2016 NFL rule changes: what you need to know

The NFL Competition Committee enacted 10 rule changes heading into the 2016 NFL season. Here’s a synopsis of what you need to know going forward.

On Tuesday, the NFL Competition Committee approved 10 changes to the NFL rulebook heading into the 2016 NFL season. The most notable of the 10 rule adaptations are the elimination of chop blocks, making the extra point attempt permanently set at the 15-yard line (a 33-yard field goal, in essence) and moving touchbacks begin at the 25-yard line on kickoffs.

Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal provided the full list of the 10 approved rule changes: nine proposed by the NFL Competition Committee and one by the AFC North’s Baltimore Ravens.

The NFL Competition Committee had nine proposals pass and they are:

1.) Firmly establishing the extra-point opportunity after a touchdown at the defense’s 15-yard line. The defense can still return a missed PAT for two points. In essence, the 2015 NFL experiment with the 33-yard field goal for a PAT was an overwhelming success (except to kickers, maybe) and will be instituted indefinitely.

2.) Allows the player on the field with the designated green dot to receive direct communication from offensive/defensive play caller regardless of if coordinator is in the booth or on the field. It had strictly been an on-field to player line of communication until now.

3.) Chop blocks are now illegal. A win for knees of players and the NFLPA! It’s all about player safety and it was only a matter of time before the sneaky chop block was eliminated from the NFL’s game.

4.) Players can now be ejected from a game for two personal unsportsmanlike conduct fouls. In essence, the NFL will enact somewhat of a yellow card/red card system. This will be in place on a one-year trial, but will probably end up sticking like the 15-yard PAT did last year.

5.) The touchback on a kickoff will be moved up to the 25-yard line from the 20-yard line on a one-year trial in 2016. This might be to counterbalance the league moving up the spot for a kickoff a few years ago, as it has been overwhelmingly unfair to the receiving team to attempt a return. Keep an eye on this rule change in 2016. It may or may not end up sticking in 2017.

6.) This provides a clearer definition of what is a horse-collar tackle, defined as “when a defender grabs the jersey at the name plate or above and pulls a runner toward the ground.”

7.) A delay of game penalty will be called when a team tries to call a timeout when it isn’t allowed to. This has to be more than just calling a timeout when a team doesn’t have one. It could have more to do with injuries and challenges than anything with the way the new rule is phrased.

8.) The five-yard penalty for an out-of-bounds receiver re-establishing himself in bounds for a completed catch has been outlawed and will now result in a loss of downs. Basically, don’t throw it to people going out of bounds or you’ll lose a down in the process.

9.) On a double foul, there will no longer be multiple spots of enforcement after a change of possession.

The Baltimore Ravens stated via the franchise’s Twitter account that the NFL has adapted the Injured Reserve designation, making teams not have to establish which one player is “designated to return.”

Overall, most of the 10 rules changes for the 2016 make sense. Frankly, the last of the nine rules approved that were originally proposed by the NFL Competition Committee is a bit wordy, but the rest are very straightforward.

The two new rules to keep a close watch on are the 25-yard touchback and the ejection for two unsportsmanlike penalties. Both will almost certainly play a pivotal role in deciding a crucial game next fall. It’s up in the air if both 2016 rule changes will last for more than one year.