Each year, the NFL Competition Committee discusses potential changes to the game. Sometimes things end up working out for the best, while other changes flop, most notably making pass interference reviewable.
This year, the biggest focus is on the hip-drop tackle. The committee has recommended that it be banned and be penalized as a 15-yard personal foul.
A hip-drop tackle is defined by the committee as such:
- Grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms; and
- Unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.
The reason the NFL wants this out of the game is the injuries suffered during hip-drop tackles last season. One of the more notable ones was Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews suffering an ankle injury in Week 11 and not playing again until the AFC Championship Game over two months later.
Will this be a successful rule change? It certainly would make playing defense that much harder. However, if it does help eliminate injuries, it won’t be called a failure.
