A new NFL rule will affect Ohio State football players in a major way

The NFL has adopted a new rule that will affect Ohio State football players in a major way, especially those on defense.
Michigan tight end Colston Loveland runs against Ohio State safety Sonny Styles during the first
Michigan tight end Colston Loveland runs against Ohio State safety Sonny Styles during the first / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
facebooktwitterreddit

Rules in the NFL dictate how college players try to prepare themselves for the next level. Ohio State football players take that to heart because every single one of them wants to play at the next level. They all have aspirations of playing football on Sunday for a living.

Most of the time, the rules players try to drill into themselves are on offense, like a receiver getting two feet in bounds instead of just one. Receivers know one foot won't be good enough at the next level, so they work on trying to get both on sideline catches.

Ohio State football players will now have to train their brains on a new NFL rule, this one on defense. It was announced today that the NFL has unanimously decided to ban the so-called hip-drop tackle, despite strenuous opposition from the NFLPA.

A hip-drop tackle is when a defensive player tackles someone using the offensive player's legs against them to get leverage to take them down. It's a tackle that happens all the time in the NFL because offensive players are running in all different directions and defensive players can only tackle someone in a defined box.

This rule is stupid and will be hard to legislate. How are defenders supposed to tackle someone now? They can't go high near the head. They can't tackle quarterbacks low near their legs either. Defenders had finally trained themselves to go after the middle of their bodies. Now, that might not even be enough.

Ohio State players will now have to train themselves to avoid this hip-drop tackle. While this isn't a rule in college football, the Buckeyes might still try to train their guys to avoid this type of tackle for their futures. It will be called a penalty in the NFL, so they might as well not develop bad habits in college.

Next. Next story. A new favorite has emerged for the running backs coach position. dark

Fans are already mad. Players will be mad about this rule too. Hopefully, it's just a one-year rule that they realize is a mistake.


The offseason can drag on at times, but you can spice yours up with a chance to win big this week at FanDuel! All you have to do is sign up, deposit $10 or more and then bet $5 or more on ANY team to win. If your team wins, you'll get $200 in bonus bets! Sign up with FanDuel with this link today!