There are few things that kill a defensive effort more than a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty. It’s a big chunk first down for the offense, and it quite often has an effect on the aggressiveness of the pass rusher for the remainder of the game.
After placing an emphasis on cracking down on late hits to the quarterback in 2018, this past season, there was a record-setting 154 roughing the passer calls that totaled 2003 yards. Recognizing that this is becoming a problem, the league says that is modifying the way the rule is called once again.
The two main points of emphasis for 2022 are incidental contact and a defender’s ability to make a play on the quarterback when he is on the ground.
The NFL says that if a defender makes incidental contact with his arms to a quarterback’s head and neck area while attempting to block the pass, that is no longer a penalty. And if a player unintentionally hits a quarterback in the legs, that too will be considered incidental contact and not draw a flag.
As for when a defender is on the ground, he can now make a play on the quarterback’s legs, since that is the only possible way for him to make a play. Twisting or targeting the knees will still be a penalty, but tackling the legs won’t be.
The NFL did emphasize that it still wants to protect quarterbacks, and forcible contact to the head and legs will be a penalty. As will late hits and forcibly driving a quarterback to the ground.
The league doesn’t want to make quarterbacks more likely to get injured, but they are trying to recognize that at certain times the defender is just trying to do his job, and he shouldn’t get flagged for it.
You probably didn’t notice that there was an experimental rule last year regarding the formation of free kicks, and you probably won’t notice that the NFL has decided to make that 2021 change permanent going forward.
As defined by the league’s rule book, all receiving team players must be inbounds and lined up behind their restraining line (10 yards in advance of the where the ball is being kicked - 45-yard line for kickoffs, 30-yard line for safety kicks), with at least eight players no more than 15 yards behind the restraining line, but no more than nine players can be in this zone.
It’s a bit of a word salad to explain that receiving teams can’t stack the box with 11 players for onside kicks, but they also can’t drop all of their players back to block on returned kickoffs.
The league says the permanent adoption of the rule “provides excitement and competition.” Can’t you feel it?
If you are a special teams coach or a player looking to make an NFL roster, learn the rule. For everyone else, just wait for the explanation on game day if there is an illegal formation penalty.
Another new set of rules that won’t change the life of casual fans, but will definitely have an impact on how teams move players around from week-to-week, are the changes to injured reserve.
Players must now sit out four games before they are allowed to return to active status from the injured reserve. Last season it was three games.
Over the last two seasons, because of COVID, teams were allowed an unlimited number of moves between the IR and active roster. Now only eight players per team will be allowed to return from the injured list. That is, of course, down from the COVID years but up significantly from the pre-COVID seasons, when only three players could return.
Another increase from the pre-COVID days is that each player can return from the IR twice in a season. It used to be just one time per player and per season.
Prior to expanding the practice squad rosters to 16 players during the COVID seasons, the NFL had increased practice squads from 10 to 14 players. That 16-player threshold has now been made permanent.
The league is also allowing teams to carry up to six veteran players on their practice squads, up from four. And each player can be elevated to the active roster three times in a season, which is up from twice.
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Tanner Kern breaks down the biggest news from the NFL world, discusses fantasy football stategy, and gives his future bets for the 2022 season on the debut of the CHFF Show.