain trauma, allowing teams to carry a third QB seems like something the majority of people, whether it’s coaches, league officials or fans, can get behind.
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