There are mixed reviews on the rule changes the NFL will be implementing for the 2024 season. One big change is the ban of the hip-drop tackle, which will now be a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty if done by a defensive player.
If 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 leg at or below the knee," there will now be a foul.
While some players are not thrilled with the change, one head coach is glad that type of tackle will now result in a yellow flag on the field.
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh does not believe defensive players will be at a disadvantage and said the technique makes it more likely for an injury, and a serious injury at that, to occur.
"When you drop down on the back of his legs, it's a mass ... and it's 25 times more likely to have a serious injury," Harbaugh said (via ESPN). "So, it's really a bad play, and it needed to be out. And guys are going to tackle just fine without the quote-unquote hip-drop tackle, because they tackled just fine without it for 100 years of football before that, when you never saw it, really."
NFL executive Jeff Miller said the hip-drop tackle was used by defensive players 230 times in 2023, with 15 players missing time due to injuries from the tackling technique.
Harbaugh noted that the hip-drop tackle just recently became popular. He now encourages players to tackle like the old days.
"When did you ever hear about the hip-drop tackle until like two years ago, three years ago, right?" Harbaugh said. "That's because it was discovered, probably, in rugby and started being executed as a standalone technique. It's a three-part movement, [and] you've got to execute that play. You've got to be close enough to that ball carrier to actually get him around the hips, pull him close to yourself, swing your hips through and drop on the back of his legs. If you're that close, wrap him up, tackle him and take him to the ground, like Ray Lewis used to do and everybody did for 100 years before that."
The head coach's distain for this type of tackling was only amplified when his tight end, Mark Andrews, suffered a significant injury on a play during which the Ravens claim the technique was used. Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson pulled the tight end to the ground, resulting in Andrews suffering a fractured fibula and ligament damage, an injury that sidelined him for two months.
After the injury, Harbaugh spoke out, saying it was "definitely a hip-drop tackle" that ended with Andrew injured.
"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," he said back in November.
The owners unanimously voted at the annual league meeting to remove the hip-drop tackle, but the NFL Players Association was against the change.
"While the players have consistently advocated for health and safety advancements, any prohibition on the 'hip-drop tackle' technique is unfair to players and unrealistic to implement," the NFLPA said in a statement. "It places defensive players in an impossible position by creating indecision in the mind of any tackling player, puts officials in an unreasonable situation that will result in inconsistent calls on the field, and confuses our fans."
The NFL's executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, suggested that players will likely be sent warning letters and fines in the week following the game if they use the hip-drop tackle, rather than see laundry on the field.
