The NFL has made safety a top priority in recent years, with concussion protocol commanding significant focus the last season and a half. This year, the league has its sights set on banning the hip-drop tackle from the game.
The technique in question occurs when a defender grabs an offensive player from behind or the side and becomes deadweight while completing the tackle. This leaves the individual being brought to the ground vulnerable to a serious leg injury, as the defensive player’s weight tends to come crashing down on them.
Look no further than Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews, who missed the last two months of the regular season and almost all of the playoffs after being the unfortunate recipient of a hip-drop tackle. The Ravens still clinched the No. 1 seed without him, but they could have desperately used a fully healthy Mark Andrews in the AFC Championship.
Will the NFL accomplish its mission this offseason?
This is just one of the many incidents that is causing the NFL to seek a rule change.“That’s certainly my hope,” NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Miller said on Monday, per The Washington Post’s Mark Maske. “The tricky part is in the definition…We want to get those sorts of behaviors out of the game if we can.”
With most of the higher-ups in Indianapolis, Indiana for the NFL Combine, Miller will address the competition committee on the hip-drop tackle issue. Precise language is essential when leading this charge. The main component that he and the league are looking to outlaw in this play is the defender’s “pivot.”
Based on studies conducted by the NFL, Miller says that hip-drop tackles induce an injury rate of approximately 20-to-25 times greater than a normal tackle. It continues to become more prevalent in the field of play, leaving The Shield little choice but to aggressively pursue this serious modification.
It might just be a matter of time before a new rule is put into effect.
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