For me, the best use of roster spots is to have FOUR wide receivers on the 53 man roster. I'm OK with 5 if the 5th is active to be a special teamer. We've had Amendola and now Patterson.
THE FIFTH WR
The 5th WR has totaled 47 receptions over the past TEN YEARS. That's a an average of 4.7 a year or an average of ONE catch every 3 or 4 games.
THE SIXTH WR
The 6th WR has a total of 16 receptions over the past 10 years or 1.6 per YEAR. This position is NOT a luxury. It is gross negligence to use a roster spot for a 6th WR.
FOUR WIDE RECEIVERS OR FIVE
If the 5th wide receiver is a special teamer, I can see carrying five. However, the total receptions for the #5 and #6 WR over the last 10 years has been 63 or 6.3 per year. That's not even one reception every 2 games. There were NO SEASONS where the total receptions for the #4 and #5 wide receivers was as much as ONE per game. I suspect that there is a better use of a roster spot than a position that averages one catch every 2-3 games.
AS AN ASIDE - THE FOURTH WR
averages less than one catch per game. All the backups TOTAL an average of 19 catches per season or a bit more than one catch per game.
OPTION 1
I suspect that all we need is FOUR WR's plus a one on the Practice Squad. That's plenty. Of course, we should have lots of WR's during camp and the pre-season. Injuries do happen, and sometimes players don't come back from injuries as fast as we would like.
OPTION 2 (the most likely)
Since our backup receivers are pretty good this year, and one is our KR, then I'm fine with 5 WR's on the 53. We really don't need any backup on the Practice Squad. However, it always a good idea to have one or two to develop for the future: say McCarran and/or anther.
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AS AN ASIDE
We could have the same analysis for the 4th TE, a 15th front seven player or whoever we might want to keep instead of the 3rd QB. My BOTTOM LINE is that we often do indeed have a better use for the roster spot than using it for a 3rd QB. However, a 3rd QB does not exactly put huge pressure on roster decisions.