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unifyzero t1_jac5wfz wrote

Reply to comment by Yak_52TD in [Ari Meirov] The NFL competition committee is expected to have discussions about the third QB rule, which would allow teams to have an emergency QB in uniform (a 47th active player) on gamedays, in case of a worst case scenario situation (like the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game). by IrwinRSchyster1

11 players/team on the field at one time. 22 starters, 22 backups/depth, 2 kickers suited up for the game.

There are a few factors that make the roster size, necessary, if not a little lower than it should be.

Gridiron football is pretty unique in that the positions are wildly different from one another so you can’t typically have one backup covering multiple positions, which means you need an almost 1-for-1 starter/back up ratio.

There are a handful of positions that carry skill requirements, but are infrequent enough and/or risky enough to not want to assign a starter to it (gunner, long snapper, etc.)

Some positions essentially require 4-6 players to ensure that you can field different personnel packages.

Wear and tear. It’s an intentionally violent and dangerous game. People are almost certainly going to get injured, and barring that, many players will need to cycle out for rest.

All that being said, it is definitely a game of a lot of excess.

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donutello2000 t1_jadvtgn wrote

No one tell this guy about college football teams, who must have a minimum of 63 active players, and can have up to 85 scholarship players, and 125 active players.

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bigloser42 t1_jacecf3 wrote

Unique players on the field in all phases would total 25; 11 offense, 11 defense, 1 kicker, 1 punter, 1 long snapper. The remainder of the spots are backup or rotational players.

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