Some in-depth reporting and analysis in this article from ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Dan Murphy.
While NFL teams limit their rosters to 53 active players and 16 practice players during the regular season, coaches and medical professionals both warned that there are important distinctions that would make rosters of that size more risky at the college level.
Dr. James Andrews, a renowned orthopedic surgeon who was a consultant and medical director at Alabama and Auburn for 50 years until retiring from his practice in January, said dramatically reduced rosters would lead to increased exposure in practices and games, which will cause more injuries.
"It's a fact that if you have more incidents of exposure, then you have more injuries," Andrews said. "Injuries are related to exposures. If you practice contact every day of the week versus practicing contact one day a week, you're going to have more injuries. And if you have less people to conduct your practice, they're going to have more exposures and more injuries. Your better players are going to have more exposures, and more exposures definitely relate to more injuries. You can't get around that."
In the past, college football teams have relied on walk-ons and redshirt freshmen to run scout teams, which mirror the offenses and defenses that upcoming opponents use. With a reduced roster size, second- and third-team players might have to practice as scout teams, exposing them to more contact throughout the week, unless teams dramatically change the way they practice.
"They have to start really practicing very similar to the way they practice in the NFL so they don't get hurt during the week," Andrews said. "But here's the problem with that: We've got young kids. In the pros, most of these players have already been groomed and cultured and taught, and of course they can get better. But a kid out of high school needs to be able to practice to learn how to play football. You're not going to be able to have a bunch of roster spots for scout teams and walk-ons to fill the spots to develop your young players. It's a mess."
While NFL teams limit their rosters to 53 active players and 16 practice players during the regular season, coaches and medical professionals both warned that there are important distinctions that would make rosters of that size more risky at the college level.
Dr. James Andrews, a renowned orthopedic surgeon who was a consultant and medical director at Alabama and Auburn for 50 years until retiring from his practice in January, said dramatically reduced rosters would lead to increased exposure in practices and games, which will cause more injuries.
"It's a fact that if you have more incidents of exposure, then you have more injuries," Andrews said. "Injuries are related to exposures. If you practice contact every day of the week versus practicing contact one day a week, you're going to have more injuries. And if you have less people to conduct your practice, they're going to have more exposures and more injuries. Your better players are going to have more exposures, and more exposures definitely relate to more injuries. You can't get around that."
In the past, college football teams have relied on walk-ons and redshirt freshmen to run scout teams, which mirror the offenses and defenses that upcoming opponents use. With a reduced roster size, second- and third-team players might have to practice as scout teams, exposing them to more contact throughout the week, unless teams dramatically change the way they practice.
"They have to start really practicing very similar to the way they practice in the NFL so they don't get hurt during the week," Andrews said. "But here's the problem with that: We've got young kids. In the pros, most of these players have already been groomed and cultured and taught, and of course they can get better. But a kid out of high school needs to be able to practice to learn how to play football. You're not going to be able to have a bunch of roster spots for scout teams and walk-ons to fill the spots to develop your young players. It's a mess."
