Editing Quarterback (section)

===Two-quarterback system===
{{Further|Platooning quarterbacks}}
Some teams employ a strategy that involves the use of more than one quarterback during the course of a game. This is more common at lower levels of football, such as high school or small college, but rare in major college or professional football.

There are four circumstances in which a two-quarterback system may be used.

The first is when a team is in the process of determining which quarterback will eventually be the starter, and may choose to use each quarterback for part of the game in order to compare the performances. For instance, the [[Seattle Seahawks]]' [[Pete Carroll]] used the preseason games in 2012 to select [[Russell Wilson]] as the starting quarterback over [[Matt Flynn (American football)|Matt Flynn]] and [[Tarvaris Jackson]].

The second is a starter–reliever system, in which the starting quarterback splits the regular season playing time with the backup quarterback, although the former will start playoff games. This strategy is rare, and was last seen in the NFL in the "WoodStrock" combination of [[Don Strock]] and [[David Woodley]], which took the Miami Dolphins to the [[Epic in Miami]] in 1982 and [[Super Bowl XVII]] the following year. The starter–reliever system is distinct from a one-off situation in which a starter is benched in favor of the backup because the switch is part of the game plan (usually if the starter is playing poorly for that game), and the expectation is that the two players will assume the same roles game after game.

The third is if a coach decides that the team has two quarterbacks who are equally effective and proceeds to rotate the quarterbacks at predetermined intervals, such as after each quarter or after each series. Southern California high school football team [[Centennial High School (Corona, California)|Corona Centennial]] operated this model during the 2014 football season, rotating quarterbacks after every series.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/la-sp-corona-quarterbacks-20141220-story.html |title=Two-quarterback system works for Corona Centennial |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 20, 2014 |access-date=May 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407130231/http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/la-sp-corona-quarterbacks-20141220-story.html |archive-date=April 7, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> In a game against the [[Chicago Bears]] in week 7 of the 1971 season, [[Dallas Cowboys]] head coach [[Tom Landry]] alternated [[Roger Staubach]] and [[Craig Morton]] on each play, sending in the quarterbacks with the playcall from the sideline.

The fourth, still occasionally seen in major-college football, is the use of different quarterbacks in different game or down-and-distance situations. Generally this involves a running quarterback and a passing quarterback in an option or wishbone offense. In Canadian football, quarterback sneaks or other runs in short-yardage situations tend to be successful as a result of the distance between the [[offensive line|offensive]] and [[defensive line]]s being one yard. [[Drew Tate]], a quarterback for the [[Calgary Stampeders]], was primarily used in short-yardage situations and led the CFL in rushing touchdowns during the [[2014 CFL season|2014 season]] with 10 scores as the backup to [[Bo Levi Mitchell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/backup-quarterback-drew-tate-plays-major-role-in-limited-time-in-stampeders--grey-cup-win-045955279.html |title=Backup quarterback Drew Tate plays major role in limited time in Stampeders' Grey Cup win |publisher=Ca.sports.yahoo.com |date=November 30, 2014 |access-date=January 5, 2015 |last=Denomme |first=Ian |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105210801/https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/backup-quarterback-drew-tate-plays-major-role-in-limited-time-in-stampeders--grey-cup-win-045955279.html |archive-date=January 5, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Rushing/year/2014/type/reg | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105210152/http://cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Rushing/year/2014/type/reg | archive-date=January 5, 2015 | title=Rushing - 2014 | publisher=Cfl.ca | access-date=January 5, 2015}}</ref> This strategy had all but disappeared from professional American football, but returned to some extent with the advent of the "wildcat" offense. There is debate within football circles as to the effectiveness of the so-called "two-quarterback system". Many coaches and media personnel remain skeptical of the model.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k12twoQBleagues|title=Fantasy Football: Two-QB league strategy|date=June 20, 2012|website=ESPN.com|access-date=January 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117134422/http://www.espn.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k12twoQBleagues|archive-date=January 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Teams such as USC (Southern California), OSU (Oklahoma State), Northwestern and smaller West Georgia have utilized the two-quarterback system; West Georgia, for example, uses the system due to the skillsets of its quarterbacks. As recently as 2020, Oregon, who had two quarterbacks capable of starting (Boston College transfer [[Anthony Brown (quarterback)|Anthony Brown]] and sophomore [[Tyler Shough]]), utilized a similar tactic in the [[2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game]], giving Shough the start but inserting the dual-threat Brown on short-yardage plays, red zone situations and the final drive of the game.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://247sports.com/college/oregon/Article/Oregon-Ducks-Anthony-Brown-Tyler-Shough-Ducks-Football--157299237/|title=Anthony Brown, Oregon's two-QB rotation, helps win Pac-12 title}}</ref> Teams like these use this situation because of the advantages it gives them against defenses of the other team, so that the defense is unable to adjust to their gameplan.<ref>{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Andy|title=Two Qb system working at West Georgia|url=http://blogs.ajc.com/college-football-insider-blog/2013/09/20/two-qb-system-working-at-west-georgia/|publisher=Cox Media Group|access-date=October 4, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004222324/http://blogs.ajc.com/college-football-insider-blog/2013/09/20/two-qb-system-working-at-west-georgia/|archive-date=October 4, 2013}}</ref>