There's a lot of confusion about the new hip drop tackle rule. It seems the focus is on the "swivel" aspect of it that causes defenders to roll up on the ball carrier's legs. Ultimately it will come down to how the refs call it which is the major concern. Some experts seem to think the NFL will use this as more of a way to consistently implement fines for the tackle, and that it will rarely be called. Obviously that creates the concern of it being called in a big moment, when it has rarely been called elsewhere.
All that being said I wanted to post some stats regarding the hip drop.
Based on stats from sportskeeda, there were 22,469 tackles made in the NFL last season. Regular + Postseason.
NFL executive Jeff Miller stated that the hip-drop tackle was used 230 times last season and resulted in 15 players missing time with injuries. A 6.5% Injury rate.
So of all the tackles made last season, 1% were defined as a hip-drop.
The league has been able to identify that this particular style of tackle poses more risker to the runner than others. Similar to the horse-collar.
I think if they truly are focusing on the "swivel" aspect, and not just the dropping of weight, then players and refs should be able to adapt accordingly.
I know that's putting a lot of faith on the refs, but hopefully they can get good examples of what they're looking for. Preseason is a time for them to learn and practice as much as it is for the teams. Hopefully no games are ruined on one of these calls.
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This account hasn’t posted in 7 years and then showed up to drop some hip drop tackle stats in the Chargers subreddit lol
jim harbaugh is also one of the coaches calling for the tackle to be banned
I don’t mind the ban at all, but not excited about it either
It feels like something the officials won’t call often, since it’s so hard to judge
Next season it’ll be a different tackle technique. They just need to make it 2-hand touch and be done with it.
There’s just too much reward for the defense to make sure a runner gets 0 yards after contact and that’s always going to lead to injuries. Same as it was with QBs. Defenders wanted to make sure that QBs didn’t throw after contact so now we have a million QB tackling rules.
All this “oh might as well be flag football” pseudo macho nonsense from fans is silly. Hip drop is banned in Rugby League and Rugby League players have a better tackle rate than NFL players by far. There are multiple clips of 160 pound rugby players tackling 250-300 pound players from behind without using a hip drop. NFL players are far better athletes but in Rugby people are taught better tackling technique that is also safer. Lots to learn from the sport
I think it just adds an unnecessary level of complication. We bitch about officials and how they call all these different subjective rules, but the league just added another foul that requires an official to make a subjective call.
I also find it stupid as fuck that the owners care *so much* about injuries from hip drop tackles, but refuse to do anything to address the playing surface.