The one thing we often forget to take into account when putting together a prospective 53 man roster is the weekly 8-man inactive list. Its interesting to note that you often find the same eight names on that list week in and week out. In addition to the practice squad there seems to be what I would call an "inactive squad."
Here is last year's "INACTIVE SQUAD."

1. QB John Beck
2. DE Lionel Dotson
3. DE Rodrique Wright
4. OL Shawn Murphy
5. OL Nate Garner
6. WR Ernest Wilford or Derek Hagan
7. TE Joey Haynos

The 8th player varied from week to week. It could have been anybody from Jalen Parmele, Kirk Barton, or Brandon London to Michael Lehan, Joey Thomas, Paul Soliai, or Channing Crowder.

One of the eight is always the third string QB. However Pat White changes that for us. As a result Henne is likely to take Beck's spot on the "inactive squad" which kind of sucks because he won't be able to pick up any garbage time game experience.

EDIT: The bolded text is incorrect. See post #12.

So here's my prediction for our 2009 "INACTIVE SQUAD."

1. Chad Henne
2. DE Lionel Dotson
3. OL Nate Garner or a free agent pick-up after the cutdown to 53
4. RB Lex Hilliard
5. OL Shawn Murphy or TE Joey Haynos
6. WR Brian Hartline
7. CB Nathan Jones
8. ???

Congrats to Dotson, Garner, Murphy, and Haynos for making it the second year running. :lol:

Chime in.

 

We're talking about one game here. Any given Sunday if you will. If Pennington were to get hurt, then we'd have two options with Pat White.

1. He takes over until the 4th quarter at which point Henne could come in without penalty or...

2. Henne enters the game prior to the 4th quarter and White cannot play in that game anymore.

http://wvgazette.com/Sports/200905080772

Plus if Pennington got hurt then the following week or weeks Henne would start and Pat White could still play. However if Pennington doesn't get hurt then its not even an issue.

Bear in mind what I said in my initial post.

Now I realize I was wrong about garbage time. Henne CAN play in the 4th quarter if its a blow-out either way.

The third string QB is ALWAYS inactive. You're crazy if you think Sparano and company are going into game days with all three quarterbacks active. We would lose a special teams player.

Its interesting to speculate because special teams plays such an important role in the 53 man roster. For example Lionel Dotson or Chad Henne are more likely to be inactive than Brian Hartline or Erik Walden because Dotson and Henne don't play on special teams.

 

You might be right about Gardner vs Garner. I already listed Hilliard. Courtney Bryan will be cut. Most teams only carry four safeties. For us that will be Bell, Wilson, Culver, and Clemons.

 

I seriously doubt Merling will be inactive instead of Dotson. I could be wrong but that would really be shocking.

IMO These designations don't mean much in the preseason. The way I take it is they want to see Hartline against better competition. That's all.

When you look at the list of inactive players from last season the fifth wideout is often listed for most teams. We know Ginn and Bess won't be inactive. Camarillo might be inactive the first couple of weeks depending on his injury. Patrick Turner is supposed to be our redzone threat. Plus if Chris Williams makes the roster it will be because of his ability to return kicks so it wouldn't make sense for him to be inactive. Hartline is supposed to be a very good special teams player though so other than possibly Camarillo maybe we won't ever have a wideout inactive this season.

Okay so if Hartline doesn't become a fixture on the inactive list then who? Berger or Torbor? I doubt it. Soliai or McDaniel? Maybe. However we need those guys for our defensive line rotation. Maybe Chris Clemons but he's also supposed to be a standout on special teams.

 

Here is who was inactive against the Falcons.

1. Chad Henne - A no-brainer. If Pennington continues to struggle Henne might not be on the inactive squad for long.

2. Lionel Dotson - I feel bad for Dotson having to grind it out on the inactive squad again this year but its a good problem to have so many talented defensive ends.

3. Shawn Murphy - He looked good in camp but Berger can backup all three interior linemen.

4. Patrick Turner - Wow. I believed Turner had a legitimate shot at starting. He might be inactive all season. There's still hope for him. Next year.

5. John Nalbone - After the loss of Martin he takes Haynos' spot on the inactive squad.

6. Andrew Gardner - I'm really suprised Gardner not Garner was inactive. I had to read that twice. Its a good way to hold onto a promising young rookie who might not be ready to go immediately.

7. Cameron Wake - Another surprise. However Moses and Anderson really stepped up. Wake is probably wishing he hadn't signed with the Dolphins right about now. He could be starting for several other teams.

8. Chris Clemons - He can play special teams so he might not be on the inactive squad all year. In fact he is probably competing with Nathan Jones and Jason Allen for that special teams spot every week.

 

This is my understanding of it.

In the 1960s rosters were limited to 40 players. The Vikings used to have a motto "40 for 60" meaning 40 players going all out for 60 minutes. That number went up and down for various reasons over the years until they settled on 45 players in 1985. One of the main concerns in 1985 was salary. It was deemed too expensive carry more than 45 players on an NFL roster.
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-11-30/sports/sp-9554_1_49-man-roster

Back in the day a player on injured reserve was not out for the season. Plus they were still allowed to practice with the team. What started happening was promising rookies who didn't make the final roster were being declared "injured" and stashed on IR. They could then practice with the team and provide depth in case of a real injury. As this became more commonplace the NFL decided to do away with this extra squad of "injured" players who could get recalled. They increased the roster size to 53 while maintaining a 45 man active list. Players on IR could no longer be recalled or practice with the team.

Here's how the inactive list is supposed to work. Imagine Pat White sprains his ankle and can't play for a week or two. You can't put him on IR or he is done for the season. If you put him on the practice squad another team might snag him. Your only option is to carry him on your 53 man roster. Now imagine we're playing the Colts on Monday night and all 53 of their players are healthy. We'd be stuck with only 52 healthy players. By making 8 players inactive you ensure that neither side has an unfair advantage. Its what the league calls competitive balance.

Why 8 players? Nobody seems to know. Its an issue that should definitely be re-addressed. Seems like we could cut that number in half and still maintain a competitive balance. An inactive list of 4 players or at the very least 6 players seems to make more sense nowadays.