rookie minicamp highlights from Minnesota Vikings quarterback Jaren Hall's first practice as a Viking after being selected in the 2023 NFL Draft. Minnesota found Hall in Round 5 of the event, and he could serve as QB3 in 2023.
Unlike years past, new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Jaren Hall can be available on regular season gamedays after the NFL decided to alter rules Monday.
The San Francisco 49ers were ravaged by quarterback injuries in the 2022 NFC Championship, arguably costing Kyle Shanahan’s team a spot in Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov tweeted the rule-change news, “NFL owners have passed a bylaw that allows teams to have a 3rd 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), per NFL Network. All teams can now dress 3 QBs moving forward.”
And unless something funky happens for the Vikings this summer, that man will be Hall.
San Francisco lost Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo before the NFC title game against the Philadelphia Eagles and then rookie Brock Purdy and veteran Josh Johnson during the playoff showdown. Purdy was forced to return in the game and simply handed the ball off to anyone who could run with it — not ideal during the game right before the Super Bowl.
Ergo, if something similar happens to the Vikings in 2023, Minnesota would turn to Nick Mullens at QB2 foremost and Hall next after a hypothetical injury to Kirk Cousins. The rule tweak is a win for common sense and fans.
49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan publicly endorsed the emergency quarterback idea about three months ago. Shanahan told the media in February about an extra QB at all times, “Definitely would be in favor of it. We were scared to death when that rule ended, whatever many years ago that was.”
“You kind of forget about it since you don’t see anyone have to go through it, but then you get reminded of how quickly a football game is over once that happens. So, I think that would be a very smart thing to have,” Shanahan added.
Lynch, unsurprisingly, agreed, “I think it would be good for football. You’re always trying to develop these guys, but you’re always weighing that, carrying three as opposed to their roster value of being able to host a full complement of position players at different positions. I think if the league just kind of gave you an out there, everybody would be forced to do it, you’d have more people in camps improving. I think it’d be good for football.”
Adding a spot on active gameday rosters for the just-in-case quarterback is a win-win. There is nothing to lose. The existence of the hypothetical man hurts nothing or nobody. That QB3 will likely never see the field — and get pretty bored — but who cares? It would be a contingency plan for what happened to San Francisco on the second grandest stage of them all. There is no downside.
Minnesota usually activates two QBs before a game, meaning the rule change directly applies. It need not deactivate a non-QB to make room for Hall — or whoever the QB3 may be in the future.
Columnist Wajahat Ali aptly summarized the rule tweak, “The 49ers curse is now a blessing for the NFL.”
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.