2 QB or Not 2 QB

I made a reference in the last post that the team could do something unorthodox, like keeping 2 QBs or 2 TEs to make room for Courtney Taylor. There has been a trend for a few NFL teams each year to go with only two quarterbacks on the active roster. A full 15% of NFL teams went with two quarterbacks in 2003: Buffalo, Denver, Indianapolis, San Diego, and Washington. Two more teams (Atlanta and Miami) waited out at least the first quarter of the season with only two healthy quarterbacks. Since then, I am aware of at least Dallas and Baltimore also going with only two quarterbacks during certain years. It isn't all that common, but it happens every year.

The Seahawks could do that this year, but they would need someone that could take snaps in an emergency. Safety Brian Russell played some QB in college, so he could do it in a pinch to close out a game if Matt Hasselbeck and Seneca Wallace were both knocked out in a single game.

That is what a team needs if they do go with 2 QBs. Dallas had WR Patrick Crayton as the emergency QB when they only went with 2 QBs in the past. I don't see Tim Ruskell as a 2-QB guy. However, I do think that would be more likely than the team keeping Derek Devine on the active roster.

I think the real danger David Greene is in isn't getting "beat out" for the final spot by Derek Devine, but rather "losing out" and proving he, like Devine, is also not worthy of a roster spot. If the Seahawks thinks Greene is on that level, then it would probably make the most sense to only go with 2 QBs, keep Devine on the practice squad, have Russell be the emergency 3rd QB, and free up a roster spot. I don't think that will happen, but it makes some sense depending on how Ruskell feels about Greene.

In 2003, the Redskins only went with two quarterbacks, and Vinny Cerrato, Vice President of Football Operations, said (as quoted by Len Pasquarelli):

Around the league, the typical No. 3 quarterback is a younger guy you are developing for down the road, and you hope you don't have to use him. Hey, you can get that younger guy the same number of snaps on the practice squad as you can on the (active) roster...if you've got a third quarterback on your practice squad, someone who was with you in camp, he's probably going to be of more immediate help anyway than some guy you just sign off the street. As long as you're backstopped by having a third guy on your practice squad, I don't see the danger of going with only two on the active roster.

So, there is a point of view where it makes sense to only keep 2 QBs. I am not sure I can really see Tim Ruskell adopting that point of view though. If he is going to do something out of the ordinary, then I find it more believable that he would opt for 2 TEs, and then try to stash 2 of the 3 guys fighting for that last spot on the practice squad. As noted before, I believe Bennie Joppru and Leonard Stephens are both (barely) still eligible.

Or the team could decided that Floyd Womack isn't worth a roster spot, but the offensive linemen that would take his place could safely be stashed on the practice squad. The Seahawks could potentially keep C Pat Ross and OT Jonathan Alston on the practice squad, and feel like they had their bases covered with respect to the offensive line.