The NFL is waffling on its definition and enforcement of the hip-drop tackle rule, and J.K. Dobbins isn’t happy about it. He thinks he was injured on an illegal hip-drop tackle during Thursday’s 10-7 win over the Las Vegas Raiders last Thursday, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic, and he didn’t mince words in expressing his opinion about what happened in the game.
The NFL and its officials should “ban or at least call the [expletive] hip-drop tackle,” Dobbins said in his post on X the day after the game.
Based on the replay, Dobbins has a valid point. He gets wrapped up by Raiders defensive end Tyree Wilson, who then twists the running back and drops much of his lower body weight onto the back of the running back’s legs. Dobbins limped off the field favoring his right foot, and no penalty was called.
He returned to get a key first down in the second half, later in the second half and finished with 77 yards on 18 carries, but the NFL Network reported that the team’s leading rusher suffered a foot injury and is seeking a second opinion.
Dobbins isn’t the only player with a sharp opinion about the hip-drop tackle rule. Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu was suspended for multiple violations of the rule, although his subsequent appeal reduced the suspension to a fine.
“That’s the question I’m trying to ask myself and ask them — what is it?” Luvu said of the rule. “It’s frustrating for me sometimes because you look at it, all the plays that they’ve seen it at, and to see what they’re looking at … I think they’re still trying to figure out what is a hip drop and that’s out of my control.”
Losing Dobbins would hurt the Broncos big-time. His replacement at running back would be rookie RJ Harvey, who’s been effective at times but really isn’t big enough to carry a full-time load. Getting creative due to injuries is a way of life in the NFL, but this isn’t the way this sort of thing should go down, especially given the current controversy about how and when injuries are reported.
Not that the NFL cares about any of this. As long as the noise from any negative publicity stays at a minimal level, the league is going to do what it does, which is enforce some rules in ways that are inconsistent an occasionally baffling.