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Forty-six. That's all. And contrary to popular belief, it's a small number as it pertains to the great game of American Football. One man has recently spoken out about the number.
As it relates to the active gameday NFL roster, only 46 players can be dressed. Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn wants to see the league extend that number, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.
“If I had to say one thing how do we do it better, I would say I hope at some point we expand the rosters to get even bigger,” Quinn told reporters gathered in Orlando, Florida, referring to the 53-man roster and 46-man game-day rosters. “No pressure if a guy is out to say, ‘OK, here's another guy that's up.'
“So 46 is good. And maybe in years to come, 10 years from now when we're sitting here, ‘OK, remember back in the day when you had 46 guys?' Maybe it goes to 50 or something along those lines and gets more opportunities for guys because without a developmental league, we're hopeful that maybe the roster size gains by a few spots, that we can incorporate that. And I think it'd be safer, too, to have more guys available to play.”
Only 46 of the 53 total players on a roster can dress. This is one more than the standard 45 teams used to run with for so long. At first, the extra man, the 46th man was the emergency QB. Nowadays, the number is 46 regardless of position.
Again, for those not familiar, 46 may seem like more than enough. It's not.
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Eleven starters on both sides equal 22. One backup for each quickly rises it to 44. Add a kicker, a punter and a long-snapper and suddenly, that's 47. It's why the backups are so incredibly important. In addition to backup up their regular post, they must fill a special teams slot or two.
College teams are allowed to march an army on their home sidelines. Atlanta's sideline boss also brought up the idea of expanding the practice squad.
“I like that we've expanded the practice squad from where it first started to where it is today,” Quinn said. “That helps. There's real development taking place. If I had to change one thing [regarding development], I would change the offseason rules for the developmental players. … How do we get the developmental players better? We need to spend more time with them.”
As it pertains to practice squads, 10 is the magic number. What's important to remember is each of the 10 players on the practice squad is eligible to be signed by any one of the other 31 franchises at any time (as long as they sign that player to the 53-man roster).
All Dan Quinn is looking for is a little more roster love from the NFL.
