At the League meetings this week in Orlando, the NFL adopted several new rule changes.\u00a0 The two most controversial changes were the new kickoff rule and attempt to eliminate the \u201cHip Drop\u201d tackle.\u00a0 Here are the major changes:<\/p>\n
Emergency Quarterback Changes<\/strong><\/p>\n Emergency third quarterbacks, who are available to play in case the starter and the backup are ejected or injured, can now be elevated from both the 53-man roster and the practice squad. Last season, emergency QBs could only be elevated from the 53-man roster.\u00a0 Would Maik Cunningham still be here if this rule was adopted last year?<\/p>\n Unlimited Returns in postseason<\/strong><\/p>\n Teams now have an unlimited number of designated-to-return transactions during the playoffs.<\/p>\n Replay Changes<\/strong><\/p>\n The replay assistant will now be allowed to correct\u00a0objectively incorrect calls for intentional grounding and roughing the passer.<\/p>\n Replay review will be allowed when there is clear and obvious visual evidence that the game clock expired before any snap.<\/p>\n The ruling that a passer is down by contact or out of bounds before throwing a pass is now a reviewable play.<\/p>\n Enforcing fouls commuted during possession change<\/strong><\/p>\n During a play that results in a possession change, if both teams commit fouls, any major offensive fouls (like unnecessary roughness) that were committed before the possession change will now be enforced.<\/p>\n Changes to Coaches Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n Initially, teams would have to get both their first and second challenges right to get a third one, but now they only need to get one challenge correctly to earn a third.<\/p>\n NFL Trade Deadline will be moved back a week<\/strong><\/p>\n The trade deadline will now be the Tuesday after Week nine games. The Browns wanted it to be after Week 10, but that wasn\u2019t approved.<\/p>\n Hip Drop tackle banned<\/strong><\/p>\n per Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n The official wording of what a hip drop tackle is as follows:<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a foul if the players uses the following technique to bring a runner to the ground:<\/em><\/p>\n (a) grabs the runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms; and Kickoff change<\/strong><\/p>\n If you liked what you saw with the XFL Kickoff rule then you will love this change.\u00a0 We will see more kickoff returns this season, and they will be modeled after the way the XFL does its kickoffs.<\/p>\n There are restraints on where you can kick the ball and penalties if you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n This from Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is a good explanation of the new kickoff rules.\u00a0 Under the new rules, the kicker will continue kicking from the 35-yard line, while the other 10 members of the kicking team will line up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line. The receiving team will put at least nine players in a setup zone between its 30- and 35-yard line, with one or two returners in a “landing zone” between the goal line and the 20-yard line. Until the ball hits the ground or a player, no one other than the kicker or returner is permitted to move.<\/p>\n The change, which was approved on a trial basis for 2024, comes after years of discussion over the future of the kickoff, as the NFL sought to reduce injury rates from the play and more teams kicked the ball out of the end zone. Only 21.7% of kickoffs were returned in 2023, the lowest rate in league history. With the new play, competition committee chair Rich McKay said Tuesday, return rates could be as high as 80-90%.<\/p>\n Teams will be permitted to attempt two onside kicks per game but will not be able to attempt surprise onside kicks. Touchbacks will move from the 25 to the 30-yard line, though McKay said the rule could eventually change to place the ball at 35 after a touchback.<\/p>\n Saints special team’s coordinator Darren Rizzi, who worked closely with Cowboys special team’s coordinator John Fassel on the rule change, called it “a great day for the NFL.”<\/p>\n “We’ve taken a play that’s essentially been dying over the course of the last few years, and in our opinion, we’ve revived it,” he said. “The fact we felt like we can make this play a lot safer, and certainly more exciting for everybody, were the two main factors.”<\/p>\n This from Associated Press Josh Dubrow – While the changes were all overwhelmingly approved, they don\u2019t come without some level of controversy, with many players opposing the ban on the use of the “swivel hip-drop” and many questions about how the rules will be enforced and the impact they will have on games.<\/p>\n NFL defensive players feel the rule changes of recent years make it more difficult for them to do their jobs.\u00a0 One complaint I read was that defenders want the chop block removed if the league truly wants to improve player safety.<\/p>\n The most significant change revolves around the kickoff that has gone from one of the more exciting plays like Jalen Reagor\u2019s Kick Off Return TD last season.\u00a0\u00a0 Players like former Patriot Cordarelle Patterson, who signed a 2 year $6M contract with Pittsburgh, are unsure of their future.\u00a0 What will be the impact of this rule change?<\/p>\n Of all the rule changes I like the Replay Change where the review official can make the change of call.\u00a0 Bottom line is to get the call right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the League meetings this week in Orlando, the NFL adopted several new rule changes.\u00a0 The two most controversial changes were the new kickoff rule and attempt to eliminate the \u201cHip Drop\u201d tackle.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":52362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n(b) unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and\/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner\u2019s leg(s) at or below the knee.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n