Running back by committee has become a staple in the NFL, is Qaurterback by committe possibly close behind?

Over the last few years around the NFL, teams gradually, well let's actually say, fairly quickly abandoned the idea of one single workhorse running back, much to the dismay of fantasy football owners everywhere, and have moved to a running back by committee philosophy. With so many things changing with the way the game is played in recent years, combined with devastating injuries to primary backs, and the all to common idea that running backs hit a wall along with turning the ripe old age of 30, it has become necessity for teams to find a complimentary back to try and stay ahead of the curve.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that teams begin to adapt some sort of quarterback by committee in the near future. Now it is clear that this is not college football where often times schools do not have a true #1 quarterbacks, and both the first 2 get a pretty even number of snaps each game, but even with a true starter, it should not be a surprise if some teams find some ways to utilize their second string QB in a role other than just holding the clipboard and a headset.

By no means would this be even a thought to every team in the league. Nobody is taking any snaps away from the Mannings, Brady, Brees, Rodgers and a handful of others that amounts to roughly about half the league, but for that other half, which either have 2 legitimate quarterbacks who could start, or do not have 1 surefire starter, is could make some sense. The Eagles were the first team to really take any step in this direction last season with their use of Michael Vick, albeit mostly in the Wildcat formation, but he did get a few more of his own pass plays thrown in there for a little change of pace and to try and throw off increasingly smart and fast defenses that the league has today.

This offseason has seen a slew of quarterbacks changing teams, and a few of them are going to be forced to use a different starter than that of the 2009 season. The Browns overhauled the position completely, with Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson going to the Broncos and Cardinals, respectively, and Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace coming in. Anderson will go to compete with incumbent starter Matt Leinart after the retirement of Kurt Warner. Quinn will go to challenge Kyle Orton for the starting gig. Delhomme leaves a void in Carolina where Matt Moore is the only real option currently on the roster, surely signifying that they will bring in somebody to compete, either by free agency, or through the draft. Wallace, who has been a solid fill-in QB when Matt Hasselbeck is all too often injured, brings competition for Delhomme, and leaves a spot in Seattle, where more than likely, Charlie Whitehurst will be moving to.

Down in Miami, there are both of their Chad's, Henne and Pennington, the Eagles continue to immense themselves in a game of who stays and who goes, or do they all stay. Nobody seems to have a good answer up there. And then there is the never ending saga surrounding Brett Favre, who never knows if he will stay retired or play, and if this time, he ultimately retires and stays retired, will leave a competition up in Minnesota between Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. Quite a few other teams around the league are involved in some of the same dillemmas, those are just some of the more recent and well known developments with the prime position.

After 2009, where teams were either forced to use 2nd and even 3rd stringers because of injury, or in many other cases, due to lack of productivity, why would it not make some sense for teams to use multiple quarterbacks during the course of a single game just by choice, and for just some plays here and there?

So many quarterbacks have recent game experience over just the last year, and with so much uncertainty with who will be the starter, and multiple quarterbacks getting heavy work in the preseason, it would not be that much of a change for an offense to change it up from time to time. It would also have the effect of forcing defenses to prepare for multiple quarterbacks each week, not knowing which will play at any given time, and could prove to be an advantage for many offenses trying to get a step up on their opposition, or just to give the offense a jolt when the starter may have a rough stretch during a game.

It is not being suggested that teams throughout the NFL take any drastic measures and go to any 50/50 split gameplans for the quarterback position, but in a league where we have seen prime positions like wide receiver, running back, linebacker and cornerbacks go to much more of a shuffle in order to keep legs fresh, and try and stay ahead of increasingly smart opposition.

Recent trends appear to be leading to some teams even doing the same with the one position that once seemed like one specific player on each team was set in stone to play.