NFL targeting rules, explained

Breaking down the NFL targeting rules with a look at how it compares to college football, how it’s called and more about the player safety penalty. 

Player safety has been a huge topic in all levels of football and we’ve started to see more actions for that with the NFL targeting rules.

We’ve become well familiar with targeting penalties from college but the NFL is a different world. In fact, they don’t even call it targeting, though that’s ostensibly what the foul is when it’s called on the field.

With that, let’s dive into what fans need to know about these rules.

NFL targeting rules by the book

There isn’t officially a “targeting” rule in the NFL rulebook. Rather, they have a lowering the helmet rule. For the 2022 season, that rule was clarified in the name of player safety to say, “It is a foul if a player lowers his head and makes forcible contact with his helmet against an opponent.” The addition of the “forcible” to the rule from previous years puts it much more in the line of targeting as we know it.

The lowering the helmet rule was first brought about in 2018.

How many yards is targeting in the NFL?

If a player is called for lowering the helmet with forcible contact, it is a 15-yard penalty.

Is a player ejected for targeting in the NFL?

There is no mandatory ejection for this type of penalty in the NFL. Punishment is typically handed out after a review of the play/penalty by the league following the game and it is more likely that a fine will be handed out rather than a suspension, though that is possible. Depending on the play, a player can be ejected, though. It is up to the discretion of the officials.

NFL targeting rules vs. college football

The biggest difference between the NFL and college football when it comes to proverbial targeting rules (other than the terminology, as mentioned) is the ejection. While ejections are up for discretion in the NFL, that is not the case if, after review, a player is deemed to have committed a targeting foul. If that happens, the player is ejected and suspended for the next half (if it occurs in the first half of a game, he will only miss the second half).