There was hardly ever a doubt that Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener would make the New Orleans Saints’ 53-man roster, something that came to fruition as the team announced who was left standing earlier in the week.
Haener slides into the QB3 spot with this, as Derek Carr is the undisputed starter and Jameis Winston will take on the No. 2 spot as one of the league’s more viable backups despite not showing a ceiling to go much further beyond that.
Haener, while still needing some development as was reflected by some of the rookie errors he made in the Saints’ preseason loss to the Houston Texans, still projects as a player who can reach starting potential after making a splash out of Fresno State in the Mountain West.
The only difficulty he will face is that while he is holding the clipboard and learning from the veterans — the ideal situation for any first-year quarterback — he will have to learn without doing. That’s something easier said than done.
Carr will be taking the practice reps each week with Winston running the scout team, leaving little room for Haener to learn through trial and error. As a player who has overcome a lot of adversity and injury throughout his career, holding steady through not being able to be in action at 100 percent is nothing new to him and is something he is equipped to handle.
This comes after NFL owners voted to approve a bylaw allowing teams to dress a third quarterback on game days without using a roster spot, which changes a lot about how the team goes about things at the position. It’s a rule the league has used before but shied away from after more tightly regulating the building of rosters.
Essentially, Haener should be expected to be included on the inactive list with 7 other players, but he’ll be in uniform and ready to go into the game if needed in case of emergency. How his development continues and how he and some other QB3s across the league are impacted by this will be something to keep watch over as the NFL moves into the regular season.
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