Kickoffs will be reviewed again
The NFL doesn’t change rules until the competition committee discusses them and the owners vote on them in the spring, but commissioner Roger Goodell and executive vice president Troy Vincent previewed big changes coming in 2024:
■ Kickoff rules: The NFL knew it would be drastically decreasing the number of kickoff returns when it implemented a one-year rule last offseason allowing returners to call for a fair catch on any kickoff inside the 25-yard line. The rule was made for player safety, since the concussion rate is significantly higher on kickoff and punt plays. But the NFL is dissatisfied with the result, with less than 20 percent of kickoffs being returned this year.
A committee made up of head coaches, special teams coordinators, and league officials will recommend alternative kickoff proposals for 2024.
“It’s a dead, ceremonial play today,” Vincent said. “What we can’t do is stay where we are, so we’re hoping they come back with some alternatives.”
■ Hip-drop tackle: This technique has resulted in an injury rate 25 times higher than that of a normal tackle, per the league. The NFL has had a tough time defining a hip-drop tackle, but based on Vincent’s wording, it has come up with “grip, rotate, and drop.”
Basically, it’s when a defender pulls down a ball carrier by the waist from behind and lands on his legs, often resulting in ankle sprains and broken bones. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was lost for the season thanks to a hipdrop, and Tyreek Hill, Geno Smith, and Rhamondre Stevenson are among the higher-profile players who have been injured.
Based on comments from Vincent and Goodell, the hip-drop will be banned in 2024.
“The injury can be very devastating,” Goodell said. “It’s something that I feel we’ve got to work very hard to get that removed this spring.”
■ Fumbling through the end zone: This was a surprise announcement by Vincent, because there hasn’t been major public groundswell to change the rule. But it has long been one of the NFL’s more controversial rules — a fumble by the offense through the end zone gives the ball to the other team at the 20-yard line.
Those in favor of the current rule say that offensive players need to be extra careful with the football around the goal line. Those against the rule say it is too punitive — if a fumble goes out of bounds at the 1-yard line, the offense retains the ball there; but if it rolls over the goal line and out of the end zone, the other team gets the ball at the 20?
“It doesn’t happen very often, but the handful of plays many believe that were maybe too punitive with that penalty, so we’ll talk to the committee, we’ll get an opinion and take it back to the [owners] in March,” Vincent said.
If the NFL is open to change, a middle-ground approach may be best: If a fumble goes out of the end zone, give the ball to the defense, but at the spot of the fumble. The other team would get the ball, but backed up against its goal line.
■ Tush push: This is one play that won’t get changed for 2024. Though it looks unsafe, with a massive pile of bodies crashing together at the line of scrimmage, the NFL has been monitoring the play and doesn’t see any reason — injury risk or otherwise — to alter the play. The NFL especially doesn’t want to outlaw the play just to punish the Eagles, who are far more successful at it than the rest of the NFL.