The NFL officially submitted proposals for several 2024 rule changes Wednesday, including a prospective ban of the hip-drop tackle and a full-on makeover of the kickoff play. Both issues have been widely discussed among league executives in recent months, but now there is clarity on what exactly the NFL and its competition committee are looking to enact.
Here's the latest, from CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones:
Hip-drop tackleThe NFL is aiming to create and enforce 15-yard penalties for players who use a "hip-drop tackle" to bring down an opposing ball carrier. The proposed definition of an infraction is as follows: When a player "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 legs at or below the knee." The penalty would also grant the opposing team an automatic first down.
NFL officials believe they can correctly call the infraction, per Jones, while others, including the NFL Players Association, are "worried about the potential subjectivity of the call." Already, for example, defenders are prohibited from hitting opponents who are "defenseless," or delivering upper-body/head contact, or hitting quarterbacks at or below the knees.
Revamped kickoffThe NFL is aiming to remake kickoff formations and return options, prohibiting the kicking team from moving until the ball contacts or is fielded within a designated "landing zone," between the receiving team's 20-yard line and goal line. Teams would only be permitted to place up to two returners in the zone, and returners would also be unable to utilize a fair catch, as they could in 2023.
Here's a look at the official kickoff-change rule proposal. Teams could have a maximum of 2 returners. Kicking team can't move until the ball hits in the landing zone or is fielded there. No more fair catches. pic.twitter.com/LaquOHnh3d
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) March 20, 2024
If a kick doesn't reach the zone in the proposed rules, the ball would be placed at the 40-yard line. If it goes out of -- or is downed inside -- the end zone, the ball would go to the 35. And if it hits the zone, rolls into the end zone and is downed, it'd go to the 20. Any ball fielded in the zone, meanwhile, would have to be returned.
Onside kicks would remain under this proposal, but teams attempting them would be
