Getty Image / Nic Antaya
There are very few things the NFL emphasizes in games like the safety of quarterbacks.
They have really cracked down on quarterback hits over the past couple of seasons, leading to some roughing the passer calls that have looked truly ridiculous.
Now they may be looking to make a major change to how they make calls involving hits on the quarterback.
NFL insider Tom Pelissero revealed today that NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent said there were discussions among owners about making hits on a QB or defenseless play reviewable and if they should be an automatic ejection.
This would be significant: Troy Vincent says there was discussion among owners today about whether a hit on a QB or other defenseless player should 1) Be reviewable; and/or 2) Be an automatic ejection.
Any change would go through the normal process and vote at the March meeting.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 14, 2022
I followed up on the ejections piece, which sounds a lot like the college targeting rule, and Troy said his personal opinion is it’d be difficult, and also made clear he’s against a Sky Judge or similar throwing flags. “I think chasing perfection is a dangerous place to go…”
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 14, 2022
Hopefully making these calls reviewable would get rid of some of the more ridiculous roughing calls we see. Fans would just have to hope it wouldn’t massively slow the game down.
Making the ejections automatic for these kinds of hits seems like a problem, though, especially in the case of defenseless players. There is a ton of gray area involved in those kinds of hits when we see them reviewed in college and there could be some major ramifications to getting those calls wrong in the NFL as refs figure out the new rules.
This potential run change will be something to keep an eye on during the NFL offseason.