NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

[Woodman]

The NFL is considering eliminating the hip-drop tackle.

NFL executive Jeff Miller cited the danger of the play Tuesday at the league meetings, saying the hip-drop tackle increases risk of injury by 25 times the rate of a standard tackle.

“It is an unforgiving behavior and one that we need to try to define and get out of the game,” Miller said, via Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press. “To quantify it for you, we see an injury more or less every week in the regular season on the hip-drop.”

The tackle came into the spotlight in the 2022 postseason when Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Cowboys running back Tony Pollard were injured by hip-drop tackles. Mahomes injured an ankle on a hip-drop tackle by Jaguars defensive lineman Arden Key, and Pollard’s season ended with a fractured fibula and ligament damage in his ankle on a hip-drop tackle by 49ers defensive back Jimmie Ward.




NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles - NBC Sports

[Woodman]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

Despite talk about a possible move to ban the tackle because of the injuries it causes — something the National Rugby League in Australia did — neither the Competition Committee nor any team offered a proposal regarding the tackle in the offseason. The league ultimately decided the tackle is hard to define clearly and enforce consistently.

To that I say horse ****.

[jamze132]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

They’re going to make football unbearable.

It’s an inherently dangerous game to play and you can only do so much. They’re already handicapping the defense in just about every way imaginable and the refs don’t seem to be enforcing penalties on RBs dropping their heads to initiate contact.

[Woodman]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

They’re going to make football unbearable.

It’s an inherently dangerous game to play and you can only do so much. They’re already handicapping the defense in just about every way imaginable and the refs don’t seem to be enforcing penalties on RBs dropping their heads to initiate contact.

I get it but that technique is designed to injure .... it's a really cheap and dirty way of taking a player down.

The league already has to many of it's starting level players hurt and it needs to be outlawed asap.

[sukie]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

I saw that injury to Andrews tonight. The ankle gets trapped… a few plays later Lamar was HDTed and nearly escaped but his ankle is wrapped… I am thinking it will have to be looked at.

[OpIv37]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

I get it but that technique is designed to injure .... it's a really cheap and dirty way of taking a player down.

The league already has to many of it's starting level players hurt and it needs to be outlawed asap.

I don’t think the intent is to injure. The intent is to allow a smaller guy to use momentum and leverage to take down a bigger guy. It used to be that guys were either big or fast. Now, there are these freaks of nature like Kelce or even Allen who are big AND fast. DB’s and even smaller LB’s have no chance of tacking them, and bigger LB’s and DL’s have no chance of catching them.

It’s a way of nullifying an unfair physical advantage.

But, the reality is that it does drastically increase the chances of injury on a tackle.

I’m really not sure how I feel about it. I don’t like all the injuries from them, but two things: if they make it a penalty, there will be subjectivity in how it will be called, and those subjective calls always seem to burn us. Second, if they ban it, there is literally no one on our roster capable of tackling Kelce from behind.

[Mad Max]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

This is a tough one, removing it will reduce injuries but will also increase scoring. It’s so easy to get a targeting call now which the hip-drop negates, take away the hip drop and there are gonna be a lot more missed tackles.

[Woodman]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

I saw that injury to Andrews tonight. The ankle gets trapped… a few plays later Lamar was HDTed and nearly escaped but his ankle is wrapped… I am thinking it will have to be looked at.

Ravens rule out Mark Andrews after X-rays - NBC Sports

The NFL is considering eliminating the hip-drop tackle. NFL executive Jeff Miller cited the danger of the play at the league meetings last month, saying the hip-drop tackle increases risk of injury by 25 times the rate of a standard tackle.
The league unfortunately has even more evidence of that on Thursday night.
Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was injured on the seventh play when Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson used the controversial — but still legal — tackle to take down the tight end after a 9-yard gain. Andrews’ left leg got caught underneath Wilson’s full body weight.
The Ravens have ruled out Andrews with an ankle injury.
Amazon sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung reports that Andrews needed crutches to make it to the X-ray room.

[Woodman]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was lost for the season on Thursday night when he suffered a serious ankle injury, and Ravens coach John Harbaugh isn’t happy with the way Andrews was tackled.

Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson used the hip-drop tackle technique to take Andrews down from behind, leading to Andrews’ lower left leg getting caught under Wilson’s body. The hip-drop tackle is legal, but some in and around the NFL think it shouldn’t be, and Harbaugh questioned why Wilson had to use it on Andrews. Harbaugh also said Wilson used the same technique to take Lamar Jackson down near the sideline, and indicated that the Ravens will send those plays into the league office.

“It was definitely a hip-drop tackle,” Harbaugh said. “It is being discussed. It’s a tough tackle. Was it even necessary in that situation? The other one on the sideline, there’s always plays that you send in to the league to have them look at and interpret for you.”



John Harbaugh questions why Logan Wilson needed to use a hip-drop tackle on Mark Andrews - NBC Sports

[daryls61]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

That was not an intent to injure. It was an intent to tackle the player. Why would the NFL ban tackling?

[OpIv37]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

That was not an intent to injure. It was an intent to tackle the player. Why would the NFL ban tackling?

It’s not unprecedented. They banned spearing tackles. They banned horse collar tackles.

[Woodman]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

That was not an intent to injure. It was an intent to tackle the player. Why would the NFL ban tackling?

Bengals LB Logan Wilson, involved in 3 plays resulting in Ravens injuries, was made unavailable after the game

Throughout the course of the Ravens vs. Bengals Thursday night game, Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson was involved in three plays that injured Baltimore Ravens players. After the game, USA Today’s Nate Davis attempted to speak with Wilson in the locker room but was denied as Bengals public relations made him unavailable.

[sukie]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

Anyone on the fence… watch a replay of Andrews injury. The foot gets caught under the weight of the tackler and the ankle didn’t stand a chance. No way to spin to compensate for the rotation. Tackle this way you are injuring the one tackled. No way around it except sheer luck.

ban it and find the smog out of it. It’s worse than horse collar.

[Woodman]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

It’s not unprecedented. They banned spearing tackles. They banned horse collar tackles.

NFL fans demand Cincinnati Bengals' Logan Wilson is 'suspended' after injuring 3 Baltimore Ravens, sending 2 for X-Rays | The US Sun

NFL fans demand Cincinnati Bengals’ Logan Wilson is ‘suspended’

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Emotions are obviously quite high bit I sure hope the league takes a very serious look into this and discipline seems appropriate.

I'm watching it right now and Wilson did not need to use that technique and then he stands over him as if to say gotcha.

[OpIv37]

Re: NFL considers banning hip-drop tackles

I understand fan frustration but you can’t suspend a guy when what he did wasn’t against the rules. It’s the same thing with Sean Taylor and the horse collar tackles back in the day. Guys were getting hurt left and right, and players and fans were pissed, but when he first started doing them, they were legal.