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The NFL is all the time on the lookout for methods to guard quarterbacks and a possible rule proposal this offseason might add one other layer to that. The league’s competitors committee is contemplating a proposal that may change the intentional grounding guidelines, giving quarterbacks extra freedom to throw the soccer away to keep away from taking a success.
The brand new proposal being thought-about would get rid of the necessity for quarterbacks to get outside of the pocket earlier than throwing the ball away and would solely require that the ball no less than attain the road of scrimmage.
The present rule not solely requires the ball to achieve the road of scrimmage to keep away from a grounding penalty, however the quarterback to be outdoors of the sort out field.
Eliminating the pocket requirement would possibly assist quarterbacks keep away from the varieties of hits that produce accidents. Troy Vincent, the NFL’s vice chairman of soccer operations, famous on Thursday that the majority quarterback accidents occur on performs contained in the pocket and that data would possibly require the grounding rule to evolve.
Accidents helped contribute to 66 completely different quarterbacks beginning a sport through the 2023 NFL season, a growth that nearly definitely served as one trigger for an additional drop in scoring throughout the league.
Quarterbacks are the most important stars within the NFL, the best paid gamers and the league’s most impactful gamers. It’s within the league’s greatest curiosity for them to be wholesome and productive. The NFL has gone to nice lengths over the previous decade so as to add protections in for them. It doesn’t appear to be stopping in that quest.
Whereas this rule change would possibly minimize down on accidents, it might have some unintended penalties in the case of scoring and making performs. If quarterbacks know they’ll throw the ball away from wherever on the sector with out penalty, there is likely to be extra incentive to do this on the first signal of stress when they’re unable to flee the pocket.
Any new rule change would require 24 votes in favor from the league’s homeowners. Given how a lot cash the league’s homeowners have invested in quarterbacks and the way essential they’re to their group’s success, there would appear to be nice incentive to maintain discovering new methods to guard them.
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