LA Rams roster configuration disqualifies team from NFL emergency QB option

There have been some questions and concerns over the new NFL rules regarding an Emergency Third Quarterback, and exactly how those rules may or may not apply to the LA Rams this year. The rules had been written in response to the San Francisco 49ers' struggles in the 2023 NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles, a game in which the 49ers found themselves down to fourth-string quarterback Josh Johnson.

As a result, the NFL met and concocted a new set of rules to allow NFL teams to deploy an Emergency Third Quarterback to help NFL teams navigate those game day scenarios where two quarterbacks are injured and the team is forced to go with a third quarterback in a game.

But even with the new NFL rule, the parameters of when the rule does or does not apply have been a bit difficult to decipher. And so, the NFL has released a new question-and-answer information sheet to clarify what the new rule entails, and what NFL teams need to do in order to qualify for making use of this new rule:

So what does this mean for the LA Rams in the 2023 NFL season?

Rams opt-out of Emergency Third Quarterback

There were plenty of questions and discussions regarding the LA Rams' use of this new NFL regulation wrinkle, but it's all a moot point. The LA Rams do not have a third quarterback on the books and are unlikely to do so just to qualify for the new rule:

"The Emergency Third Quarterback must be on the club's 53-player roster; the player cannot be an elevated Practice Squad player. The club's starting quarterback (QB1) and its backup quarterback (QB2) must also be on the club's 53-player roster.
A club must have two bona fide quarterbacks on its 47/48-player gameday active list to designate an Emergency Third Quarterback.
A club cannot designate an Emergency Third Quarterback if it has three or more bona fide quarterbacks on its 47/48-player gameday active list"

- Per NFL Q&A supplement

And so, if the Rams roster is beset by injuries this season to starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, the LA Rams can not qualify to make use of that extra game-day roster slot until the team is willing to add either QB Brett Rypien or another third quarterback to the 53-man Rams roster.

Wise move or foolish oversight? Let us know what you think in the comments section of our Facebook page.