I have a question regarding NRSAs: Can an employee purchase tickets as a revenue passenger and also make an NRSA booking on the same flight so as to allow for a choice of seats.

Example: An employee purchases a Y-class seat on ATL-DXB (because they MUST get to DXB for whatever reason with certainty) and also makes a non-rev booking on that flight. That way if the flight goes with empty J-class seats, he can claim them as a non-rev and get the extra comfort, almost like an upgrade, and conversely if there are no seats available, he still has his original coach seat to get to DXB on time.